What the Examen Can Teach Us About Professional Development
How a reflective practice developed centuries ago may help modern professionals grow with greater awareness, clarity, and intentionality
Professional development is often framed around external achievement like certifications, promotions, productivity, technical skills, networking, and measurable performance. Those things matter. But many professionals eventually discover that growth is not only about acquiring more knowledge or becoming more efficient. It is also about developing greater self-awareness, emotional insight, intentionality, and alignment between our work and our values.
One practice that may offer surprisingly useful insights for professional development is the Examen. Traditionally associated with Ignatian spirituality, the Examen is a reflective practice designed to help people thoughtfully review their experiences, emotions, actions, and patterns throughout the day. While it has religious roots, many of its principles can also be applied in secular professional settings as a tool for reflection, learning, and personal growth.
At its core, the Examen encourages people to slow down long enough to notice what is happening within themselves rather than moving through life entirely on autopilot. And in modern professional culture, that may be more important than we realize.
The Historical Origins of the Examen
The Examen was developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century as part of the spiritual practices that eventually became central to the Jesuit tradition. Ignatius, a Spanish soldier-turned-religious leader, created the practice as a way to help individuals become more aware of their inner lives, their patterns of thought and behavior, and the ways their daily experiences shaped their spiritual and personal growth.
Importantly, the Examen was never intended to function simply as a checklist of moral failures or a ritual focused on guilt. Instead, Ignatius viewed it as a practice of awareness and discernment. He believed that people often move through life without fully noticing what draws them toward meaning, purpose, connection, growth, and wisdom or what pulls them toward discouragement, distraction, impulsiveness, and disconnection.
The practice was designed to help individuals slow down and intentionally reflect on their experiences so they could better understand themselves, recognize patterns, and respond to life with greater intentionality rather than operating purely from habit or reaction.
Historically, the Examen was used as a daily reflective discipline to cultivate self-awareness, spiritual growth, gratitude, emotional insight, and thoughtful action. Over time, many people outside explicitly religious settings have also adapted its reflective structure for personal growth, leadership development, education, counseling, coaching, and professional reflection because its core principles translate surprisingly well into modern life and work.
What Is the Examen?
The Examen is traditionally practiced at the end of the day and involves intentionally reflecting on experiences, thoughts, emotions, interactions, and moments of meaning or difficulty.
Different versions exist, but the practice often includes:
becoming still and present
reviewing the events of the day
noticing emotional responses
reflecting on moments of fulfillment or tension
identifying areas for growth
considering how to move forward more intentionally tomorrow
Importantly, the Examen is not primarily about harsh self-criticism or perfectionism. It is meant to cultivate awareness. The goal is not simply to ask: “What did I accomplish today?”
But also:
What energized me?
What drained me?
Where did I act thoughtfully?
Where did I react impulsively?
When did I feel aligned with my values?
When did I feel disconnected?
How did I impact the people around me?
What patterns am I beginning to notice?
These are questions many professionals rarely give themselves permission to ask consistently.
Why This Matters for Professional Development
Many workplaces emphasize performance but spend very little time helping people develop reflective awareness. Without reflection, professionals can easily fall into repetitive cycles of reacting instead of responding, operating from stress and urgency, repeating ineffective communication habits, drifting away from meaningful goals, becoming disconnected from purpose, and losing awareness of emotional patterns and burnout
Reflection creates space between experience and reaction. And that space is often where growth begins. The Examen can support professional development by helping people become more self-aware, improve emotional intelligence, strengthen intentional decision-making, identify sources of energy and burnout, align work more closely with personal values, improve communication and relationships, and develop resilience and adaptability
Over time, small moments of consistent reflection can produce significant long-term insight.
A Simple Professional Examen Practice
Someone does not need to adopt a formal practice to benefit from the reflective structure of the Examen.
A professional version might take only 10–15 minutes at the end of the workday.
For one week, a person might ask themselves:
1. What moments stood out today?
What interactions, projects, conversations, or experiences stayed with me emotionally?
2. When did I feel energized or engaged?
What kinds of work or interactions seemed to bring focus, curiosity, motivation, or fulfillment?
3. When did I feel stressed, disconnected, reactive, or discouraged?
What may have contributed to those feelings?
4. How did I impact other people today?
Did my communication, attitude, or behavior contribute positively or negatively to the environment around me?
5. What is one thing I want to carry forward into tomorrow?
What small adjustment, mindset shift, or intentional action would help me grow?
The goal is not to produce perfect answers.
The goal is to become more aware over time.
An Example in Practice
Imagine an early-career employee who feels increasingly exhausted and discouraged at work but cannot fully explain why.
At the end of each day for one week, they practice a brief reflective review.
As they reflect, they begin noticing patterns:
they consistently feel energized when collaborating with others
they feel drained after long periods of isolated administrative work
they become reactive when they feel rushed
they avoid asking questions because they fear appearing inexperienced
they feel most fulfilled when helping coworkers solve problems
None of these insights may appear in a productivity report or performance metric. But they matter deeply for professional development.
Through reflection, the employee begins understanding:
how they work best
what environments support their growth
what emotional triggers affect communication
where insecurity may be limiting learning
what kinds of work feel meaningful
That awareness can eventually shape:
career decisions
communication habits
leadership development
collaboration
burnout prevention
confidence
emotional resilience
Growth Requires Awareness
Professional development is often treated as something external: more skills, more credentials, more efficiency, more output. But sustainable growth also requires internal awareness. It requires the ability to reflect honestly, notice patterns, understand ourselves more clearly, and make intentional adjustments over time. Practices like the Examen remind us that growth is not only about moving faster. Sometimes growth begins by paying closer attention.