When you’ve been in a slump for a while, it gets very difficult to get out of it. You often feel weighted at the bottom of a black hole for what feels like forever and you are so unsure of how to start climbing out. The main way to do that is to start self-reflecting to recognize that you have changed and grown from the dark issues you’ve had following you.
Self-reflection and realization are often difficult to do when you don’t know where to start, especially if you’ve had a rough go recently. The key is to find the positive in the experiences you’ve had and identify the best way to show that you’ve grown from them and to actually realize that you’ve accomplished a lot more than you thought.
Some key questions to ask yourself and even write down to look back on later include:
- What is something in the last six months I accomplished that I’m proud of?
2. What is one thing I’ve done in the last year that I’ll remember for the rest of my life?
3. What aspect in my life do I feel more accomplished/successful in? (Work, friendships, family, mental health, relationship, financially, social media, etc.)
4. If I could change one thing in the past year what would it be?
5. What are 3 things I did to help someone else recently?
6. What was hard before but has become easy recently?
7. What are some things I am proudest of?
8. What’s one situation I experienced where I realized I did something differently than I would have before?
9. Who is one person who has made the biggest impact in my life? Why?
10. What are 3 lessons I’ve learned in the past year?
11. What advice would I give my younger self about something I’ve learned over the past year?
12. What are my top 3 goals I want to achieve over the next few months?
13. How do I plan on achieving those goals?
14. What characteristics highlight the best of who I am?
15. What is the one promise I will make for myself for the rest of my life?
Thinking is something we don’t like to do because it brings up some harsh emotions and the reality of the situation. It can make us more emotional than before. But highlighting the positive and the actual growth from it can be extremely helpful to get out of this state.
By writing down the answers will make you realize, “Wow, I actually have changed,” and will help you change the way you think of how you choose to handle situations when you come across new obstacles. You’ll soon forget the struggle and emphasize on the positive improvements you’ve made to help you stay out of that slump you were stuck in for so long.
Photo by Maxime Lelièvre on Unsplash
