Our inner monologue runs nonstop, whether we pay attention to it or not. It is a valuable source of self-awareness and a key to knowing our blind spots. In last week’s blog post we talked about the practice of revealing our inner monologue, and becoming aware of our inner thoughts. This week we’ll be talking about the second part of this practice for improving our self-awareness, which is reflecting on and learning from our inner monologue.
Reflection and Learning
Now that you’ve gotten used to writing down your inner monologue, the next step is to reflect on these thoughts.
- What did you notice most?
- Did you notice any trends?
- How hard was it to be non-judgmental?
If you’re like most people, you might be surprised at the amount of negativity and critical content of your words. But here’s what’s important to know: you aren’t necessarily a negative or critical person. Everyone is negative and judgmental, that’s the way the human brain works.
Knowing how your mind-chatter is always working enables you to influence it. It explains much about how you perceive and react to the world. It also influences how others perceive and react to you. This self-awareness helps you manage yourself emotionally. Imagine how much easier it is to acknowledge how we can misperceive and misjudge situations and people when armed with enhanced self-awareness.
The more we understand that others’ minds work similarly, the more easily we can understand them. We can feel more empathy and compassion for others.
As always, I would love to hear from you. Taking stock of and reflecting on our inner monologue can be incredibly insightful and also provoke lots of questions. I’m always here to talk, you can reach me here or on LinkedIn.
