Reflection improves learning.
Have you ever seen a professional baseball player before a big world series game? There is an intensity in the air; the crowd is roaring, fans are begging for autographs, reporters are bombarding with questions, yet the player is calm and focused. When the pitcher first steps onto the mound, he shows no signs of being nervous – he is in the zone – there is just pure, collected attention on the task at hand and what needs to be done. This marks the character of a disciplined and skilled individual. An individual with flow.
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
Abraham Lincoln
We all have certain aspirations in life. We tell them to our friends and family. We write them down. And other times we keep them hidden underneath our brain wrinkles.
Whatever we do, they are there; they are implicit in our conscious action. They are short-term and long-term ideas we have in mind for the future.
But if we don’t periodically ask questions like “Where am I going? How will I get there?” our goals begin to drift further and further away from our outcomes. We are no longer exercising our free will, we are instead like puppets pulled by strings.