1. Managing Myself
Module B: Part 2
Self-Reflection and Self-Assessment

2. Self-Reflection
Self-reflection is about taking the time to think about yourself and your
own life. We are so busy that we rarely take the time to self-reflect.
There are many different areas of our lives that we can reflect on. For
example:
• Are you happy?
• How do you feel about yourself?
• Do you feel healthy?
• Are you managing your time well?
• Are you organized?

3. Benefits of Self-Reflection
• Help you put things into perspective
• Help you stay on track with your goals
• Increase your awareness of time management
• Help you get on touch with your true feelings
• Help you understand work/life balance
• Help you recognize and celebrate your successes
• Help you learn from your mistakes

4. “Self-reflection is so healthy. Journaling works for me -
when I record the details of what I'm going through,
whether it's a relationship issue or negative thoughts, I
can look back and see how far I've come. It makes me
proud to see my progress and how I got through a bad
situation.”
Kelly Rowland
Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/k/kellyrowla587993.html#obSE8BtksULCJvfy.99

5. Self-reflection is basically
answering questions about
yourself and how you
personally feel about things.
You can reflect about things
that are happening right now,
have happened in the past or
are going to happen in the
future.

6. Self-reflection about things that have
already happened allows you to look
with hindsight.
Hindsight is the recognition of the
realities, possibilities, or requirements
of a situation, event, decision etc., after
it happens.
Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/
How do you think reflecting
about things that have
happened can be helpful?

7. Personal Journals
• One tool you can use to self-reflect is a personal journal.
• A personal journal is private.
• Only you write in your journal and read your journal.
• You can put whatever you want in a journal.

8. If you write a journal you can go back to what you wrote later to
see how your feelings and thoughts evolved. This can help you
develop problem solving skills to deal with new challenges and
stressors.
You usually are not stressed when you are doing something you
are familiar with. However, the first time you do something it can
be very stressful. An example might be the first time you come to
an upgrading program or the first day on the job. If you have
written about stressful experiences in your journal you can revisit
how you felt and how this changed as you became more familiar
and comfortable with the situation.

9. Activity: Personal Journal Entry
Possible Topics:
• What I am doing today and how I feel
• How I feel about a current event
• What makes me happy

10. Personal Blogs
• Some people like to share their self-reflections with others.
• A common way to do this is by writing a personal blog on the Internet.
A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide
Web and consisting of discrete entries or posts that are typically
displayed in reverse chronological order. This means the most recent
post appears first.
Source: Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
People who write blogs are called bloggers.

11. Activity: Read a Blog Post

12. Tips
• You can practice self-reflection just about anywhere. You should make
self-reflection a part of your daily habit even if it is only for a few
minutes.
• Try self-reflecting in different ways. You can write a journal, think while
you are exercising, or write out a list of accomplishments.
• Being relaxed can help you self-reflect. Try some deep breathing
exercises or even meditation.

13. Self-Assessment
• The ability to self-assess is a valuable skill to develop.
• Self-assessment is a building block for setting goals and making
positive changes.
• Self-assessment can help you decide if you are doing alright. It
doesn't have to be about change. It can be about affirming what you
are already doing.
What do you think self-assessment means?

14. Just as you can self-reflect on many different
aspects of your life, you can also self-assess
those aspects.
Self-assessment is usually done using some
type of tool or process.

15. There are many different types of self-assessment tools. For
example:
• Tools to help you see how organized you are.
• Tools to help you decide what type of career you would like to do.
• Tools to help you decide if you are ready for important next steps
in life like having a baby.
• Tools to see if you are managing your finances well.
• Tools to help you assess your skills in different areas.
Can you think of any others?

16. Activity: Brainstorm
areas of your life where you
think a self-assessment tool
would be helpful.

17. Internet Assessment Tools
• There are a wide
variety of self-
assessment tools
that you can find for
free on the Internet

18. Activity: Essential Skills
Self-Assessments
• Complete the Continuous Learning Self-Assessment from Employment and Social
Development Canada:
http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/les/tools/assessment/continuous_learning_self_as
sessment.shtml
• Complete the Working with Others Self-Assessment from Employment and Social
Development Canada:
http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/les/tools/assessment/wwo_self_assessment.shtml
• Complete the Thinking Self-Assessment from Employment and Social Development
Canada: http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/les/tools/assessment/Thinking_Self-
Assessment.shtml
• Share your results with the rest of the group.

19. Activity: Mind Tools
Self-Assessments
Take the How Productive areYou self-assessment on the MindTools site. When
you are finished share your results with the rest of the group.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/productivity-quiz.htm
Find another self-assessment you would like to take on the MindTools site and
share those results with the group as well.

20. Activity: Heart and Stroke
Risk Assessment
• Complete the Heart and Stroke Risk Assessment online:
https://ehealth.heartandstroke.ca/?LID=1&pgSrc=risk&ref=http://www.heartandstroke.co
m/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.8032427/k.98D1/Video_Stories.htm&AspxAutoDetectCookieSup
port=1
• This is an optional activity.
Remember you should always check with a doctor
if you think something is wrong!

21. Activity: Write a Personal Journal
Entry
• Self-assessments can give you valuable information
for many different aspects of your life but you have to
act on the results if you want to make a change.
• Based on what you have learned doing the different
self-assessments in this session, what are some of
the changes you are going to make? Write a personal
journal entry about this. If you feel comfortable, you
can share your changes or the things you are going
to do with the rest of the group.

22. This Power Point was created by Laubach Literacy Ontario.
The resources can be downloaded free of charge at www.laubach-on.ca.
This Employment Ontario project was funded by the Ontario Government. 2015
All website links were accurate at the time of original distribution-March 2015.
All of the images and clip art used in this Power Point are from Clipart.com and
Microsoft Office.com.