Reflection: Wipe away those tears
Reflection is one of the most underrated leadership habits because it doesn’t look like “work”. There’s no applause for it, no instant win, and it doesn’t show up on a KPI dashboard. But it can save you tears, literally.
Most founders reflect accidentally when they’re working late at night, usually upset, exhausted, or on the edge because they’ve been firefighting all day again. That kind of reflection isn’t clarity; it’s your nervous system waving a red flag. And from a mental health point of view, constant firefighting is a serious issue. It drains decision-making, squeezes joy out of the job, and turns leadership into survival mode.
Proper reflection is calmer and deliberate. It’s a short pause to ask: what actually happened this week, what did it cost me, and what am I changing next week so I’m not repeating the same pain? That’s how you stop “busy” being mistaken for progress.
It’s also why I don’t work Fridays. I run a four-day week, and over the next few years I want that to drop to three days, then two, because getting older shouldn’t mean working yourself into the ground. It’s a sad state of affairs when we just work and work and work.
Reflection is one of the simplest ways to start looking after ourselves better.
It’s critically important to reflect on everything we do, every week, pull aside an hour and just do something which enables you to do nothing.
Written by Sonny Cutting
