Lecture
4
The Importance of Monitoring and Reflecting
Introduction:
Self-management can help us control our reactions to what is happening
in our lives. If we want to lead more satisfying lives, the self-management
process can help us because it involves our self-motivation and self-discipline.
In the previous lecture, we learned that goal setting is a useful
strategy to help us remain self-motivated. In this lecture, we will
learn about an important skill to help us remain self-disciplined.
We found out in Lecture
1 that self-discipline means doing what
needs to be done whether we want to do it or not. To help us in this
task, it is important to monitor our progress and think about how
effective our plan is in achieving our goals. The practice of monitoring
and reflection helps us remain focused on achieving our goals. Let’s
study them in turn.
Monitoring:
Let’s recall for a moment that self-management is a four-stage
process. It involves self-observation, goal setting, strategy planning,
and implementation and monitoring. Based on some initial observations
about our skills and abilities, our goals represent what we hope
to complete or accomplish. We, then, develop a plan to achieve our
goals. We, then, implement this plan and work towards our goals.
Once we have completed this step, how do we know if our plan is
working? We know if it is working as we monitor our progress towards
our goal.
To monitor our progress means that we regularly check over what
we are doing, and make decisions based on whether or not we are following
our plan and achieving our goals. For this reason, it is very important
to always refer our current progress to our goals. We want to achieve
these goals, so monitoring what is happening helps us make sure that
we will achieve them. That's why monitoring the effectiveness of
our plan is an important part of strategy implementation. As we monitor
how well we are proceeding towards our goal, we learn when something
is not working well. We can also learn if it is necessary to apply
more effort or if it is necessary to adjust the plan.
Back to top
Let’s use an example to help us understand the importance
of monitoring.
Imagine that there is a student who wants to enter a special program
in university. This is her goal. However, in order to be admitted
to this program, it is necessary to sit through a difficult examination
and pass with an outstanding score. So, the student develops a plan
that will help her be prepared for the examination. This plan might
include studying every night for two hours, reviewing numerous chapters
in a textbook every day, making notes, answering practice questions,
and meeting with other students to discuss important concepts.
During the two weeks preceding the exam, she monitors the progress
of her plan. She may check if she is answering the practice questions
correctly or if she is reviewing enough chapters in her books. If
this monitoring reveals that she is only reviewing one chapter a
day, then she knows that this current rate of progress is not enough
to help her achieve her goal. She needs to apply more effort and
try to review a few more chapters each day. If her monitoring reveals
that the meetings with other students are not very helpful, then
she must adjust her plan and no longer spend valuable time in something
that is not helping her achieve her goals.
Reflection:
A key aspect of monitoring is the practice of reflection. Reflection
helps us remain focused on doing that which will help us achieve
our goals.
Through reflective thinking we can discover how effective our plan
is, or we can consider useful options to help us adjust our plan.
Reflective thought also helps us attach meaning to our goals.
We learned in Lecture
3 that if we really believe in our goals,
then we will be motivated to accomplish them. In fact, reflecting
about our goals helps us to really believe in them. When we really
believe in our goals, then the decisions that we reach after much
reflective thought will guide our actions, even if we need to do
something that we may not want to do. This is how monitoring and
reflection helps us remain focused on doing that which will help
us achieve our goals and, as a result, become more self-disciplined.
Reflection as a Part of Self-Management:
Ideally, reflection should be a part of the entire self-management
process. This is because reflective thinking adds purpose and meaning
to the process, and by extension, to life itself.
During self-observation, thinking reflectively about ourselves
helps us to accept who we are and where our strengths and weaknesses
lie. We become aware of what we have done wrong and how we can improve
ourselves to help others.
During the phase of goal setting, reflecting on our goals can help
us attach value and purpose to what we want to do. Our goals can
serve to contribute meaningfully to our lives and to the lives of
other people around us.
During strategy planning, engaging in reflective thinking can help
us be sure that our plan will not harm others or cause problems for
other people.
Finally, as it was mentioned earlier, reflection helps us to remain
focused on doing that which will help us achieve these important
goals during the phase of strategy implementation.
As an important practice of the self-management process, reflective
thinking forces us to consider and contemplate that which we are
doing.
Back to top
Reflection means that we ask ourselves questions like “Why
is this important to me?”, “What does this mean to me?”, “How
do I feel about this?”, “How can this help others?”, “What
have I learned from this experience?”, and “Am I a better
person because of this experience?”
Questions such as these will help us focus on how we interpret
the events of our lives.
When we start to reflectively consider what is happening in our
lives and deliberately attempt to self-manage our reactions, we develop
a sense of confidence and control over the challenges and problems
that we face.
Conclusion:
Monitoring and reflection are two important practices of self-management.
They help us remain focused on doing that which will help us achieve
our goals.
Monitoring our progress towards our goals means that we regularly
check over what we are doing to make decisions that will help us
achieve our goal.
Reflection helps us attach meaning to our goals and to decide whether
or not our plan is effective. As such, reflective thinking is an
important practice to do throughout the self-management process.
Questions to Discuss with Others:
- How would you go about monitoring a plan that you are following?
- How often do you ask yourself reflective questions like those
mentioned in this lecture?
- How do you feel after contemplating reflectively about the
challenges you face in life?
Back to top
