Observing our thinking: Meta Cognition
As humans, we have the ability to harness something of a superpower. It’s the ability to notice and consider our thoughts & see patterns in our thinking & learning. We then begin to understand our trends & inclinations in not only our thinking, but also how we behave as a result of this thinking.
It goes something like this:
we think→ we notice our thoughts→ we analyze our thoughts & see patterns→we become aware of our behaviors→we make healthy changes for ourselves and..Voila! We evolve.
This superpower is called meta cognition. While often linked to learning in a classroom setting, it can be applied across contexts.
Meta cognition is a high level of self-awareness, however, we are only aware of our thinking when we slow down long enough to notice it. Yes. That’s right. We need to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n to experience our thoughts. Additionally, meta cognition is something that we need to take time to curate & nurture. It won’t come to us just because we want it. It needs a little more finessing.
How to improve your skills
My favorite strategy to support the development of meta cognition is journaling. This is a simple way to unearth some remarkable self-reflection. Here’s how:
1. Grab a notebook to use as a journal. A notebook will do just fine.
2. Snag a pen.
3. Carve out a few minutes of quiet time to make it all happen.
Start by simply writing about your thoughts. Let them just drop onto the page as though you were taking notes on a painting in a museum, or jotting down observations of the sky. That’s it.
Examples of short journal entries
- I’m so curious what today will be like for me. I’m hoping for an easy flow to my day. Right now, I’m noticing, I’m hungry, that my stomach is telling me I need to eat, but I’m also noticing that I have a million other things that I need to do that feel more important than eating. I’m wondering if I push thoughts of eating away in order to do other things all the time. I notice that when I get curious about this, my body wants to shift a lot. Today, I want to try and pay more attention to my hunger cues and attend to them.
- I’m noticing my mind wandering as I sit here. Thoughts are moving quickly. It’s difficult to pin one idea down for very long. I’m aware that things feel chaotic in my brain. Right now, I’m experiencing a blank sort of feeling in my mind. It is though all the thoughts I just had went away…
When journaling, give yourself around 2-5 minutes. Gradually, see if you can work up to 10 minutes for your writing sessions.
Additionally, you may consider creating an action step in your journal entry based on what you observe (as in the first example above), or you may simply want to let the journaling to be a way to see the pattern of your thinking (as in the second example).
Stay with the practice and see how it feels.
Keep an eye on Those Natural Things events for details on happenings to help level up your meta cognition. Happy diving!
