The Impact of Doing Daily Reflections

Mistakes appear countless times in life. However, how we approach our errors will determine whether or not we have the potential to improve and succeed.

Since writing a journal entry of reflections for this summer helped me improve my mindset and relieve stress, I recommend you write a reflection, even if it's on a small event.

I started putting together a "mistake" and "reflection" journal for math when I was seven years old. At first, I thought that math was the hardest subject ever and that I kept on getting the questions wrong. After, I wrote down all the questions that I got wrong in one notebook and prepared to toss it away. Then, I realized that after looking at the questions again and thinking about them from a different perspective, I understood the topics more. It offered more insight. From that day, whenever I got a question incorrect, I wrote it down and tried it again in a different method on another day. Math has been one of my strongest and favorite subjects.

Now, why is a reflection so meaningful?

From my perspective, it allows me to view my past self as another person. Whenever we look at other people, it is easier to judge them point out their mistakes, and label them as internal factors, known as the fundamental attribution error. When we look at ourselves, we tend to see our own mistakes to be caused by external factors.

(Internal factor = traits, habits, etc of the person)

(External factor = environmental stimuli or events that are affecting the person such as the weather being bad, bad breakfast, noisy class, etc)

However, since not everyone has a mentor who can tell them what led to their mistakes 24/7, reflections are a way for us to judge our past selves in a third-person perspective.

When we look at ourselves as if we are looking at another person, our judgments would be less biased and more rational. Therefore, when we read our entries from yesterday or a year ago, we would be like, "Why was I so stubborn?" This way, through reflection, we can reduce the fundamental attribution error and let ourselves adjust our internal factors instead of blaming almost everything on external factors.

Here is how you can write a meaningful reflection:

1. Choose a mistake or error that happened today. Write it in full detail. Write down the date, time, condition, etc. Be brutally honest, no one else is going to read this. You don't have to make it look good.

2. Take a break. Meditate, exercise, read, listen to music, do a hobby, etc.

3. Return to your entry and read it again. What do you think of this? Annotate it down.

4. Notice the details; did this mistake in detail happen before? Is it a habit?

5. Write down what you can do next time and how you can grow from this experience.

After a week or more of entries...

1. Read your past entries again. Do you notice any patterns in behavior?

E.g.: I only skimmed through and did not deeply understand the topic.

E.g.: My homework is due on Saturday morning. For the month, 85% of the time I did it on a Friday night.

1. Write down the patterns that you notice on a new entry.

2. Decide what it is. Is it a personality trait? Is it a habit? Did it happen consistently, sometimes, or rarely?

3. Find your weaknesses, and adjust in the future. You don't have to immediately become a new character in one night, but practice over time.

After years of reflection, I found that I grew and matured so much compared to before.

This is my format for writing reflections, and I highly recommend it!

I encourage you to try this for a week, and if you notice anything, then you can adjust and improve.

Thanks for reading!