Hopefully, you are arriving at that point in your week where you are winding down at work. This is a good time to do some reflecting. Try to be positive as you reflect; you want to feel fulfilled about what you have accomplished and grateful for what you have learned. It is easy to focus on what didn’t get done or what didn’t go our way. Let’s do the hard work together and reflect on the good moments.  

I have the honour of being a mother to three incredible humans. One practice I loved throughout their childhoods was to have them tell me three good things about their day before they went to sleep. It would fill me up with love when they also wanted to hear three good things about my day. Recently, I have been reminded that this is a good way to end your day as an adult.  

As you reflect on your work week, write down three wins you had this week. This could be anything from approval of a proposal you submitted, to watching one of your students have an ah-ha moment, or maybe you had a meaningful conversation at work. When I think about this work week, I get excited thinking about the engaging dialogue with students in class, moving forward on a partnership project to the point of rolling up our sleeves and digging into the work, and learning a bit about the world of publishing. It would be easy for me to think about all the things that didn’t get done. This may lead to my not leaving my desk or carrying the work stress into my day off tomorrow. That is no way to achieve a healthy, balanced life. Celebrating success feels much better than getting weighted down by all the things that end up on the to-do list for next week. 

Part of reflection is learning. What lessons did you learn? Did you encounter challenges that turned into learning moments? Did you expand your knowledge? Did a task a new skill that seemed challenging at first? Did your mindset shift at all, meaning did you enter the week thinking one way and exit the week feeling enlightened on a subject? I learned that I don’t have to accomplish everything at once. I can slow down the pace and breathe creativity into my work. I also realized the freedom that comes from applying the Let Them Theory. I read this book by author Mel Robbins earlier this year, and the idea made sense to me, but this week I put it into action. It was such an easy workable solution that was already stored away in my knowledge bank.  Thank you, Mel!

Another key area of growth from reflection is to be grateful. Did something happen this week that you are grateful for? I am energized by and grateful for the enlightening conversations I had this week with students. Two-way learning is important to me. I show up to teach and learn. I am also grateful for the incredible network of talented professionals that I have around me. They are kind and generous with their time and incredibly smart. 

This is the part of the reflection journey where you can set your intentions for next week. Did you learn something you can carry forward? Did you realize something that it’s okay to leave behind? I will carry forward to intention of building professional relationships being in balance with accomplishing the end goal on a project. 

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter Drucker, author

Robyn Grebliunas, MA
Founder and Visionary
R Brand Productions