Do you know how you are doing?

Reflective thinking might be the unlock.

One of the simplest ways to move forward effectively in Marketing is to reflect on the past. Making reflection a part of my work habits has been the biggest unlock in my career.

Turns out there is actually a term for it - Reflective thinking.

It is a cognitive process that involves thinking about and analyzing experiences in order to gain insight and understanding. It involves reflecting on what happened, what was learned, and how that learning can be applied in the future.

Reflective thinking helps me learn from my experiences, improve my decision-making, and develop a deeper understanding of how my work is going.

Specifically it helps me understand why campaigns were successful or not; helps me make sense of the projects I am working on now; helps me come to better decisions and focus my energy where it should be on my business.

When I was part of marketing teams building this accountability in was easier. As a single person business - this is a lot harder as I realized the blame for what went wrong is going to be 100% on me every single time.

On top of that - no is actually asking for or even reading what I create. It would be all too easy to just skip this process in months where things aren’t going as planned.

But skipping the process means I miss out on the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to get better and the opportunity to see where I should be focusing my efforts.

So what do I mean by reflection, let’s define what this looks like in practice.

• Daily - I am reflecting on what I was supposed to do yesterday, what got done, and where do I need to focus today.
  

• Weekly - I review past week performance against my goals, how I am pacing for the month, how I am spending my time and make adjustments based on the data I am seeing.
  

• Monthly - I zoom far out. How did last month end versus where I wanted it to? Am I on pace with the goals I set at the start of the year? What do I need to do more or less of? I am brutally honest about what went well and what didn’t and the reasons for that.

So if you are on your own like me, part of a marketing team or running a full company - make sure you are baking time in every day, week and month for reflective thinking. In the end it will only make you better and more self aware.

Thanks for reading!

Adam