Self-reflection helps you develop a deeper understanding of yourself - your values, passions, strengths, weaknesses, and driving factors behind your actions.

Taking time to reflect gives you space to step back and see the bigger picture. It brings clarity to your experiences, puts things in perspective, and allows you to identify areas for improvement as well as appreciate your progress and successes.

Self-reflection allows you to make more thoughtful, intentional choices based on your aspirations, values and what you've learned from past experiences. Together with greater self-awareness and clarity, you are able to make more informed judgements.

Reflecting on your actions, mistakes and successes maximises your ability to learn and grow from every experience. It enables you to identify lessons, consider better approaches, and continuously evolve and develop yourself.

By actively exploring the basis behind one's thoughts, beliefs, values, strengths and weaknesses, we are able to "know thyself" better, as advocated by Socrates. This self-examination is crucial for gaining self-understanding and living authentically.

Reflecting on life through the lens of philosophical ideas and concepts allows us to connect abstract concepts and theories to lived experiences. Integrating insights gained through study into real life allows for more holistic growth.

Ethical reasoning encourages scrutinising one's moral principles and decision-making processes. This ethical self-reflection cultivates integrity where one is acting in accordance with one's authentic values.

Existential and other philosophical insights can assist in exploring the deeper meaning, purpose and direction of one's life. This allows one to live with greater intentionality.

By consistently reflecting on our thoughts, beliefs, and actions through writing, we gain self-knowledge and can consciously shape our character and behaviour. As Socrates conveys this succinctly, "the unexamined life is not worth living."

Just like the Stoics, reflecting on philosophical concepts and perspectives in our journaling practice allows us to consciously cultivate virtues and achieve greater equanimity. It is a practical tool for living out our philosophical principles and values.

Journaling not only helps us construct a coherent narrative of our experiences, but also discover meaning in our lives, which existentialist philosophers have emphasised as crucial for living authentically.

The act of writing our story, rather than passively living it, empowers us to be the authors of our lives and to discern purpose and significance in our experiences.

There has been documented emotional and physical health benefits on expressive writing. These include fewer illness-related doctor visits, fewer days in the hospital, reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety and many others.

This is because journaling enhances cognitive processing and mental clarity which is key to better psychological well-being.

Pose philosophical questions to yourself and explore them in your journal. You don't have to respond to them right away if you don't have an "answer".

The key here is to live the questions. Save these burning questions in your journal and you can revisit them several months or even years later. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke frames this nicely:

"Perhaps someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

There are several ways of doing this.

• Write a personal manifesto containing principles and guidelines that you aspire to live by. Our manifesto is a worthy example!

• Explain in your own words about the concepts you've learned by taking notes.

• Engage in self-dialogue. Have a voice-recorded conversation with yourself, questioning your beliefs and assumptions from different angles, just like what Socrates did.

• Choose a quote from a philosopher you admire and write about how you can manifest that wisdom in your own life.

• Examining your day philosophically by responding to questions like "Did I live up to my principles and values? What could I have done better?"

Philosophical exercises from the Stoic tradition are very applicable to journaling. Here's a few:

• Negative visualisation When dealing with anxiety, imagine what is the worst thing that could happen. Write it down including details of the scenario and note any emotions that arise. Then reflect on these questions: If this misfortune really happened, what would I do? How would I cope and move forward? What inner strengths and external resources could I draw upon? How does this imagined loss reveals what you value and appreciate about your life now. What do you feel grateful for in this moment, knowing it won't last forever? Although this is a possibility, is it likely going to happen? What can you do right now that is within your control to make sure that it is less likely to happen?

• Locus of control

  1. Begin by reflecting on the Stoic concept of the dichotomy of control - that some things are within our control (our thoughts, opinions, values, goals, and actions) while other things are not (external events, other people's behaviors and opinions, forces of nature, etc.). Write down this distinction in your journal.

  2. Think about a recent challenging situation or source of stress in your life. Describe the situation objectively in your journal.

  3. Now, divide the situation into two categories in your journal: a) Aspects that were within your control b) Aspects that were outside your control

  4. For the things that were within your control, reflect on how you responded. Did you focus your thoughts and efforts productively? Did you act in alignment with your values? Write down what you did well and what you could have handled better.

  5. For the things outside your control, acknowledge that no amount of worrying or ruminating will change them. Practice acceptance by writing down a statement releasing your emotional attachment to those uncontrollable aspects. For example, "I accept that I cannot control how my spouse thinks about me." You can also complement this with a RAIN mindfulness practice.

  6. Set an intention for how you want to focus your energy and attention moving forward. What's one thing within your control that you can work on or improve, even in a small way? It could be your attitude, a goal to work towards, or a relationship to nurture. Write down your intention.

Like how thought experiments can be used as prompts for discussion, they can be also used as journaling prompts.

Reflecting on thought experiments opens up new pathways of reasoning especially when you're understanding them for the first time. And this can bring up new insights in your journaling practice.

As suggested by productivity expert James Clear, deciding the type of identity that you want to be first is key to effective goal setting.

The philosophical approach to discovering those identities would be to incorporate virtues like courage, justice, compassion, etc. For instance, if you want to be taken seriously at work, you may work towards becoming the identity of a courageous colleague.

Based on this identity, you may set smaller achievable goals like scheduling a 1:1 meeting with a trusted coworker every two weeks to give each other hard, honest feedback that you wouldn't share in larger work settings.

The "Being" dimension focuses on cultivating our inner life and developing our relationship to our thoughts, feelings, and the body. Philosophical practices like self-reflection and contemplation could support the development of these capacities through increasing self-awareness and clarity.

The "Relating" dimension is about developing our capacity to care for others and the world. Attitudes that are essential to philosophical practice such as curiosity and intellectual humility allow us to empathise with others better.

The "Collaborating" dimension is about being able to effectively working with others to create change. Philosophical skills like critical thinking often enable us to communicate effectively by being able to clearly express our thoughts and intentions.

Also, being able to relate to others better through humility and perspective-taking also lead to effective collaboration.

The "Acting" dimension is about cultivating attitudes and mindsets that enable one to drive change. Philosophical concepts (such as Stoic ethics) from various traditions can offer insights that can help guide how one should act in a given situation or context.

One example that aligns with the IDG Acting qualities of courage is Stoic philosophy. Stoicism emphasizes developing the mental fortitude and courage to face life's challenges head-on. It teaches that we should embrace difficulties as opportunities for growth and maintain an unwavering belief in our goals despite setbacks.

This principle emphasizes the need for courage and heroism in one's mental life. It's about maintaining an elevated view and well-being in everyday events, especially during crises. It involves the ability to live in dual planes: being actively engaged in daily life while maintaining inner peace and freedom.

This principle suggests that individuals can strive to achieve a balance between engaging with the world and nurturing their inner selves. Collectively, it advocates for a society where people are not only resilient but also maintain a higher moral and ethical awareness.

This means having an inner compass that guides your actions and enables you to live life meaningfully and authentically.

This orientation is not dogmatic but is rooted in a profound existential and spiritual understanding. On a personal level, it implies living life with purpose and on a collective level, it encourages societies to move towards more meaningful collective goals, rather than being driven by transient or superficial objectives.

This involves engaging in creative and innovative activities that challenge our usual ways of thinking and doing could stimulate philosophical growth and a deeper sense of freedom.

In some cases especially in moments that demand critical attention, one would need to practice making deliberate choices that align with one's values and the greater good. This involves an openness to change while staying true to one's principles, a willingness to question our assumptions, and the agility to adjust our strategies in the pursuit of truth, justice, honesty, and knowledge.

Deep listening is not a passive act. Rather, it's a dynamic, interactive process where both listener and speaker co-create the emergence of meaning and understanding.

Listening also naturally motivates one to comprehend the peculiarities and singularities of objects, ideas, or practices, while also situating them within a broader context. Through deep listening, we are able to foster a deep connection with the world around us.

Miranda introduces the idea of relating to the "Creal", the creative possibility that underpins existence. This entails seeing the world not as a fixed set of circumstances but as a dynamic field of infinite potential, where each moment offers a chance for novel creation and interpretation.

Embracing creative possibility involves engaging in practices that cultivate an awareness and appreciation of the creative flux of being. Possible examples include philosophical study, meditation, creative arts, or simply adopting a mindset that seeks to perceive and appreciate the interconnectedness and potentiality in all aspects of life.

This includes self-awareness about one's learning processes, the task of learning and how information is processed, and strategies for learning. It encompasses knowledge of oneself as a learner (strengths, weaknesses, preferences) and how the brain encodes, organises and retrieves information.

This is the ability to control one's thinking and learning through strategies like planning, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes. It involves skills to deliberately monitor and direct one's own learning processes

Metacognition is considered critical for successful learning. In education, students with stronger metacognitive skills tend to learn better and have higher achievement levels. A meta-analytic study has shown that metacognition is one of the most significant predictors of academic performance.

It is also a teachable skill that instructors can help students develop. Studies have shown that the average impact from explicitly teaching metacognition and self-regulation strategies is an additional seven months’ progress over the course of a year.

Metacognition often involves higher-order thinking skills like analysis, evaluation, and self-reflection needed for complex problem-solving. These skills enable transferring knowledge and strategies across different contexts.

Metacognitive skills enable students to take control of their own learning process by planning, monitoring, and evaluating their approach. In this sense, metacognition develops learners' ability to recognise their strengths, weaknesses, and effective strategies that work in their respective context and situation.

Being open to new ideas, experiences, and perspectives allows you to continuously learn and grow as a person. It enables you to challenge your existing assumptions, gain fresh insights, and expand your knowledge and understanding of the world

An open mind helps you approach problems from multiple angles. By considering alternative viewpoints and solutions, you enhance your ability to find innovative and effective ways to overcome challenges.

Open-mindedness fosters empathy, compassion, and understanding towards others. It allows you to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, build bridges, and maintain healthy personal and professional relationships despite differences in opinions or beliefs.

In a rapidly changing world, open-mindedness enables you to be flexible and adapt to new circumstances. It makes you more receptive to change and helps you bounce back from setbacks by being open to emerging possibilities.

Exposing yourself to fresh perspectives and ideas through an open mind fuels creativity. It allows you to make novel connections, think outside the box, and generate original solutions. This is vital for innovation in any field.

On a broader level, open-mindedness promotes tolerance, inclusion, and social progress. It enables people to bridge divides, find common ground despite differences, and work together to solve shared problems.

A core aspect of philosophical inquiry is critically examining one's own assumptions, beliefs, and biases. Philosophy pushes us to reflect on why we believe what we believe and to be open to changing our minds if presented with compelling arguments or evidence to the contrary. This encourages an openness to new ideas.

Philosophy exposes us to a wide range of worldviews, theories, and arguments. Some of them may seem strange or counterintuitive at first. Engaging with this diversity of thought can expand our intellectual horizons and make us more receptive to unfamiliar ideas. We learn to appreciate the reasons and motivations behind views that differ from our own.

Philosophical thinking prizes getting to the truth of the matter over simply winning an argument or protecting one's own ego. It teaches us to follow the argument where it leads, even if that means acknowledging holes in our own reasoning or admitting that someone else has made a good point. Open-mindedness requires this willingness to concede when appropriate.

The work of philosophy often deals with difficult questions that often lack clear, definitive answers. Getting comfortable with this kind of ambiguity is normal when doing philosophy and fosters open-mindedness by discouraging dogmatism. An open mind can consider multiple possibilities without prematurely jumping to conclusions.

Philosophy makes us acutely aware of just how much we don't know. Recognizing the gaps, limitations, and fallibility of our understanding can engender intellectual humility and openness to new information that could potentially fill in those gaps.

The concept of "ubuntu" stresses the interconnectedness of people and holds that a person's true authentic self emerges through relationships and responsibilities to the community. In this sense, integrity involves upholding the values and welfare of one's community.

Existentialism sees authenticity as living in accordance with one's true self and values, even in the face of external pressures. Philosophers like Sartre and Heidegger argued that to be authentic, we must embrace our freedom and responsibility to define our own essence through the choices we make.

Authenticity requires self-awareness, taking ownership of our lives, and having the courage to live according to our own principles rather than simply conforming to societal expectations.

Aristotelian and neo-Aristotelian approaches equates authenticity to the ideal of eudaimonia or human flourishing.

Living authentically means exercising our essential capacities as rational, social and emotional beings in a virtuous way. This involves cultivating virtues like courage, compassion, integrity, and practical wisdom.

In Confucian philosophy, authenticity is tied to being true to one's social roles and duties. Confucius taught that cultivating personal integrity or cheng (誠) enables one to fulfill their roles as a family member and citizen with utmost sincerity. Being authentic means exemplifying the virtues proper to one's station in life.

In contrast, Daoist thinkers like Laozi and Zhuangzi see authenticity as involving a rejection of rigid social conventions and a return to one's natural spontaneous self (ziran 自然). The authentic person lives simply and spontaneously, in harmony with the Dao, without striving or contrivance. In this sense, integrity means being true to one's inner nature.

Authenticity involves realizing the principle of "non-self" (anatta) which argues that the self is a mental construction without an unchanging essence. Seeing through the illusion of the ego-self allows one to live with greater equanimity, compassion and freedom which allows for one to live authentically.

Integrity in this context, would mean living in accordance to Dharma, which refers to the truth of things that includes the principles of "non-self", impermanence and many others.

Integrity enables us to live according to our deepest values and moral convictions. A person of integrity aligns their actions with their principles, even in the face of external pressures or temptations to compromise.

This requires self-knowledge, moral courage, and the strength of character to resist conforming to unethical norms. Integrity thus empowers us to stand up for what we believe is right.

Integrity and authenticity enable trust as well as accountability, which are crucial for healthy relationships.

We can rely on people of integrity to keep their word and do the right thing. Also, people who are truly authentic tend to be transparent about who they really are, allowing for genuine connection. In contrast, deception and hypocrisy can erode trust and relationships in the long term.

To make free choices that are truly our own, we must know our values and identities, and have the integrity to act on them consistently.

Blindly conforming to external expectations (e.g. what family members expect of us that may not align with our values and aspirations) undermines our autonomy.

At a societal level, widespread integrity and authenticity support an ethical culture. When more people strive to live with honesty and adhere to moral principles, it creates positive social pressure for ethical conduct.

Institutions and leaders with integrity are more likely to be just and serve the greater good.

Presence is related to the concept of wu wei (无为) or "effortless action." This means being so immersed in the present moment that one responds perfectly to the situation at hand without conscious effort.

Zhuangzi gives the example of a butcher whose blade never needs sharpening because his presence allows him to find the empty spaces between joints. Through this story, he illustrates that presence enables harmonious, responsive flow.

The concept of presence is central to the philosophy and practice of yoga as expounded in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and other yogic texts.

In Pantajali's Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined in the second sutra as "yogas citta vritti nirodhah" - the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. The goal of yoga is to still the restless mind and cultivate a state of pure, uninterrupted presence and awareness.

All the practices of yoga, including the Eight Limbs of Yoga outlined by Patanjali, aim to draw us into the present moment.

The Zen Buddhist tradition places great emphasis on present moment awareness. Practices like tea ceremony, calligraphy, archery and swordsmanship became vehicles for cultivating a state of total absorption in the here-and-now. In this state, the small mind-self disappears and one's activity becomes an expression of the whole.

This open, non-reactive awareness is seen as an antidote to suffering caused by grasping at the past or future. By being fully present, one is able to see the impermanent, ever-changing nature of phenomena.

Phenomenology emphasizes the importance of presence in human experience. Philosophers like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger argued that our primary mode of being is through engaged, embodied presence in the world.

In this sense, presence is seen as more fundamental than abstract or theoretical knowledge.

As philosophers like Heidegger and Buber argued, it is only through engaged, embodied presence that we can truly meet and understand others.

Presence allows us to go beyond abstractions and connect with the lived reality of another person. This is crucial for building empathy, compassion and ethical relationships.

When we are fully present, we become more attuned to the moral dimensions of a situation. We can better discern others' needs and our obligations to them.

Presence makes the ethical demand of the other harder to ignore or rationalise away. It confronts us with the full weight of our moral choices.

An instrumental mindset sees people as mere means to an end. But cultivating presence enables us to recognize the inherent worth of each person.

By being fully present, we affirm others' humanity and treat them as ends in themselves, in line with Kant's Categorical Imperative. Presence stops us from objectifying and dehumanising others.

Ethical dilemmas are often complex, requiring careful consideration of competing values. Presence enables the open awareness needed to navigate these considerations wisely.

By responding to the nuances of the situation, we are exercising Aristotelian phronesis or practical wisdom, which is the capacity to discern the right course of action in particular circumstances.

This stops us from reacting to situations out of habit or impulse, allowing space for moral imagination and being sensitive to the context at the same time.

Philosophy encourages questioning the mental models, schemas, and frames we use to make sense of situations. By examining and challenging our preconceptions, we can develop more sophisticated and adaptive sensemaking capacities.

Having ethical guidelines on sensemaking provides normative guidance for making sense in ways that enable human flourishing. Ethical reasoning can help us take responsibility for the ethical implications of our sensemaking and enact more skilful, less harmful interpretations.

Philosophical analysis clarifies important conceptual differences. For example, clarifying between what we believe and what we know when attempting to organise information on our experiences. Making finer-grained distinctions improves the nuance and precision of our sensemaking categories.

Philosophical practice promotes considering situations from multiple angles and viewpoints. This expands our sensemaking beyond narrow, individual-centric frames to include other possibilities. Imagining how others might be making sense develops empathy and social intelligence.

Philosophy encourages critical thinking by teaching how to analyze concepts, construct arguments, detect inconsistencies in reasoning, and reflect on one's own beliefs. also provides tools for building well-constructed, systematic arguments that improve persuasive and presentation skills.

By of ideas and better comprehension abilities, philosophical practice is essential for effective communication.

Philosophical inquiry promotes self-reflection and greater awareness of one's own strengths, weaknesses, values and biases. This self-awareness, combined with the study of diverse philosophical perspectives, helps develop empathy and the ability to understand others' viewpoints, which are crucial for connecting with an audience.

Various ethical traditions have emphasised the importance of communicating with truthfulness, accountability, and respect for persons. For example, virtue-based approaches advocate for cultivating virtues through one's actions such as and .