Checking In

 Checking in is important. What was working out really well before may not be still. The goals you were working towards might have become less important and something else has taken their place. The once-shared values you might have had with your partner may no longer be shared as you each move and grow, sometimes at different rates and directions.

The way we fill our lives changes with the passage of time. The ages and stages of ourselves, those we love, and those we interact with on a daily basis all feed into how we live our lives. Checking in is incredibly important.

Checking in is important. Having a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly pause in the day-to-day to allow honest reflection and feedback. Having a framework to evaluate your whole life, all aspects of it, and see where one may be taking space away from another. There will almost always be one part of your life encroaching on other parts.

Part of talking through a check-in is listening to the feedback. If there is only talk but no hearing what is being said, there is little point in having the conversation at all, even when that conversation is with yourself.

Talking about the present, the things that have worked well in the past, and things that may work better in the future is a practice I recommend for everyone. It keeps communication strong, it helps realign personal and family goals, it aids in maintaining a vehicle for concerns to be shared between people.

Checking in also keeps us humble. When we stop and honestly let ourselves look at our lives, we are able to see the parts we're proud of, but also the less-than-pleasant parts that creep in. Then we can do what we can to make the changes necessary to make the self we want to be congruent with the one we are.