Welcome to a new month and a fresh start.

Now that we’ve all been living the stressful, anxiety-filled stay-at-home life for a couple of weeks, it’s time for some serious self-reflection and introspection.

What is introspection you ask? The process of can simply be defined as “an examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings.”

Why is it important? Researchers have shown that we think more than 50,000 thoughts each day, of which more than half are negative and more than 90% are just repeats from the day before. By allowing yourself the time to refocus your mind on the positive through introspection, you will better understand yourself, your motivations and values, and gain back control of your life in these very uncertain times.

To help you achieve ultimate self-reflection and to make your days a little brighter, we recommend following these 2 key steps:

Step 1: Develop a Self-Care Checklist.

To keep your emotions and mentality in pristine working order, design a daily, weekly, and/or monthly self-care check-list. Be consistent in checking the little boxes off and change the questions to fit your needs.

Here are some questions to get you started…

• What brought me joy and laughter today? This week? This month?
• If I’m feeling down, what is making me feel down? How can I get back up?
• What are the positives in my life right now? Who am I thankful for?
• How much stress have I been experiencing? How can I alleviate it?
• Am I making enough effort to connect and communicate regularly with friends and family?
• What inspires me right now? What motivates me?
• What are new activities I want to try today? This week? This month?
• How am I feeling about the future? The week? Tomorrow?
• What small steps can I take to show that I am serious about loving myself?
• What is my personal daily mantra?

A helpful resource, the Fabulous App, is a simple science-based app designed to help you track your habits and create routines. Check out Fabulous’ monthly self-care check-list for some creative inspiration.

For additional questions, read Positive Psychology’s 87 Self-Reflection Questions for Introspection [+Exercises].

Step 2: Determine your own Quarantine Hierarchy of Needs.

In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the iconic motivational theory, Hierarchy of Needs. The basic idea of Maslow’s model is a five-tier hierarchical pyramid, with “higher” needs being dependent on the satisfaction of “lower” needs. From bottom to top, human needs are: 1. physiological, 2. safety, 3. love and belonging, 4. esteem, and 5. self-actualization.

Maslow’s theory, in our current time, “provides a powerful and useful model for understanding our very own psychological effects of the coronavirus” (Glenn Geher, Ph.D.). Read more on Positive Psychology’s article, Corona Viewed from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

For this step, based on Maslow’s approach, design your own Quarantine Hierarchy of Needs.

Fill your pyramid with essential, practical materials and simple pleasures that you require to reach the “top-level” of ultimate happiness. If you can successfully meet all of your “lower-level” needs on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, your top-tier needs will be fulfilled and your days will be brighter for it.

Through this 2-step process of introspection, you will begin to understand what you need as an individual to be your best self while living in this seemingly-everlasting quarantine.

Cheers to some self-care magic and brighter days.

Writen by Jessica Noyes - Communications Coordinator, WMA