Man : Looking Glass ( Self Introsepction)
Introspect Your Personal Timeline
Introspection is the act of self-examination
of your conscious, thoughts and feelings.
In psychology, the process of introspection relies on self-observation of the condition of your mental, spiritually, the soul . It is a concept of inner human self -reflection, and provides an insight of our own mental states.
In psychology, the process of introspection relies on self-observation of the condition of your mental, spiritually, the soul . It is a concept of inner human self -reflection, and provides an insight of our own mental states.
Process of Introspect
Introspect
Look within
and observe your
thoughts,
emotions and activities
throughout the day,
examining objectively
the flaws and positive
points.
Detect
Observe
the wrong channels of
emotions,
thinking and responses
which caused pain,
anxiety, stress and sorrow.
By clearly ascertaining
the pain-giving nature
of certain habits of
thinking and acting, sending a strong
message
to our sub-conscious mind
to be alert
the next time this
thought pattern occurs
Negate
Become aware
when the thought pattern
arise within.
Detecting the destructive thought
pattern
it as it rises.
Nip
it in the bud.
Substitute
Immediately,
find a release
from those agitated think
patterns,
embed a positive value
displaced destructive
thought pattern
and emphasised that in
the mind.
Jealousy,converted into
admiration.
Lust to love,
impatience to patience,
false speech to honesty.
Grow and be happy
When successfully
overcoming a tendency with our
introspective thinking, we grow.
Maturity is harnessed and developed
within and thereafter we live a life of happiness.
This
higher way of living gives more joy and peace .
TimeLine
A picture is worth a thousand
words. If so then capturing your life on paper with a timeline exercise may be
worth millions.
A timeline or lifeline exercise
is a graph that allows you to have a bird’s eye view of your life, and to see
the positive and negative shifts along the way on a single trajectory.
Each one of us has a personal timeline that began the moment we were
born. This timeline consists of highs and lows represented by the positive and
negative experiences we have had.
Putting this timeline on paper is an excellent way to record your life cycle, events and trends. It enables you to see vital information about your past life, helps to recognize achievements that have been made, and creates a sense of purpose for the future
Putting this timeline on paper is an excellent way to record your life cycle, events and trends. It enables you to see vital information about your past life, helps to recognize achievements that have been made, and creates a sense of purpose for the future
Benefits
It is a recording of vital
information about your past life and putting a timeline on your life. There
are several benefits in completing this exercise. It helps you:
- See the themes of life that connect of different events. Examples: Your sorrow, your success.
- Recognize the key achievements, growth opportunities, lessons, persons and new wisdom
- Realize the value of negative in your life that can shifts as opportunities toward positive shifts.
- Increase purpose of life by connecting life events in new positive ways.
- Finding new meanings between your life at present in relation to your past and future.
- Understanding the past experiences and better prepared you to face the future challenges.
- Note how to responses to events have shaped your life and character (and not events themselves).
Beneficially, it’s an excellent
exercise to complete together with your partner in life or a group of friends,
extended family members or even business associates. Reworking your past life
history using a timeline.
Re-working your Personal Life
Life’s story
Your story:
a.
Everyone has a story, or stories, because humans
are story tellers by nature.
i.
It tells you who you are, your believe
ii. How to best fulfill your emotional needs and
meaningfully connect with others and life around you.
iii.
A limiting focus of yourself: de-energizing or
disempowering your emotional states inside of yourself.
b .
Your story is powerful because your sense of
self-worth lives in your storyline.
i.
Your thoughts and beliefs are powerful energies
that shape your emotional responses to past events in your life, and give you your
story.
ii.
Conclusions about yourself and others around you.
iii.
The interpretations of your past that you
continue to hold in mind, operating as a perception which filters into a powerfully
impact on your life today.
It is about – the subconscious mind – a toxic thinking and the limiting beliefs in yourself that can unnecessarily activate your defense strategies, or survival which can jam or have a paralyzing effect on the otherwise amazing abilities.
c
. Many a great story in certain areas of their lives.
. Many a great story in certain areas of their lives.
i.
The enjoyment of success and happiness.
ii.
Learning
to let go.
iii.
Effectively or not in processing emotions of fear
and anger.
When you let others power to define you, you allow other the ownership of your story, and your intrinsic value and worth.
Thus by knowing your story, you will acknowledge your experience that activates your neural integration in your brain and body, affecting your actions, beliefs and happiness in life.
Steps in Introspecting
Your Personal Life History
Phase
1:
Preparatory steps before getting started:
a.
The first phase consists for five preparatory
steps to complete before putting your timeline down on paper.
i.
Purchase
or make ready the following materials:
·
Markers, pen or pencil, notepad and legal
size paper.
ii.
Make
time, perhaps one or more
·
15 to 30 minutes, to thoughtfully reflect on the
course of your life, it’s high and low points, as well as stable times. It is
better if it is journalize in your diary.
iii.
Record
time of reflection, list of life
events on a notepad, keeping the below guidelines in mind:
- Experiences that influenced your life and later successes, both positive and negative.
- Significant life event at least every other year or so. If you are 40 years old, you’ll have between 5 to 10 years of your life.
- Include negative events or turns, a good story is multidimensional, and conflicts are key to telling a great story.
iv.
Chronologically
order of your (approximate) age at the time and events.
Phase 2: Putting your timeline on paper.
a. Now
that you’ve completed the preparatory steps, you’re ready to record your
timeline on paper. To complete this phase, take the following steps:
i. Take a
legal size sheet of paper, and draw a horizontal axis. (If you use standard
size paper, turn it to ‘landscape’.)
iii. Draw
a horizontal line along the horizontal axis.
iv. Place
“age” sign on the bottom-right corner above the horizontal axis, to
signify age.
v. Next,
draw a vertical line along the vertical axis.
vi. Place
“events” sign on the top-right corner above the vertical axis, to signify event in life
vii. Draw
a dot on the horizontal axis of your timeline for each of the key events –
allowing ample space between events so that they are spread across the axis
from its left to right end points.
viii. From
each dot, joint a line for each event, accordingly, and make the line as tall
or short as its intensity.
ix. Connect
up the points that you have marked.
x. Remain
open to adding events as you complete the timeline; it’s natural for one event
to trigger a memory of another.
Phase 3 – Deepen awareness of self and life
a. Looking
at your timeline, in a notebook or journal, write down your responses to some
or all of the following thoughts and questions (or similar ones):
·
Identify
any negative past actions, big or small.
o
Reflect on what you may have gained or learned. The
value to your life.
·
Pinpoint
key decisions that were fruitful.
o
The effectiveness of choice and the results it
produce
o
respond at the time (thoughts/feelings) to the decision/results
·
Choices
that didn’t turn out well.
o
What made this a poor choice?
o
The costs of making these choice
o
Your respond to each (thoughts/feelings in
response to choice/outcomes)
o
When you made this choice
·
Which decision-making
strategies work? Which do not?
·
Microscope
and see if you can identify the ‘steps’ you take (patterns of
thought/feeling/action) think/feel/act) in executing effective strategies; do
the same for the ineffective ones.
The action above is very helpful
in fostering mutual understanding and teamwork between partners in couple
relationships, or a group of friends, extended family members, business
associates, and so on.
Phase 4
– Create new understandings, shifts in meanings
a. Re-write
some aspects of the story of your life in ways that help you better understand
yourself as a being who not only seeks to find meanings and connections.
·
Identify
the event that significant effect
you on the timeline.
·
Pinpointing any ‘stages’
or ‘turning points’ of your timeline
·
Determine
the crowded and spacious in the time others and
the meaning of the event.
the meaning of the event.
·
A significant
central theme (or two)
in your timeline and life. Example sick
in your timeline and life. Example sick
·
Identify
a driving consciously or subconsciously question
in your mind that has driven your actions and choices throughout life
·
Who
are/were the most significant people in your life? How?
·
The
milestones or markers associated with each stage and
the meaning to it
the meaning to it
·
Pinpointing
the changes or additions that can affect your life
·
Your
future, in a year, 5 years, 10 years.
This exercise is an opportunity
to accordingly shift the focus of how you relate i.e.,
a. to yourself,
b. your life,
c. your past, as well as
d. your thoughts,
e. emotions,
f. needs,
g. passions,
h. wants, and so on.
When you focus attention to these processes, it means you get to actually choose the specific changes you want to create in your brain and life.
a. to yourself,
b. your life,
c. your past, as well as
d. your thoughts,
e. emotions,
f. needs,
g. passions,
h. wants, and so on.
When you focus attention to these processes, it means you get to actually choose the specific changes you want to create in your brain and life.
It takes courage, however, to
examine old ways of doing things, and then to consciously act in ways that
liberate your mind from old stories – and to stand instead in the truth of your
highest aspirations of whom you yearn to be.
Telling and re-telling your
story is a process of interpreting and reinterpreting the meanings of your past
life. Your life story is rich with meaning, and putting your timeline on
paper can capture essential meanings, and bird’s eye view of your entire life.
Excerpt taken with thanks :
Wikipedia
Athena Staik, Ph.d
Athena Staik, Ph.d
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