How Reflection Can Help You Make Better Career Choices

Have you taken some time for yourself today? Singapore is known to have such a fast-paced, work-oriented culture that it is no surprise workers rarely take time to slow down and pause for a minute. Global data shows that in Singapore, individuals work an average of 45 hours a week — the second highest in the world.

You know that feeling when you run too fast, and everything gets blurry? Continuing at a breakneck pace at work has the same effect. It might make you lose sight of what’s happening around you. It’s crucial to slow down, take a break and reflect on your purpose. Reflection is necessary to help you decide whether you want to stay in your job or if you want more, to grow your career.

What Is Reflection?

Career experts define reflection (sometimes called “self-reflection”) as the ability to see and evaluate your thinking, emotional and behavioural processes. Effective reflective practice can help you realise why you think and act as you do.

In the workplace, reflection helps you decide whether or not you’re happy in your current role or if you need to look for other opportunities. Being able to reflect on yourself also helps build your self-awareness, which is a necessary skill for any worker, especially leaders. When you’re aware of your capabilities, you can structure and adjust your career path in a way that would set you up for success.

Reflection also gives you time to rest. The Harvard Business Review likens your brain to a muscle: it requires self-contemplation to recharge and become stronger.

Benefits of Reflection

1. It’s helpful when making major career decisions.

Major career decisions, such as moving to a new role or resigning from a current one, should not be made hastily. Reflective practice involves carefully thinking about your current position, helping you figure out if you need to change jobs or transition into a new career path. You get to assess yourself and give yourself sound reasons that can help support your decision.

2. It minimises negative thoughts.

Everyone makes mistakes at work. But ignoring it can only increase negativity in your brain and might even distract you from doing your job. By reflecting on the issue – what happened, why it happened, and how to solve it – you can help quiet the recurring negative thoughts in your head that will only bring you down. Mistakes are a learning experience and you can start learning from them by reflecting on them.

3. It highlights your strengths and weaknesses.

Once you get around to thinking about your mistakes, you remember your achievements, too. By reflecting on both, you figure out what resulted in those lows and highs, discovering what you’re good at and not good at. It can help you determine what to improve upon or learn more about. If you’re looking for better opportunities, you can also lean into your strengths and opt for a career path where these are essential.

4. It increases your understanding of yourself and your coworkers.

Part of reflection involves thinking about how you are at work, your working style, and how that impacts your relationships with your colleagues. By understanding how you relate to the people you work with, you get a better grasp of your dynamic as a team.

5. It helps you manage your time and skills better.

If you don’t pause to reflect, you can end up merely going through the motions of your job and eventually stagnate in a role. Sometimes, you find that you’re doing things inefficiently because you’re so used to the routine that you forget how to innovate and be more productive. Through reflection, you can learn if the tasks you are doing are worth the effort or if they are just wasting time.

6. It helps set your goals.

Once you’ve fallen into the practice of regular reflection, you get a clearer picture of the career path you want. From here, you can set goals to help you build the career of your dreams.

7. It builds confidence.

People who practise reflection regularly become more self-aware, enabling them to articulate their goals and strengths better. This makes them stand out in situations where they need to boost their profile (e.g., interviews, meetings, networking events, etc.)

Strategies for Practising Reflection

1.  Set a time for yourself.

For reflection to work, you have to do it regularly. Block some time off your calendar every day to pause and reflect. You don't need to draw it out to be effective – 10-15 minutes will do. Ideally, use the time in the mornings before your work day starts so your headspace is still free of office worries.

2. Turn off your phone.

You have to avoid distractions so that you can clear your head. If you can’t fully turn off your phone, turn on the “do not disturb” feature so that you won’t see or hear any messages come in while you’re reflecting.

3. Ask questions.

Asking yourself questions can help you examine your thoughts. If you find your brain wandering to other topics, gently bring it back to focus on the questions you are asking yourself. You can stick to one question per session so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Here are some sample questions to get you started:

- How do you feel about your current role/career?

- What is your working relationship with your colleagues like? With your manager? With your team?

• How would you describe your past year at work?
• What experiences/instances stand out the most?
• What accomplishments have you achieved?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What works for you in your role? What doesn’t?
• What makes you stand out?
• What do you care about the most?
• What interests you?
• What impact do you want to make?
• What else would you like to do in your role?
• Where do you see yourself after a year of being in this role?
• What else would you like to achieve?

4. Write it down.

There is power in the written word. If you put your thoughts to paper, you become more introspective because you make more effort to be aware of your musings. It also helps to have notes to review as a reminder. You can even add to it, perhaps some new ideas pop up when you look back on your experiences.

It might not be easy to get used to being still and being alone with your thoughts, but with enough practice, you will get accustomed to reflection and benefit from the exercise. You’ll find that there are thoughts that run through your mind constantly, you only have to pause to hear them and figure out why they’re there.

You may be used to the idea that working hard and being on the go all the time can lead us to career success. But pausing and taking time to reflect on the choices you make are also critical to your development. It can help remind you why you're working so hard in the first place. It can also help you realise if you're still on the right career path.

Remember that your work makes up a third of your life. You must make the correct career choices to avoid resenting something that you do almost every day. So take time for yourself and reflect for a bit. In as brief as 15 minutes each day, reflection can help you choose better, do better, and #SEEKBetter.

For more career tips like this, visit our Career Resources Hub. If you've come to terms with what you want, then it's time to find your dream job. Download the JobStreet app on the App Store or Google Play to find your dream role wherever you are.