When it comes to making a change in your life, self-reflection is important. In Changing Your Game, this part of it is crucial to your overall success. But not for the reasons you would think.

From time to time, you read about how you may be your own worst enemy in the workplace, most recently in a Yahoo! Finance article I came across. Understandably, at a time when your self-esteem has been taking a beating, articles like this don’t exactly bring about much of an ego boost.

But with Changing Your Game, denial isn’t an option. When you read something like this, rather than shaking your head and saying, “No, that’s not me,” take a good look at what they’re trying to say to you.

You’re in the process of making a decision to change the direction of your career and your life. This means undertaking difficult tasks like looking at yourself and asking honestly if things are really that bad.

Consider this: When you’re at work, do you find that your co-workers feel the same way as you do? When you talk to them, do they seem as frustrated with their jobs are you are with yours? As they are vocal as you are about your troubles?

By far, this part is the hardest thing that you will do in this process. We all like to have a high opinion of our abilities and the work we do, so, as a consequence, when things aren’t going well, we tend to look outside of ourselves for answers.

This is not one of those times. It’s especially true if this is a field that you chose. If that’s the case, think long and hard before you take the years of training and experience you’ve put into it. Maybe this is just a rough patch you’re going through, as many are these days.

In the end, it’s about making informed decisions, and you should take as much time as possible to make the most-informed decision about yourself. After all, it’s about your career.