Reflection works because the brain is designed to learn from experience. So reflection isn't just thoughtful, it's neurologically powerful. It helps your brain consolidate, refrain, prepare for what's next.
Welcome to RenewHer, a podcast for women over 50 ready to reignite their energy and explore what's next. I'm Genell Lemley, brain fitness coach, Here, you'll hear real stories from women taking on new challenges after 50, along with brain health tips to boost focus, energy, and the mindset to move forward with confidence. Let's dive into today's episode.
Hi, I'm really glad you're here. Today's episode is about reflection, what it is and what it isn't. What makes this conversation different is that we'll explore reflection through a gentle neuroscience lens so you can understand what's actually happening in your brain when you pause and look back and ahead. There's nothing you need to do right now. Just settle in and listen.
Do you reflect at the end of the year? And if you don't, why not? Maybe it feels like there's never enough time. Maybe it's uncomfortable to pause and notice what's happened. Maybe you worry it will turn into self-judgment. Or maybe you just forget to stop in the rush of life.
If you do reflect why? Maybe you reflect because you're craving clarity. Maybe you're trying to make sense of a season that felt full or heavy or fast. Maybe you wanna notice what worked, what didn't, or how you've changed or grown. Or maybe there's just a quiet nudge inside you that says, pause, pay attention.
Reflection shows up for many reasons, and none of them mean you're behind, broken or in need of fixing. Reflection isn't about judging yourself. It's not about replaying everything you got wrong. And it's not about setting unrealistic expectations for who you should be next year.
Reflection is about noticing, naming what's there, making meaning from experience. It's about observing patterns without judging them and asking open questions, not for answers right away, but for understanding. We're not problem solving, not fixing, not diagnosing. We're not asking what went wrong. We're asking what can I notice here?
At its core, reflection is about awareness and understanding. Understanding your experiences, understanding your patterns, understanding what this past season has been trying to teach you. For many of us, especially at the end of the year, reflection becomes a way to close one chapter with intention before opening the next.
In this episode, I'll share a bit about how resection works in the brain because it's more than a feel good practice. It's a neurological one.
Then I'll offer six prompts to help you reflect on the past year and six prompts to help you look ahead to what's next as you might be walking, driving, or possibly working out. As you listen, I'll include all of these prompts in the show notes so you can come back to them when you have more time.
For now, there's no pressure to remember everything or answer every question. No pressure to write anything down. Just listen. Notice what stands out and take in what feels meaningful.
Reflection works because the brain is designed to learn from experience. When you pause and think about your experiences, your hippocampus gets to work. It organizes memories connecting what just happened with what you already know. This helps your brain make sense of the past and retain important lessons instead of letting experiences blur together or fade away.
At the same time, your prefrontal cortex becomes engaged. This is the part of the brain responsive for insight, perspective, and decision making. It's the part that asks, what worked, what didn't? What can I learn from this? Reflection helps this part of your brain create meaning and identify insights you can carry forward.
Your limbic system, which is your emotional center, is also involved. Reflection allows you to process the feelings tied to events, release stored stress, and reframe challenges. That's why even a few minutes, a reflection can feel calming and clarifying even when the experience was difficult.
And finally, your brains default mode network lights up. This network is active when you think about yourself, your goals, and the meaning behind your experiences. Strengthening it supports self-awareness, insight, and intentional decision making.
So reflection isn't just thoughtful, it's neurologically powerful. It helps your brain consolidate, refrain, and prepare for what's next.
With that in mind, let's move into reflection. We'll start by looking back. As you listen to each prompt, notice what comes up, a thought, a feeling, a memory. You don't need to hold on to everything. Just notice.
As we reflect on the past year, we'll move through a few thoughtful angles, noticing gratitude, celebrating accomplishments, exploring challenges, uncovering what you learned about yourself, looking at your relationships, and even considering what you might have wanted to do, but didn't. Each question is just an invitation to notice, not to judge.
So here's the first question. What are three things you're grateful for this year? Many people notice gratitude for relationships, for health, or for small moments of joy they might have otherwise missed. For me, one thing I'm grateful for is the incredible community of women I've connected with this past year, women who've supported me, challenged me, and inspired me.
When we reflect on gratitude, the brain releases dopamine and strengthens neural pathways for positive thinking. So your brain literally begins to feel good as you reflect. Here's the question again. What are you grateful for this year? And as you think about it, notice what comes up easily and what takes a little more time.
Now, let's move to the next question. What achievements, big or small, are you proud of this year? These can be personal, professional, or something only you know the effort behind. From a personal perspective, I'm proud of training for and completing the 29029 Everesting Challenge, a process that pushed my limits, both physically and mentally For you, maybe it was completing a project that felt overwhelming, maybe it was finally choosing to prioritize your health, your boundaries, or your rest.
Our brains have a natural negativity bias. Without reflection, we remember what went wrong far more easily than what went right. Pausing to notice what you're proud of helps rebalance that.
Here's another prompt. What did this year teach you about yourself? Not lessons. You had to learn the hard way. Just what you discovered. Something about your resilience, your boundaries, your energy, your needs.
Now let's reflect on challenges. Think about the moments that felt difficult or uncomfortable. Which challenges taught you the most and what did they teach you? Often difficulties reveal strengths we didn't know we had. Maybe something didn't go as planned. You felt frustrated or disappointed, but looking back you realize it taught you patience, adaptability, or the courage to ask for help. Skills you can now carry forward.
Now let's turn to relationships. Which relationships brought you energy and joy this year? And which relationships might need more attention? Are there relationships you neglected? Reflection gives your brain important data about where to invest your time and energy. And just as important, which relationships drained your energy? If someone consistently leaves you feeling depleted, reflection helps you consider what might need to shift. And as we notice the energy others give or take, it's worth turning inward for a moment. Sometimes the dream doesn't come from outside, it comes from within.
Before we move onto the last question, and looking back over this past year, I wanna provide some context before asking it. I wanna pause for just a moment on what's happening in your brain when there's something we want it to do but didn't.
The brain often isn't failing. It's protecting. Your brain is constantly scanning for risk, safety, and social belonging. If something felt uncertain, too demanding or emotionally risky, your nervous system may have quietly stepped in to keep you safe. Not to stop you, but to conserve energy, avoid threat, or prevent disappointment.
That's why the following question isn't about regret. It's about awareness. When you reflect with curiosity instead of judgment, your limbic system stays calm and your prefrontal cortex can stay engaged. That's where insight lives. When you understand why something didn't happen, you create space for different choices moving forward.
With that in mind, let's explore this next question. Looking back on this past year, what's one thing you wanted to do but didn't? Something personal or professional? Not as a regret, not as a judgment. Just a moment of honest noticing. As you think about it, ask yourself gently. What got in the way? Was it time? Energy? Doubt? Did you question yourself? Worry what others might think? Tell yourself, maybe later?
This reflection isn't about what you should have done. It's about understanding what influenced your choices and what your brain was trying to protect you from.
As we reflect on the past, you may notice some things feel complete and others still feel open. That awareness isn't a problem. It's information, and the insights you've gathered don't just tell you about the past. They help you anticipate what's ahead. That brings us to future reflection.
While reflection is often framed as looking back, your brain can also use reflective thinking to anticipate plan, and mentally rehearse what's ahead. Neuroscientists often call this perspective reflection.
Future reflection engages many of the same brain regions as memory. Your prefrontal cortex helps you plan and make decisions. Your hippocampus draws on past experiences to guide possible futures. Your limbic system anticipates emotions, helping you mentally rehearse how to respond to challenges and successes.
Together, these processes create a roadmap, build confidence, and prime you for action. When you reflect forward, your brain begins preparing for what's next before you ever take action. This kind of reflection can reduce anxiety, clarify priorities, and help you move forward with more intention. So let's look ahead.
As we look ahead to the year to come, we'll explore a few themes: how you wanna feel, what you wanna carry forward, what you want to protect, the challenges you might anticipate, the bold steps you might take. And finally, the one thing you really wanna do.
Here's the first future-focused question. As you think about the year ahead, how do you want to feel more often? Not what you want to achieve, not what you want to prove, but how you want to feel in your body and your mind. For example, you might wanna feel calm when things are busy, or confident when stepping into new challenges. This kind of reflection strengthens the brain circuits associated with noticing and cultivating positive emotional states.
Building on that idea, what do you want to carry forward into next year? Many people want to continue habits or lessons that help them grow. Maybe you wanna keep practicing mindfulness, prioritizing self-care, or setting boundaries that improve focus and energy. Thinking this way strengthens neural patterns to support those behaviors so your brain is literally primed to notice opportunities to act in alignment with your intentions.
And thinking about what you carry forward naturally leads to the question of what to protect. What do you want to protect more intentionally in your head? Your energy? Your time? Your health? Your peace? Protection is a powerful form of self-leadership.
With your priorities and protections in mind, let's consider potential challenges. What challenges might you face and how can you prepare? Imagine anticipating a demanding project at work or a personal transition. Reflection helps your brain anticipate obstacles and practice adapted strategies like scheduling rest periods or arranging support in advance.
Next, consider this, what's one bold step you could take early in the year? It might be speaking up in a meeting, starting a new project, or committing to a physical challenge. Reflection helps you identify steps that stretch you without overwhelming you. Visualizing yourself stepping forward primes your brain for courage and follow-through. Taking a bold step early in the year sets things in motion and gives your brain momentum.
But before we rush ahead, it's also important to pause and notice what your mind keeps returning to. What matters most, what you're drawn to, what feels alive inside you. That's what this final reflection is about.
Before we close, there's one more way your brain uses reflection. Not to plan every detail, not to solve everything at once, but to listen for what keeps resurfacing. Often when something stays with you, a thought, a desire, a quiet pull, it's your brain signaling relevance. Not urgency. Not pressure. It's signaling meaning.
When you give yourself space to notice that signal, your brain begins to organize around it. What matters? What's worth energy, what's ready to be explored next. So instead of asking, what should I do, the final reflection asks something softer and often more honest. As you think about the year to come, what's one thing you really want to do?
It might be something you didn't do last year or something entirely new. It could be big, starting a business, earning a certification, changing careers, training for a physical challenge. Or it could be quieter, giving yourself permission to pause, trusting yourself more, believing in yourself more, offering yourself grace, allowing space to discover who you are becoming in this next chapter of life.
Before rushing ahead or checking all the to-do boxes, give this question some time. Notice what keeps coming back. Often, that's where clarity begins.
In summary, future reflection isn't about predicting the future. It's about giving your brain a map, noticing possibilities and setting intentions.
Now that you've heard all the questions and had a chance to absorb them, I encourage you to go back to the full set of questions in the show notes when you have time, and journal some of your thoughts, past and future.
Even small amounts of reflection can shape how your brain responds and what you notice in everyday life. Reflection is a practice we can carry forward all year, not just at the end.
For ongoing support with brain health and practices like this, I invite you to join my weekly newsletter, mind Matters. Each issue shares brain health tips, insights, and inspiration to help you step into your power with clarity and confidence. You'll find the link in the show notes.
As we step into the new year. I'll be carrying this theme of reflection forward. In the next couple of episodes, I'll be sharing lessons from my 29029 Everesting Challenge. Not just the physical climb, but the mental resistance, the doubt, the support I leaned into, and what the journey revealed about who I am and who I'm becoming.
And beyond that, I'm beginning to sit down with women who've chosen to make meaningful pivots after 50. Women who've listened to that inner nudge and took courageous steps forward. I'm really looking forward to sharing those stories with you as we move into 2026.
Thank you for joining me today, and thank you for giving yourself permission to pause. Take a deep breath, notice your reflections, and carry them with you as we step into a new year.
Remember, success starts with your brain. It's involved in everything you do. Renew your brain, renew your life.
Thank you for joining me for this episode of RenewHer. If today's conversation sparked something in you, don't let it fade. Take even a small step toward what's next. If you've found value in what you heard, please subscribe. Leave a review or share this podcast with a woman who's ready to take her next bold step. Together, we're building a community of strong, resilient women navigating what's next with courage and purpose. Until next time, stay energized and keep embracing what's possible.