Posted on

Reflecting on Your Beliefs for Personal Growth

In our journey towards personal growth and self-improvement, understanding our beliefs plays a crucial role. Our beliefs shape how we perceive the world, ourselves, and our potential. By identifying and reflecting on our beliefs, we can uncover deep-seated patterns that may be holding us back and cultivate a mindset that propels us forward. Here are some key questions and practical ways to reflect on your beliefs for personal growth:

Questions to Identify Core Beliefs:

  1. What beliefs do I hold about myself?
  2. How do I view my abilities and skills?
  3. What beliefs do I have about relationships?
  4. How do I perceive failure and setbacks?
  5. What are my beliefs about the world around me?
  6. How do I see my own worthiness and value?
  7. What beliefs do I hold about success and achievement?
  8. How do I interpret feedback and criticism?
  9. What are my beliefs about happiness and fulfillment?

Reflective Practices for Personal Growth:

  1. Journaling: Write down your beliefs, explore their origins, and reflect on their impact on your thoughts and actions.
  2. Mindfulness: Practice being present and observing your beliefs without judgment in different situations.
  3. Seeking Feedback: Engage in conversations with others to gain new perspectives on your beliefs.
  4. Challenge Your Beliefs: Question the validity of your beliefs and examine how they may be limiting you.
  5. Visualization: Envision a life without the constraints of limiting beliefs and explore the possibilities.
  6. Read and Learn: Educate yourself on personal development topics to gain insights into belief systems.
  7. Affirmations: Use positive affirmations to replace negative beliefs with empowering ones.
  8. Therapy or Coaching: Consider seeking professional guidance to delve deeper into your beliefs and work on transforming them.

By actively engaging in these reflective practices, you can unravel the layers of your beliefs, identify areas for growth, and pave the way for personal transformation. Embracing a mindset of curiosity, openness, and self-awareness can lead to profound shifts in your beliefs and ultimately empower you to live a more fulfilling and authentic life. Remember, personal growth is a continuous journey of self-discovery and evolution, and reflecting on your beliefs is a powerful step toward realizing your full potential.

Posted on

5 Self-Reflection Questions That Will Push Your Quality of Life

Self-reflection is only as powerful as you allow it to be – you can use it to improve yourself and use it for personal growth. But how can you leverage self-reflection to get to that point? 

The point is to examine your thoughts and actions, consider your motivations, and self-reflect to gain insights into your life. 

It comes down to asking the right questions because, with the right questions, you can unlock that potential and start fulfilling it. 

With that in mind, we have five questions you can use for self-reflection and use as guidance on your self-discovery journey. 

1. What are my core beliefs and values?

You can only make smart decisions that work for you if you firmly grip your core values and beliefs. 

So, reflecting on your principles and understanding what matters to you and what you stand for is a big part of the process. What is it that drives your decisions? Do your choices align with the values you have identified?

2. What are my weaknesses and strengths? 

One of the core components of personal growth is self-awareness, so you need to do the work to understand yourself better. Understanding your weaknesses and strengths is a big part of that. 

So, consider your areas for improvement and where you could improve. What special skills or qualities do you possess, and what are you exceptionally good at? 

To leverage your strengths for success, you need to understand what they are. Uncovering your weaknesses is also a helpful step because you can improve on them where necessary, and you can accept help from others for those points. 

3. What are my aspirations and goals?

If you want to assess your aspirations and goals, you need self-reflection. What are your short-term plans? What about your long-term ideas? Are you moving in the right direction? Have you drifted off the course you set? Do your commitments and activities align with your short and long-term goals? 

Clarifying your aspirations and goals will help you set a clear direction. It empowers you to prioritize your actions and focus your energy on making your desired outcomes come true. 

You can regularly revisit your goals as a part of a self-reflection period because everyone changes over time, and sometimes your values change. Sometimes, your priorities change, but you need to know if you want it all to work together. 

4. What have I learned from my failures and my mistakes? 

A lot of people make a mistake and think they’ve failed. Or they experience failure and think it’s the end of the world. Neither of those things is true – it’s just a temporary setback. 

You can convince yourself of that by answering how much and what you learned from those failures and mistakes in your past. Those mistakes and failures can shape your decisions and build your character. 

Learning to embrace your failure and learn lessons is crucial to personal growth. 

5. Am I fulfilling my purpose and living authentically? 

Living authentically is essential, but are you? Are you doing what it takes to fulfill your purpose? Use self-reflection to see whether your life aligns with your goal. 

Are you living based on the path you have been crafting or according to external pressure or societal expectations?

Purpose and authenticity can drive your fulfillment and success, but you must tap into that motivation and passion. 

Final Thoughts

Use these self-reflection questions as part of a regular reflection routine to motivate yourself to succeed and foster personal growth. Self-reflection isn’t a one-time task; you will need to rely on it frequently. It’s all part of the self-discovery journey.

Posted on

New Year Reflections (vs. Resolutions)

This year, I am working on short reflections, taking an inner path of peace and wellness instead of the traditional new year resolutions. I hope you enjoy them…

It’s Normal

It is normal to feel abnormal from time to time. Fear and uncertainty are certainties in worlds that are broken and fragmented. What is needed isn’t more glue and duct tape but more compassion and softness for ourselves. Try the softer path versus the hard, logical road and see if your journey discovers new growth in the rocks and gravel you overlooked before.

Action Step: Reflect on your inner path. How rocky has it been? Where does it feel broken? What would the softer path look like for you? What will you find that you overlooked?

Take a Breath

Inspiration doesn’t always require perspiration,
I am not against it; I have shed my share of it.
Inspiration is “in spirit,” breathing hope in and
releasing hopelessness. Pausing to feel the true
self and letting go false. Allow new ideas to
happen, without striving, with just the breath.
Take another until there are several, like
pearls on a string, shimmering in the light.

Action Step: Practice breathing more and stop trying to find inspiration and creativity. Let it find you…Don’t let the wait time increase your anxiety; start striving again. Take another breath and breath in the spirit, in-spire-nation.

OVER IT

Drinking is just the symptom of the bigger
problem, the iceberg under the surface
no one wants to consider. The yelling is just a
sign. Overeating is just the frosty
tip, the overspending, the overthinking,
the over-everything, and excesses to mask
the pain. Let’s start with a few ice cubes,
drink a glass of chilled water, and talk about
the stuff long buried. Aren’t we finally OVER IT?

Action Step: Assess how ready you are to be OVER It, whatever it is…What’s your first step for inner healing? Can you read a book, listen to a podcast, or talk to a therapist? Get out your journal, brush off the dust and start writing.

Posted on

This is the Year of Letting Go of Resentments

Resentments are defined as the “bitter indignation at being mistreated.” It is a hard feeling that creates discontent, hostility, bitterness, and an inability to trust others.

It is destructive to relationships because it is a hook to the traumatic events of the past. When we are tied to our histories, we cannot fully enjoy the present, and the future feels like a painful rerun. We make vows that we will never let anyone hurt us like we were hurt before. Unfortunately, these vows isolate and insulate us from loving relationships.

Resentment is connected to our ego. Our ego needs to be correct, and it needs to be good. When we experience trauma, it can strip away our dignity, causing us to get needs met in unhealthy ways or won’t allow anyone else to help meet those needs. We believe that “I can do it all by myself” but it feels safer when we are alone. Unfortunately, cutting others out of our lives is a very lonely life.

Resentment can also keep us stuck in a victim role. Victims need abusers to maintain this position. Therefore, our ego will fault others, reinforce the belief that people “can’t be trusted”, and only see the negative in the circumstances. We will gravitate to rescuers to make us feel good and validate our victim-mindedness.

WRITE BRAIN/RIGHT BRAIN:

Write about ways resentment keeps you stuck in the past. What are the struggles you have experienced that make trusting others difficult? Have you chosen to be right over having a relationship? Journal about ways to select connections first. Visualize what the world of your ego looks like, who lives there, and what beliefs you take as truth in your ego world.

How can you imagine a new, different world where you feel safe and secure? How would you do it this time if you could do a situation over? Have a chat with your “ego” and offer it comfort and seek what it needs to care for it healthily?

Explore your resiliency. You didn’t want to go through tough times, but you got through them. What strengths did you discover about yourself? How did this challenging experience change your priorities? Celebrate how you have grown instead of feeding the monster of resentment.

Posted on

Reflections for Resiliency: I Live A Worry-Free Lifestyle

In order to develop a more resilient sense of self, Ron Huxley has created a new series called “Reflections for Resiliency”. The reflections are free to use for your inner development and self-care. This is a sample of what you will get in a new course on resilience at FamilyHealer.tv, coming Fall 2020.

In this first blog on personal reflections, Ron Huxley provides direction on living a worry-free life. Use them as proclamations over your life and shift the atmosphere of your home and relationships. Use a journal along side each reflection to write our thought own thoughts and feelings. Answer the Self-Reflection Questions at the end to help you apply them to your life.

You can download a PDF version of this reflection : Click Here!

Be sure to share this blog post with your family and friends…

I Live A Worry-Free Life

There is no better way to live than to live a life full of joy, health, peace, and happiness.

I choose to live a worry-free life because I know that anxiety crowds out productivity. I can and do plan for the future, but I realize that the only moment I can control is the present.

I use the creativity and wisdom I have gained from my experiences to make the best plans I can for the future. I realize, however, that even the most carefully laid plans are just ideas – figments of my imagination susceptible to factors outside my control. By acknowledging that I have no control over the future, I free myself from the dead end of worry.

I choose to conserve my mental and emotional energy by keeping my focus on the reality of what is in front of me. I make the most of this moment and trust that I will be able to handle the next when it comes.

When my focus is on this moment, I am alert and able to recognize the people who are invaluable to me. When my focus is on this moment, I am able to take advantage of new opportunities that come my way and create a life that is rich and rewarding.

By letting go of worry, I free myself to use my energy to be productive in the here and now.

Self-Reflection Questions:

  1. Am I wasting time fretting about something that is outside my control? Why?
  2. What do I realistically gain by worrying?
  3. What can I do, today, to help me live a worry-free life?
Posted on

Family Journals: Tens Ways to Improve Your Health and Relationships


By Ron Huxley, LMFT 
http://www.parentingtoolbox.com 

Journaling has long been a tool to achieving better emotional and 
mental health. The need to express oneself in a safe and controlled 
manner is a powerful means to improving self-esteem and personal 
relationships. Parents can use this tool to increase their 
effectiveness and satisfaction with family members. Here are ten ways 
that a journal will help parents: 

1. Tell your family story. What better way to immortalize your life 
than to write about it in a journal? You can create a memoir of your 
life growing up, describe the many branches on your family tree, or 
just make a scrapbook of your life. Children can benefit by learning 
their family history and discover whom they are in relation to past 
generations. Parents will find clues to family dysfunction and 
strengths by exploring their familial history. 

2. Share yourself with family members. Most people keep their 
journals private but choosing a sister or child to share a journal 
with can close the gap on distant relationships or bring close one’s 
even closer. Swap separate journals for family members to read, keep 
a family journal that is free for all to read and write, or create a 
journal to express thoughts, feelings, and dreams with a particular 
family member. 

3. Organize yourself…emotionally and spiritually. Whenever I go to 
the store, I make a list. If I don’t I am sure to forget something. 
Probably a few “something’s”. Writing things down helps me recall 
what I need to buy. Journaling will help you remember the emotional 
and spiritual items you need in your life. Some of this items you may 
not have known you needed and others will be one’s that you know you 
need but haven’t had the courage to go out there and get it. 
Journaling is the first step in that spiritual grocery store 
shopping. 

4. Track your emotions, moods, and experiences over time. Monday was 
a high-energy day. Tuesday, I felt depressed and lethargic. 
Wednesday, I started to climb out of it. Thursday, I felt better but 
had difficulty focusing. You get the picture, right? Journals will 
help you map the highs and lows of your week, month, or year so that 
you can plan your life accordingly. What mood ring can do that for 
you? 

5. Unburden yourself and let go of old hurts. You’ve carried that old 
emotional baggage for how many years now? Isn’t it time to let it go 
and move forward feeling a little lighter on the emotional load. You 
can let go of the hurts and fears you inherited from childhood that 
have clung to you through adulthood and affected all of your 
important relationships. Release them into a journal and really live 
life to the fullest. Because you are anonymous, this is your 
opportunity to say it all and unburden yourself so that you can have 
freer, more productive relationships with your family instead of 
venting it all at them. 

6. Clarify and achieve your dreams, goals, and aspirations. Any 
successful life planner, motivational speaker, or therapist will tell 
you that in order to achieve a goal or dream you must write it down. 
Journals are a great way to realizing that goal or dream. While the 
path of life and relationships seems confusing and chaotic, a look 
back, into your journal, will reveal some very clear patterns that 
will help you in your future journeying. 

7. Share your wisdom (life experiences) with others. I may not be an 
expert on life but I have had my share of successes and failures. So 
have you. Together we can learn and grow more than either of us could 
have done alone. Use journals to write down your mistakes so your 
children do not make the same one’s or share a few tips about life 
that you wish your parents had shared with you. It’s not too late. 

8. Glimpse the world through the eyes of another person. Journals 
allow you to see life from the perspective of another’s culture, 
geography, beliefs, age, and gender. Take a trip around the world or 
through time simply by reading a family journal. Ask family members 
to describe you or your childhood. You may be surprise by what you 
learn when others look at you and your life. 

9. Challenge your beliefs and enrich your life. Master therapists 
tell us that in order to change your life you must change your 
thoughts or beliefs. Doing this on your own is difficult if not 
impossible. Journals are a great way to analyze those thoughts that 
get in the way of good mental health and better family relationships. 

10. Realize you are not alone! Have you had a loved one pass away? 
Suffered a divorce or financial loss? Had a prodigal child leave 
home? Anyone who has suffered a loss or felt the weight of depression 
knows how lonely that can be. It feels like no one could possibly 
understand the pain you feel. Family Journals remind you know that 
you are never alone and that hope is just one entry away!