Am I goal-oriented or do I prefer to set intentions?

Goal-oriented is when you are focused on achieving a particular aim or result
An intention is a thing intended; an aim or plan

How do I best learn? Pick your top 3

Do I work/learn/grow best by myself or with others?

Am I able to stick to goals/intentions or do I fall off track and lose sight of what they are when things aren’t going to plan?

What does falling off track look like for me? What do I do, think and feel?

Introvert or extrovert? Please reflect on your answer to this question by asking:

• How do I know?
• How do I restore my energy?
• What does being around others look and feel like for me?
• What does being by myself look and feel like for me?

I actively work on personal growth (yes or no). If so, how do you do this? If not, what is holding you back?

I give back to those around me and my community (yes or no). Please list what you do to give back.

In order for me to shift the balance between giving to others and myself, I would need to … 

Am I able to receive off others? It may be any of the five love languages?

• Words of affirmation
• Gift giving
• Act of service
• Physical touch
• Quality time

How does communicating boundaries feel? Describe the best you can. 

Personal boundaries are the limits and rules we set for ourselves within relationships. A person with healthy boundaries can say “no” to others when they want to.

If any past traumas come up that may be hard to navigate through, sometimes leaning on a professional is the best way for you to work through it.

Speak with a qualified therapist

• Name: Alma Brock
• Website: https://www.almabrock.com.au
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 0498 275 444

Do I believe that I have a purpose here?

• If yes, what does it look and feel like?
• If not, what does it look and feel like?
• Where does your mind go?
• What can you notice within your body?

After answering the questions above, take some time to go over them, see if they align with the type of learner that you are. I am here to help you bio hack your life and that starts with working with self enquiry and your learning abilities. Knowing your learning style can help you enormously, it helps you know how your brain best takes information in so that you can remember and use it accordingly. If you know your learning style and apply it to your learning and self development then you have a greater chance of success then just hoping for the best.

Now, let’s chat learning styles. What’s your learning style? Respond in the question box below. 

Why should you know your learning style?

Knowing your learning style is the best way for you to get the best out of yourself and goals. It will allow you to take on a  higher percentage of information. The earlier you know your learning style the more beneficial to you because then you can start putting the steps in place to create a better environment for your self development journey. However, knowing your learning style should not stop you from trying to experience the other learning styles and spending time with others that are not ‘learning compatible’ with you.

Learning style example 

Let’s say you are:

• Visual (you need to see things in order to learn them, maybe watching something instead of listening)
• Physical (you need to touch or immerse yourself in the learning experience)
• Social (you need to learn with others, you prefer communication, learning in groups)

Example story

I am going to use myself as an example using the questions above and answers I get, this way  I am able to begin to get a pretty good understanding of what is a fuck yes or a fuck no for me when it comes to understanding myself a little better. 

I am a visual, physical, and social learner. I prefer to set goals and then create intentions along the way. When things aren’t going to plan I often panic and think things are failing. This is why I have to come back to the goals I have written to visualise the next steps I need to take, this allows me to get back on track and out of my head.

Now onto goals

When I create goals I need to physically write them down and actually read them over and over. This allows me to be physically putting pen to paper.

Now when it comes to being a social learner I understand I am an introvert so I need to pick wisely the type of course or people I work with but when I find a group or course that I am comfortable with I really begin to shine, my ideas flow and I learn a lot faster. When I have tried to study in random learning groups, at school, or further study I couldn’t concentrate and I felt really dumb and silly. 

Moving on to the physical, I am a chef so when I can physically touch or make something I can instantly pick up on it, I will learn as I go by touching the food.  For years within my business, I tried to do the online admin things, I tried to do simple things like using Canva and I honestly fucking hated it and felt hopeless because I wasn’t good at it. I couldn’t physically touch the graphic I was trying to create and it caused me anxiety because all I wanted to do was use my hands and touch the product. The solution I outsourced – we will get to this later on though. 

This brings us to the next question, am I actively working on myself?

Yes I am, what does that mean?

It means that every day I am making a commitment to myself, I work well with small commitments and I do things every morning, I write down little things I want to achieve that add to my bigger picture. 

Do I give back?

Yes, I do, every day I do my best to do 1 thing for someone else, whether it’s a compliment, a free meal for a client, or a phone call to a friend. I actively try to share a part of my energy that might make someone else’s day. 

Taking us to the last three questions, yes I am able to receive with great pleasure when someone is able to reach out and do something nice for me. This took quite a few years to understand that I wasn’t loving myself too much when someone complimented me. Fuck up right, I thought it was bad for agreeing. To work through this I had to practice self-love which moves me towards the next topic of boundaries.

Boundaries helped me to create space for self love but before that, I would/could still get anxious to communicate them to others, I would often overthink a lot and get nervous. To this day I still do need to think about the execution of my boundaries a lot but once I do I feel relieved. The biggest thing I do is react fast and cut people off. What I realise now is if I take some time and slow down my thinking rather than being anxious I am able to communicate my boundaries much better and feel so much more at ease when I use effective communication. 

This brings me to the last question: Do I believe I have a purpose here? 

The answer is YES but fucking hell it took me YEARS and I am still not done, but I now realise that I am the purpose because I am the only one that is able to change the course of my life. I am the one that can be my biggest advocate no matter the circumstances.

What are your key takeaways from my responses? Comment below

Now for some journal prompts, grab your journal or answer these prompts in the allocated section below.

Are you doing things to learn and grow using the learning styles you have chosen above? 

What do you struggle the most with when it comes to learning and growing?

How are you considering your learning styles when you learn and engage in growth?

What can you do to start incorporating that might support you using ways of learning in the most useful way?

Reflection of self exercise

Your turn, this part of the course is super important, it’s a time for you to slow down and take an hour out of your day to look inside of yourself. I pre-warn you, if what comes out feels shitty then I want you to say fuck yes to it, this is where we are going to build on the relationship you have with yourself and your purpose and ways you will be able to take aligned action towards.

Explain to the best of your ability a description of yourself, using my earlier journal entry as an example.

Please allow time to do this exercise and know that it may take time to begin to write about yourself, slow and steady is beautiful. 

Meditations on self reflection

We define self-reflection as a “meditation or serious thought about one’s character, actions, and motives” or “careful thoughts about one’s own behaviour and beliefs.” Adding a self-reflective component to a mindfulness practice can enhance the experience of assessing our thoughts, behaviours, motives, and the resulting consequences in our lives.

Some meditation prompts to think about when meditating or write about:

Do I live up to my value system? If not, what allowed me to do this?

Do I surround myself with people who align with my values?

Are there areas in my life that have not worked well for me?

Are there areas in my life that have worked out exactly the way I planned?

Do I take adequate care of myself? Are there things I could do to improve my self care? 

In closing, to gain further insight into self reflection I recommend listening and reading the below sources.

Are there any book recommendations you would recommend to your fellow like-minded members?

Podcast recommendation: Self Reflection by Pretty Spiritual Podcast

Book recommendations:

1. 7 Mindsets To Master Self-Awareness by Elizabeth Diamond
2. Self Aware: A Guide For Success in Work and Life by Robert Pasick and Dunrie Greiling
3. The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo