If you think mirrors are the enemy, we’re with you! Sure, if you are ready for a big Saturday night out the mirror might be your friend, but for most of us seeing our reflection is something we actively avoid.

Here comes the hard part, should we spend more time looking in the mirror and evaluating ourselves honestly? We live in a world where we assess, and judge others regularly but rarely focus on introspection and self-reflection. Busy and demanding lives leave us little time to thoroughly examine who we are and how we grow both personally and in business.

 In your early career, it was expected that you had a lot to learn and that you would make mistakes. Over time as you progress, feedback becomes less frequent, and you get less advice to become better due to a lack of coaching, guidance, and mentoring. Circumstances change and you adapt but it’s likely that you don’t stop to take time to reflect.

 Self-reflection is a process whereby you grow your understanding of who you are, your values, and why you think and act in the way you do. Without undertaking this exercise, you’ll find it impossible to align your life with what you wish it to be.

By merely pausing for a moment and evaluating yourself, you will be surprised by what you uncover. Self-reflection can be a useful business tool as you examine your strengths and weaknesses. So, what do you see in the mirror?

John R Miles comments on entrepreneurs handbook.co “It’s easy to look through the window to assess the competitors across the street, critiquing them, and looking for weaknesses to exploit.

What isn’t so easy is shunning the window and looking into the mirror placed before you. It’s tough to examine yourself or your internal team members, looking for your own weaknesses and your own shortcomings”.

Tough questions give positive results. Looking in the mirror is so much more than your physical appearance, it’s about how you define yourself as a person. What are your values, how are your opinions formed, and why do you behave in a certain way?

 To experience personal growth, you need to take a cold, hard look in the mirror. Embrace the flaws and work out strategies to improve them, as John says, “Our biggest competitor is really ourselves”. If you want to improve and evolve, the only way to be a better version of yourself is to be truthful about where you are in your life and what you want to achieve.

Casting aspersions on others is easy, and self-analysis is much harder. If you want to be good at your job and inspire others, you don’t just need to imagine the new you -you need to live the new you. It turns out that the mirror that might just be your friend after all.