Module 11 · Reflection & learning from experience · Lesson 6 of 7

Spotting recurring patterns

The same kind of problem showing up again is a message worth reading.

7 min read · Free — no account needed to read

The idea

Some problems show up again and again in slightly different forms: the same argument with different people, the same kind of project going wrong, the same moment in the month when money runs out. When something recurs, it is usually not coincidence. It is a pattern with a cause.

Patterns are hard to see from inside a single event. They become visible when you look across many: reading a few months of journal entries, comparing several decisions, or looking at your reviews side by side.

Reviewing past decisions is especially useful. Look back at a few important decisions from the last year or two. What did you expect? What happened? Do your decisions tend to go wrong in a similar way — too fast, too cautious, too influenced by others? That pattern is worth more than any single lesson.

Why it matters

Fixing one event helps once. Seeing and changing a pattern helps every time it would have come back — which, for a pattern that repeats every few months, adds up over years.

See it happen

Reading her journal from the past year, Dalia notices that every few months she takes on a big new volunteer role and then feels exhausted and resentful.

The first read

Each role seemed worthwhile when she agreed to it, and each time the exhaustion felt like a separate, unlucky coincidence.

With this idea

Seeing the pattern, she notices she always says yes on the spot when asked in person. She makes a rule: always ask for a day to think. The next request, she declines kindly, and keeps her energy for the two roles she loves.

What changed

She looked across many events and changed the pattern, not just the latest instance.

Easy to get wrong

• Seeing patterns everywhere from too little evidence. Two events can be a coincidence; look for several.
• Blaming the pattern entirely on yourself. Patterns often involve situations and other people too.

What this rests on

Practical wisdom. A widely used way of working. Useful to try — not a scientific law.

Try it: Look across, not at

1. Read back through several journal entries, reviews or decisions from the past months.
2. Note anything that happens more than twice.
3. Pick one pattern and write what usually sets it off.

Reflect

• What keeps happening in your life in slightly different forms?
• Looking back at your big decisions, how do they tend to go wrong?

Use it in the coming days

Set aside twenty minutes this week to read back through your journal or reviews and look for one recurring pattern.

Where to do it: My Journal

Patterns appear when you read many entries together — your journal holds them.