It is impossible for people to always be successful in every challenge.

They sometimes fail, struggle and suffer.

However, the action people take after the failure varies.

For example, after the exam ends, some students will take some rest, some students will review the incorrect questions and some students might reflect on themselves.

Of course, these three factors are all important. Enough rest allows students to replenish their energy and working on wrong questions will make students check and correct their mistakes.

However, did you know that reflecting on yourself is equally as important ?

Reflection is literally reflecting yourself during the session. You can identify your overall strengths and weaknesses, like assessing “what went well” (WWW) and “even better if” (EBI).

WWW allows you to realize what you did well during the process, which will not only make your confidence level increase but also will remind you to use the same technique for the future.

EBI will allow you to realize what you should work on more next time for an improved result.

If you have made a mistake, it allows you to not make that same mistake next time too.

For instance, let’s say I got B+ for my science assessment.

In WWW, I can write about my effective time management skills and solving past paper questions.

In EBI, I can write the reason for my mistake and how I will not repeat making the same mistake next time : “I did not memorize important formulas, so I calculated the wrong number.

Next time I will remember the key formulas…" I recommend putting the grade on the reflection sheet, so that you can see the progress of your grades.

Research from the Harvard Business Review shows that “employees who spent 15 minutes at the end of the day reflecting about lessons learned performed 23% better after 10 days than those who did not reflect.”

Although it is proven that reflection allows the work to be more efficient and beneficial, why isn't self-reflection a common part of people's daily routine.

First of all, we should ask whether people have fully understood the process they have gone through or not.

If they don’t understand the process, of course they will not know what part they should reflect on.

Even if they hardly reflect, the reflection they wrote will match well their situation.

The second reason is because of their result.

Sometimes, when people are not satisfied with their result, they won’t even want to look at them, because they have to evaluate what they did badly.

Moreover, another reason is that the majority actually believes they know what they need to work on.

Those beliefs can be partially true.

However, they are not as vivid as when they spend time thinking about their results and process. Lastly, people are too busy doing other stuff.

People are too busy doing each of their work in modern society.

Students need to study vigorously and workers need to work expeditiously, so they don’t have a room for this reflection to go between.

Then what should we do?

We just need to exactly turn over the reason why we don’t do reflection.

If you do not understand the process, then try to understand the process from the start.

Although you are not satisfied with your final result, try to face it as it will ultimately allow you to learn and grow more.

Don’t estimate that you already know everything about yourself by just thinking in your head.

If you write it down, the thoughts come out differently.

Lastly, try to provide a little bit of space for your reflection to go in as a custom in your life.

Even 15 minutes every night will show a big difference.