A Look in the Mirror

Have you ever counted the number of times you look in the mirror?

I decided to do an experiment and count for one day how many glances in the mirror I take, but… I lost count.  Yeah, it was that many times!

What I did discover is that because appearance matters to me (much more than it should), I have built in opportunities to check my reflection.  There is a mirror in all my bathrooms, a full length mirror in my bedroom, a compact mirror in my purse and most public restrooms have plenty of mirrors for me to use.

We know this to be true, when something is important to us we find ways to build it into our lives.  We build habits and create dependencies.

One of the things that I’m learning most about my leadership these days is the importance of building in time for self-reflection – to look at my soul in the mirror.

According to Bill George’s book “True North” one of the top 5 issues that can pull you from your True North as a leader is lack of self-awareness, or self-reflection.

Bill George says:

“Many leaders, especially those early in their careers, are trying so hard to establish themselves in this world that they leave little time for self-exploration.”

Charles Ringma said it this way:

“Because the desire to influence others is always fraught with the danger of illusion and the power to control, self-reflection is required to unmask our own pretensions, to purify our motivations, and to spur us forward in true humility.”

These truths are hitting me smack between the eyes right now.  Self-reflection can’t happen just occasionally.  To look in the mirror of my soul on a consistent basis, I have to create the structure for it in my life.  I have to have build in opportunities to look into the mirror on a regular, consistent basis.  I have to create self-reflection mirrors wherever I can.

My self-reflection mirrors include:

  • Purposefully asking those closest to me for candid, constructive feedback at least once a week.
  • Scheduling time twice a week to read and reflect on a personal or spiritual growth area for me
  • To regularly journal my thoughts, feeling and emotions
  • To pray daily for greater awareness of my inadequacies and insecurities

Have you built the self-reflection mirror into your life?

What habits have you created that help you do this well?

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