A few years ago, I attended a mental health training session, and after it concluded, the presenter and I were chatting about how it went. We zeroed in on this question he asked, “How do you take care of yourself?”
When he asked this to 50+ law enforcement supervisors and managers, they volunteered two answers: I exercise, and I have hobbies. Two very common answers for living a healthy lifestyle. I was curious where the conversation would go, but it quickly changed onto a different topic.
In our one-on-one discussion, the presenter was baffled at such a small response to his question. He threw his hands in the air and shook his head when I asked him why answers were so limited. He said people may not know the best ways for self-care, perhaps it isn’t a priority to them, people might think they’re in a good place and don’t need to change anything, or maybe there was another factor.
As our conversation progressed that evening, I kept gravitating back to his confusion. As I thought about what I did (and do) for self-care, I continually came back to self-reflection as a productive practice.
Reflecting is very different from living in your past, which is often viewed in a more negative light. Reflecting for me is taking time to unpack why events, interactions, projects, etc. played out the way they did as well as how I’m responding to them internally.
Taking the time to reflect offers a set of powerful benefits to help enhance your life, and requires you to:
Identify your lessons learned: Sift through what had positive results and why, then flip the script to examine your failures. If you’re often hard on yourself (I’ve coached many around this), slowing down to look at why the failure happened can put you back in control of yourself. This is a healthier option than continuing with self-criticism, which leads you nowhere productive.
Practice acknowledgement: See things for what they are/were. You cannot change what has happened, although acknowledging what took place can help you accept and let go of any less useful thought patterns you maybe perpetuating. If you need to take ownership and responsibility in some way, do it. Taking ownership puts you in control of your life, rather than playing the victim.
Build gratitude: Appreciate all the good which has taken place. With your reflection, you can be intentional about really teasing out the highlights from your day. Even if it was a challenging day, remind yourself of the opportunity you have to experience all that life has to offer.
Whether journaling, using different mindfulness techniques or meeting with a friend/mentor/coach, try your own self-reflection practice and see what shows up. If it’s a new habit, give it some time to build it into your daily routines, yet if you’re intentional and committed, you’ll likely experience a number of benefits to promote health and wellness in your life.
Matt Wallat serves as a District Ranger with the National Park Service (NPS) in Colorado. His 20-year career spans eight different NPS units in six different states with assignments in patrol, investigations, program development, court liaison, training officer, and supervisor for 11+ years.
With a strong background in employee development, Matt is an active agency instructor/presenter, continues to evolve with his coaching practice, creates leadership training opportunities, engages in curriculum design work, and led a recent international training program in Tanzania.
He enjoys family time and many other interests including fly-fishing, creative DIY projects, music, craft beer and Boston sports.
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