When we self-reflect on our daily actions, we typically do so privately. We don’t have an audience on these occasions, because the point of self-reflection at the end of each day is to process how well we lived today. It’s already the past. We’re using the knowledge of night to inform the actions of the dawn. When we learn from our yesterdays, the choices that guide every new day make a positive impact on our lives, which in turn makes the lives of the people in our lives receivers of what we’ve learned. Not through what we say, but in what we do.
Living well is a silent teacher. The personal gains of self-reflection aren’t quantifiable because although we may be able to gather the data to see how we’ve improved our own lives, we’ll never know the impact we’ve made on others by modeling right action or even striving to do so. The payoff of selflessness is not tangible.
The Constant State...of Getting There 