How To Build A Rule of Life (Step 2 of 4) 📓
You can read step one here.
You need to re-learn your lessons.
Here's what I mean - I'm sure you've learned a lot in the past year. Wouldn't it be a shame to forget them? Wouldn't it be awful if each key takeaway was lost in the abyss of brains? That is why I believe that re-learning our lesson through intentional reflection and journaling is essential for sustained growth. Harvard Business Review defines reflection as:
"Reflection is the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract and articulate key lessons taught by experience."
Therefore, if we want to use the lessons we've learned in our everyday lives, we need to distill the information into key takeaways. Because the truth of the matter is, if you want to get better in the future, you must spend time reflecting on the things you do in the present.
For example, Harvard Business Review found that daily applied reflection on your experiences was the number one indicator of someone who is improving in their field. Here are some of their reasons why:
Reflecting on what we've done teaches us to do it more effectively the next time around.
Reflecting on learning makes the experience more productive.
Reflection builds one's confidence in the ability to achieve a goal (i.e., self-efficacy), which in turn translates into higher rates of learning.
Reflection, meditation, and prayerful processing with the Holy Spirit are essential practices for those who want to grow in godliness. So, before you set your vision for the upcoming year, take time to reflect on the previous year.
If reflection is essential for growth, and I believe that it is, then reflection ought to be a critical piece of building your Rule of Life. That is why I've created a spiritual practice I call “The Year-End Reset.”
The Year-End Reset is a four-step process where I am able to:
RETREAT - Retreat to hear from God.
REFLECT - Reflect on the previous year.
REBUILD - Rebuild my rule of life.
REVIEW - Review in community.
In this article, I want to focus specifically on the reflecting step of the exercise:
STEP 2 - Reflect To Reset
In our Year-End Reset, I've created seven unique reflection exercises designed to help you process your previous year and look forward to the upcoming year. Although each exercise is beneficial, my favorite is the reflection questions.
As you rebuild your Rule of Life, I want to challenge you to set aside some time to journal through the questions and begin to re-learn your lessons. Here are the reflection questions I encourage you to use:
In what ways do you see the Lord working in your life?
What were some risks you took?
What brought you deep joy in Christ?
What weighed on you and caused you the most stress or anxiety?
When was your lowest point?
Who is someone that may have hurt you or sinned against you this year?
How are you healing from that hurt?
When were some moments you felt like your truest self?
In what ways do you feel like a fraud?
What deeply held beliefs do you sense are changing because of this year?
Who has been your biggest fan & encourager?
What has been your biggest temptation to sin?
In what ways do you feel closer to your family?
What were your biggest regrets from this year?
If you could change one thing from this year, what would it be?
What was the challenging moment where (afterward) you experienced the most personal growth?
Which relationships had the biggest positive impact & brought you closer to the Lord?
Which relationships caused you the most unhappiness or stress?
What were three of the hardest conversations you had? And what did you learn from them?
What is one new thing you learned about yourself this past year?
I hope this is helpful.
Landon Reynolds ⚡️