your personal journey

How to Begin Your Self-Discovery Journey: 16 Best Questions

As part of this process, we must not only search to determine what constitutes our true selves, but let go of objects of identification we’ve long mistaken for ourselves, requiring a balance of introspection and new experiences.

So let’s set sail.

In this article, we’ll give you a range of powerful questions to help you along your journey of self-discovery and point you toward further reading and resources.

Before you continue, you might like to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free . These creative, science-based exercises will help you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals and will give you the tools to inspire a sense of meaning in the lives of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is self-discovery according to psychology, fostering self-discovery skills: 10 examples & tips, why is the process important, a look at self-discovery coaching, 3 exercises, games, and activities for adults, best worksheets and journal prompts, 16 questions to ask yourself or your clients, helpful books & apps for your journey, tools from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Drawing often from the field of philosophy , psychologists point to the illumination of our daimon (or ‘true self’) as the ultimate goal of self-discovery.

Formally defined, this true self is

“the central inner force common to all human beings and yet unique to each, which is the deep source of growth… [that is] free, healthy development in accordance with the potentials of one’s generic and individual nature.”

Horney, 1950, p. 17

As part of the process of searching for our true selves, we are ultimately working to identify three things (Waterman, 2011):

Personal potentials
Our purposes for living
Opportunities to act upon those potentials and purposes in living

The search for our true selves, therefore:

“refers to those processes, both intuitive and reasoned, by which those [personal, purpose-related] potentials are discovered and come to attain the status of personally concordant goals that are to be actualized.”

Waterman, 2011, p. 360

According to this view, a person’s true self essentially lies beneath the surface, and our task is to find, recognize, or understand that which already exists. Once you have, you can then make choices about your life and identity that are more consistent with this self-knowledge (Waterman, 2011).

Seek a supportive atmosphere

The more time we spend in the presence of supportive family, friends, lovers, and communities , the sooner we will be likely to discover our true nature. This is because warm and encouraging atmospheres facilitate feelings of inner security while providing the freedom to have our own feelings and thoughts (Horney, 1950).

To this end, here are some ideas to consider:

Seek quiet spaces and time out to facilitate reflection or journaling .
Join a social group whose interests and passions align with your own, such as a painting, writing, or poetry group.
Find a coach or therapist for a safe space to pursue self-discovery.
Set boundaries with people who discourage your individuality, negatively affect your emotions, or put you down.
Seek the company of people who inspire you, make you feel positive, and challenge your perception of yourself.

Identify your drifts

Pay close attention to the things you naturally love doing, or drifts, particularly those that are personally expressive . By paying attention to the subconscious pull of these activities, you can allow them to guide you toward your true self, stemming from your genetic makeup, upbringing, and experiences (Pagedar, 2021).

Our drifts tend to emerge when the mind is still, so try selecting a quiet day to do some meditation or practice some relaxation techniques.
Try to notice activities that cause you to slip into the state of flow , as these often point us toward our drifts.
Consider which activities you possess a natural aptitude or talent for, perhaps using a strengths-finding exercise .
Think about which activities you find intrinsically motivating . These are the activities you would undertake in the absence of external rewards, such as money or the approval of others.
Notice times when you feel a strong sense of personal responsibility to do something or have a unique vision about how something should be carried out.

Download 3 Meaning & Valued Living Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to find meaning in life help and pursue directions that are in alignment with values.

Download 3 Free Meaning Tools Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

To understand why self-discovery is so important, we must consider the consequences of failing to identify our true selves.

According to Horney (1950), when a person experiences a large discrepancy between their lived and real selves, they are likely to experience a sense of alienation from themselves. This remains true even if the person is successful in their activities and receives external rewards.

Such a person may often notice themselves wondering, “ Why am I doing this when it’s not who I really am? ” The consequence is a feeling of guilt or dissatisfaction if we fail to live up to an idealized version of ourselves that we cannot be.

Besides this negative emotional toll, the problem with pursuing such an ideal is that it will be rooted in externally derived standards of worth.

To illustrate, here are some examples:

A student feels pressure from their parents to pursue a prestigious career in law, even though this line of work does not inspire them.
A famous musician has mistaken their true self with their like of the status, prestige, and social validation they receive while performing.
A woman’s family talks her into finding a husband and settling down when she’d rather travel the world with her friends.
A son feels obligated to take over the family business when he’d prefer to start his own venture.

When we cannot live in alignment with our true selves, we must spend energy attempting to deny and distort our experiences to make sense of a pervasive lack of happiness and personal fulfillment. This ongoing effort can go so far as to produce psychological states and conditions such as depression (Waterman et al., 2010).

This is why self-discovery is so important.

Our goal in life should not be to pursue imagined or externally derived ideals, but rather to develop a more realistic understanding of our strengths and limitations. By doing so, we can avoid negative psychological states and self-actualize , feel contentment, and make better contributions to the world.

A growing trend in coaching, self-discovery coaching is about looking beyond specific goal pursuits (e.g., “I want to improve my self-esteem ”) to discover how we can live authentically and be truly happy .

Self-discovery coaching has many components, including (Elevate Life Project, n.d.):

Exploring your values to live in congruence with what’s most important to you
Discovering grounded confidence, centeredness, and strength
Identifying your abilities for making easier decisions

The role of a self-discovery coach in this process is to act as co-pilot on a client’s journey toward authentic fulfillment by challenging them, imbuing them with courage, and showing compassion.

If you or your clients are looking to set off on a self-discovery journey, consider the following fun and insightful activities to get you started.

This exercise is a useful starting point for viewing yourself clearly in terms of values, beliefs, and more. The exercise guides users through a two-step process of considering themselves from the perspective of others, followed by a consideration of their self-perceptions at different times in their life.

Spontaneous collage

Collage is a fun and cathartic method of self-discovery that helps people bypass the socially protective aspects of the mind and reveal aspects of their authentic self. Best of all, no previous art experience is required.

For a great resource, check out Shelley Klammer’s 12-week online course and check out the #collageforselfdiscovery hashtag on Instagram to get inspired by others’ collages.

Kokology: The Game of Self-Discovery

Created by famous Japanese psychologists Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito, kokology , the study of kokoro (“mind” or “spirit” in Japanese), is a fun and sometimes hilarious game for learning about yourself.

The game invites players to answer questions about seemingly innocent topics, such as the color of an imaginary bird that has flown in their window, to reveal profound insights in their answers.

Journaling and worksheets can both be hugely helpful for this purpose.

To help, look at some of the following free resources from our site:

Self-Awareness Worksheet for Adults This worksheet poses a series of 15 questions to help you discover more about your true self. Specifically, the questions tap into topics such as your talents/strengths, values, and barriers to living more authentically.
What Are My Qualities and Traits? This worksheet invites you to identify your top five and weakest two qualities from a list of 100 strengths. It then invites you to consider how you might shape, develop, and use your toolkit of identified strengths to better your life.
Reflecting on Three Things This worksheet invites you to explore what defines who you are. These reflections can include statements, objects, roles in life, people you admire, and ambitions.

If you’re more into journaling, see if any of the following prompts might inspire some of your upcoming entries (Hollis, 2019):

What things have you been doing lately that may be positively or negatively affecting your mental health ?
What ways can you touch or move your body that makes you feel good?
If you could spend the day doing anything, what would you do?
How do you show love to other people?
What are some things about you that you wish other people knew?

How to discover your authentic self – at any age – Bevy Smith

For more ways to get started on your journey of self-inquiry, consider the following questions, drawn from leading books designed to guide you toward self-discovery (see Helpful Books & Apps for Your Journey ):

Mindful self-discovery questions

What’s going on inside your body at the moment (e.g., sensations, flows of energy)?
Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what you are doing at the present moment?
Do you really have any problems right now in this present moment ?
Is there anything you can do to change, improve, or remove yourself from a present dissatisfactory situation? If not, how can you move toward accepting your present circumstances?

Exploring values

What are your top five personal and professional values?
How are you living outside your values?
In what areas do you feel a personal sense of responsibility to better the world?
How are you living outside of your integrity?

Questions about fear and courage

What do you fear the most?
What fears have actually come true in your life?
What would happen if you treated the actions you fear as an experiment?
For which pending decision could you use 10% more courage?

Considering worthwhile experiences

What has made your childhood worthwhile?
What lessons did you learn last week?
What makes life worthwhile for you?
What trip have you always wanted to take, and how could you make this trip happen?

1. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment – Eckhart Tolle

A critical first step toward greater self-insight involves ceasing to confuse your true self with the endless stream of thoughts flowing through your mind.

The bestselling book The Power of Now takes readers on a journey to find their deepest self through the lens of mindfulness and spirituality.

The book guides the reader through steps to help recognize and free themselves from ego in the form of defense mechanisms, automatic negative habits, and over-identification with thought. From here, readers can then discover their true nature and lasting contentment, rooted in the present moment.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. Self-Discovery Questions: 155 Breakthrough Questions to Accelerate Massive Action – Barrie Davenport

Not all of us have the resources to employ a self-discovery coach, making it all the more important to know what questions to ask on your self-discovery journey.

Barrie Davenport’s book of 155 powerful questions is a perfect companion for self-reflection and journaling, helping readers become less reactive and take charge of their lives and destiny.

Once you become acquainted with your answers, you can strengthen self-awareness , break out of automatic patterns, and feel empowered to make positive new life changes.

3. The 365 Self-Discovery Journal: One Year of Reflection & Development – Created by 21 Exercises

Journaling remains one of the best ways to pursue self-discovery and greater self-insight (Charles, 2010).

This book provides journal lovers with a year’s worth of challenging and original questions to guide self-discovery.

By combining each prompt with thought-provoking poems and quotes, this book is an excellent tool to help steadily expand the reader’s comfort zone and curiosity across domains ranging from career and finances to love and relationships.

4. The Quenza app

Quenza was designed by our very own team as a one-stop resource for coaches and psychologists wishing to remotely support their clients’ self-inquiry between scheduled sessions.

The app links with an online dashboard and growing library of science-backed activities you can customize and send directly to your clients’ smart devices, including audio meditations, guided visualizations, and many thought-provoking reflections.

Try the app, platform, and entire library of pre-built activities for 30 days for just $1.

5. The Waking Up app

While Western takes on meditation tend to emphasize health and stress reduction, there is much more we can discover about ourselves through this powerful practice.

Waking Up , developed by philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, features a rich array of audio-based meditations, exercises, and conversations with leading experts and teachers to help you make profound discoveries about the nature of your own mind.

This app is a top-rated resource for those seeking to dismantle illusions of the self and rediscover their true nature and purpose.

6. The Reflectly app

With the growing recognition of journaling as a tool for self-insight, new technologies are emerging to support this powerful practice.

Reflectly is a modern journaling app for self-care and greater happiness. Drawing on evidence-based approaches from positive psychology, mindfulness, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, this app serves as an AI companion to help you manage negative thoughts and find greater happiness.

Among its personalized functions, the app includes daily quotes, a mood tracker , and personalized insights via its reporting features.

Throughout this post, we’ve discussed the importance of clarifying values to better understand what brings meaning throughout one’s journey of self-discovery. To this end, we invite you to check out our free Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

This pack features three of our top tools from the Positive Psychology Toolkit©, all of which center on the theme of values-based living:

The Top 5 Values This exercise draws on key principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients begin brainstorming their values. Following this, clients will then prioritize these values in a list to identify those most central to who they are.
Self-Eulogy This exercise invites clients to consider how they’d like to be remembered at their funeral as a means to identify and clarify values. Based on this, they can then consider how well they are living in alignment with these values.
The Scoreboard Metaphor This exercise helps clients recognize how to enact their values through goal-setting. In particular, it draws on the metaphor of a basketball game to illustrate how living into one’s values is an ongoing process and that the paths by which we pursue our goals are opportunities to enact our values in daily life.

You can access all three exercises for free by downloading our Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others discover meaning, this collection contains 17 validated meaning tools for practitioners. Use them to help others choose directions for their lives in alignment with what is truly important to them.

17 Tools To Encourage Meaningful, Value-Aligned Living

This 17 Meaning & Valued Living Exercises [PDF] pack contains our best exercises for helping others discover their purpose and live more fulfilling, value-aligned lives.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Self-discovery is an ongoing process of stripping away that which is unimportant, reviewing our core values, and seeking to live in greater alignment with these inner truths.

Importantly, anyone can take steps toward greater self-knowledge . All that’s required is an attitude of curiosity and regular time out for meditation, reflection, or self-questioning.

We hope this article has left you feeling equipped for your journey of self-discovery, and if you decide to try out any of the tools or exercises we’ve explored, be sure to let us know in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free .

21 Exercises. (2018). The 365 self-discovery journal: One year of reflection & development. Author.
Charles, J. P. (2010). Journaling: Creating space for “I”. Creative Nursing , 16 (4), 180–184.
Davenport, B. (2015). Self-discovery questions: 155 Breakthrough questions to accelerate massive action. Bold Living Press.
Elevate Life Project. (n.d.). Self discovery coaching . Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://elevatelifeproject.com/self-discovery-coaching/
Hollis, B. (2019, July 16). Who am I? Journaling prompts for self-discovery and self-reflection. Learning to Be Free . Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://www.learningtobefree.com/2019/07/16/journaling-prompts-for-self-discovery/
Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle toward self-realization . Norton.
Pagedar, A. (2021). Finding awareness: The journey of self-discovery . Author.
Tolle, E. (2004). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment. New World Library.
Waterman, A. S. (2011). Eudaimonic identity theory: Identity as self-discovery. In S. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 357–379). Springer.
Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., Zamboanga, B. L., Ravert, R. D., Williams, M. K., Bede Agocha, V., … Brent Donnellan, M. (2010). The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity. The Journal of Positive Psychology , 5 (1), 41–61.

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This is a great article for self-discovery, I recommend it to all, it’s a must read for the young minds.

Thanks to a great counselor. I appreciate your encouragement and efforts that have served as an eyes opener to self discovery and other resources that is helpful.

You have some great resources listed here in this article. Thanks for the great read! -Ryan

Appreciated, Nicole, for insight well done to start kicking where need be. Keep up te good work!

Thanks Nicole. I will explore some of the resources which sounds great. I work with medical students, some of whom are at the very beginning of learning reflective approaches to enhance their self knowledge. The challenge is always to find a variety of ways to promote engagement. You have given me some helpful ideas.

Thank You Dr, Nicole.

I have left you a message on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for this wonderful article. Very useful and helps in the journey of self awareness and so helpful to the therapist and counselors who are using these resources to support clients. Heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all the resources that benefit the clients and counselors who otherwise would not be able to access such great quality articles and resources. Thank you. As a counselor who is doing a lot of free counseling these resources and articles are so helpful, cause I cannot afford them otherwise. Thanks for supporting the counselors and therapist and clients who ultimately benefit.

Thanks, Nicole … you shared a very interesting set of perspective.

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Your Life Purpose Journey: Embracing Your Personal Path To Purpose

Have you ever felt lost or unsure about your life purpose? Perhaps you're stuck in a job that doesn't fulfill you, or you feel like there's something missing from your life. You're not alone. Many people struggle with finding their purpose and meaning in life, but the journey can be transformative and fulfilling.

Embracing Your Personal Path to Purpose is all about discovering who you are and what makes you unique. It's about tapping into your passions, values, and strengths to create a meaningful life that aligns with your authentic self. In this article, we'll explore how to navigate the twists and turns of the journey towards purpose, so you can live a life of fulfillment and joy. Whether you're just starting out on this path or have been searching for years, there's always more to discover about yourself and your potential for greatness. Let's dive in!

The Importance Of Finding Your Purpose

Discovering meaning in life is a fundamental human need. We all crave to find our purpose and fulfill it. It gives us direction, focus, and motivation to live each day with intention. Without a sense of purpose, we can feel lost, aimless, and unfulfilled.

Finding your purpose can also impact the quality of your relationships. When you have clarity about what matters most to you, it becomes easier to prioritize your time and energy accordingly. You can choose the people who align with your values and support your growth. This leads to more meaningful connections that bring joy, love, and fulfillment into your life.

In summary, discovering your purpose is crucial for personal growth, happiness, and fulfilling relationships. It's an ongoing journey of self-discovery that requires reflection, exploration, and courage. In the next section, we'll explore how recognizing your passions and values can help guide you towards finding your purpose.

Recognizing Your Passions And Values

As we discussed in the previous section, finding your purpose is crucial to living a fulfilling life. But how do you begin this journey? It starts with recognizing your passions and values.

Uncovering hidden passions can be a challenging task, especially if you have been focused on meeting societal expectations or following someone else's path for too long. Start by asking yourself what activities make you feel most alive and fulfilled. What could you spend hours doing without getting bored or tired? These are often indicators of your true passions.

Once you have identified your passions, it's essential to align them with your personal values. Your values guide your decision-making process and determine what matters most to you in life. When these two aspects are aligned, they create a powerful force that fuels motivation and drive towards achieving your purpose. Take some time to reflect on what values resonate with you the most and find ways to incorporate them into pursuing your passions.

Uncovering Your Unique Strengths

Uncovering Your Unique Strengths is an essential step in your journey towards purpose. It's important to identify what you do well, and how you can use those skills to maximize your potential. This section will guide you through the process of discovering your unique strengths while also identifying areas where you may need improvement.

One way to uncover your strengths is by reflecting on past successes. Think about times when you excelled at something or received positive feedback from others. What were you doing during those moments? What specific skills did you utilize? Take note of these instances as they can reveal hidden talents that are integral to your purpose.

Identifying weaknesses is equally important because it allows for growth and development. Recognizing areas where improvement is necessary can lead to increased confidence and better decision-making. By embracing both your strengths and weaknesses, you gain a holistic understanding of yourself and become equipped with the tools needed to pursue your purpose with intentionality.

As we move forward in our quest for purpose, let us remember that everyone has their own set of unique qualities that make them who they are. Maximizing our potential starts with recognizing our individual strengths while acknowledging areas where we may need improvement. In the next section, we'll explore ways to overcome self-doubt and fear so that we can confidently pursue our life's purpose without hesitation.

Overcoming Self-Doubt And Fear

I'd like to talk about overcoming self-doubt and fear and how to embrace our personal paths to purpose. Let's start by identifying and acknowledging our fears, and then let go of them. We need to acknowledge our self-doubt and learn to embrace our mistakes and value ourselves. Taking risks and building confidence are also key to overcoming challenges and taking action to re-frame our thoughts, seek support, create a vision, and celebrate our successes as we follow our dreams.

Identifying Fear

Do you ever feel like something is holding you back from pursuing your life's purpose? Maybe it's the nagging voice of self-doubt that creeps in every time you consider taking a leap of faith. Or perhaps, it's the fear of failure that keeps you stuck in your comfort zone. It's okay to acknowledge these feelings because identifying our fears and doubts is the first step towards overcoming them.

Overcoming fear and confronting doubts are essential parts of any journey towards fulfilling one's purpose. However, we must identify what scares us before we can conquer it. Fear manifests differently for everyone; some people may be afraid of rejection or judgment, while others may be fearful of uncertainty or change. By understanding the root cause of our fears, we can develop strategies to overcome them.

Identifying fear requires introspection and honesty with oneself. We must confront uncomfortable truths about ourselves if we want to grow beyond our limitations. Overcoming self-doubt and fear takes courage, but by facing our fears head-on, we gain confidence in ourselves and trust in our abilities. Remember that embracing your personal path to purpose means accepting challenges along the way, but don't let your fears hold you back from living a fulfilling life.

Letting Go Of Fear

Now that we've discussed identifying and confronting our fears, let's shift our focus to the next step: letting go of fear. Conquering self-doubt and facing uncertainty with courage is not a one-time event but rather an ongoing process. It requires us to release the grip that fear has on us and trust in ourselves.

Letting go of fear involves acknowledging its presence without allowing it to control our thoughts or actions. We must recognize when fear arises within us and respond by taking steps towards our goals anyway. This may mean embracing discomfort, trying new things, or simply reframing negative self-talk into positive affirmations. Whatever strategy works for you, remember that progress comes from pushing past your comfort zone.

Finally, letting go of fear also means accepting failure as part of the journey towards fulfilling one's purpose. Fear of failure can hold us back from pursuing our dreams, but it's important to realize that setbacks are inevitable along the way. Instead of viewing failures as roadblocks, see them as opportunities for growth and learning. By approaching challenges with resilience and perseverance, we can overcome self-doubt and live a more fulfilling life.

Creating A Plan For Purposeful Living

Now that you have a better understanding of your life purpose, it's time to create a plan for purposeful living. Setting goals is an essential part of this process because without them, we can easily lose sight of what we want to achieve. The key to setting effective goals is making sure they align with your life purpose and are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Measuring progress is just as important as setting the actual goal. It allows us to track our accomplishments and make necessary adjustments along the way. Keep in mind that progress doesn't always come in big leaps but rather through small steps taken consistently over time. Celebrate each milestone achieved and use any setbacks or challenges as opportunities for growth.

Creating a plan for purposeful living takes effort and commitment but ultimately leads to greater fulfillment in all areas of life. In the next section, we will explore how finding fulfillment in your career plays a significant role in achieving this sense of purposeful living.

Finding Fulfillment In Your Career

Exploring passions can be a great way to find fulfillment in your career. Many people spend years working jobs they don't enjoy, simply because they never took the time to figure out what truly makes them happy. By taking some time to explore your interests and hobbies, you may discover a passion that could lead to a fulfilling career.

One way to start exploring your passions is by volunteering or taking on side projects related to something you're interested in. This allows you to gain experience and knowledge while also building connections with others who share your passion. You might also consider enrolling in classes or workshops related to your interests, which can help deepen your understanding and skills in those areas.

Career fulfillment doesn't always come from finding the perfect job or industry; sometimes it's about finding ways to incorporate your passions into whatever work you do. For example, if you love writing, look for opportunities within your current company where you can use those skills – maybe there's a blog that needs content or an internal newsletter that could benefit from someone with strong writing abilities. Don't be afraid to get creative and think outside of the box when it comes to incorporating your passions into your work life.

As you begin exploring new paths towards career fulfillment, keep in mind that transitions are inevitable. Life is full of changes and unexpected twists and turns, but by staying true to yourself and focusing on what brings you joy, purpose will follow wherever you go. In the next section, we'll discuss how navigating these transitions with intentionality can help ensure that you stay aligned with your personal path towards purpose.

Navigating Life Transitions With Purpose

Navigating Life Transitions with Purpose can be a challenging yet fulfilling journey. Identity crises are common during these transitions, and it's crucial to understand that they are normal. These periods of ambiguity provide opportunities for self-discovery and growth.

Finding purpose beyond traditional milestones is another aspect of navigating life transitions with purpose. Society often defines success through career achievements or material possessions, but true fulfillment comes from living in alignment with our values and passions. It's essential to reflect on what truly matters to us and make intentional choices based on those values.

Navigating life transitions with purpose requires patience, mindfulness, and resilience. Embracing uncertainty while staying grounded in our core beliefs can help us navigate the challenges that come with change. Remembering that every experience has something valuable to teach us can also be beneficial as we move forward towards embracing our personal journey to purpose.

Embracing Your Personal Journey To Purpose

After navigating through life transitions, it's time to embrace your personal journey towards finding your purpose. This is a significant step, as you begin to understand that everyone has their unique path to fulfill their destiny.

One essential tool in discovering your life purpose is mindful reflection. Taking the time to think about what truly matters to you and what makes you happy can help guide you towards your true calling. It's crucial to be present during this process and not get caught up in past regrets or future worries.

While on this journey, seeking guidance from mentors or trusted individuals who have already discovered their own purpose can be incredibly helpful. They can offer valuable insight into how they found their passion, the challenges they faced along the way, and how they overcame them.

Remember that embracing your personal journey towards fulfilling your purpose takes time and patience. Mindful reflection, combined with seeking guidance from others, will help you stay on track and continue moving forward towards achieving ultimate fulfillment in life.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the meaning of life.

Discovering purpose and living intentionally are two of the most important aspects in understanding the meaning of life. It's not about finding a single answer to this age-old question, but rather embracing your unique journey towards fulfillment. Whether it's through pursuing passions or helping others, each individual has their own path to uncovering their purpose. Living with intentionality means actively seeking out opportunities for growth and constantly striving for self-improvement. By taking ownership of our lives and choices, we can create a meaningful existence that aligns with our values and beliefs - ultimately leading us towards a sense of mastery over our destiny.

How Do I Achieve Happiness?

Achieving happiness is a journey that's unique to every individual. Pursuing passions and cultivating gratitude are two key ingredients in this pursuit. It's important to identify what brings you joy, whether it's pursuing a new hobby or spending time with loved ones. Focusing on the positives in your life and practicing gratitude can also help shift your mindset towards happiness. Remember that achieving mastery takes time and effort, but the rewards of finding true happiness are worth it.

Can Someone Else Tell Me What My Purpose Is?

Finding clarity in your life purpose is a journey of self-discovery through reflection. While it's tempting to seek external validation or have someone else tell you what your purpose is, ultimately it's up to you to uncover and embrace it. No one knows you better than yourself, and with patience and introspection, you can find the path that aligns with your values and passions. Self-reflection allows for personal growth and an understanding of what truly fulfills you. So take the time to explore, experiment, and listen to your intuition - your purpose will reveal itself in due time.

Is It Too Late For Me To Find My Purpose?

It's never too late to find your purpose. In fact, retirement and mid-life can be the perfect opportunities to discover new passions and embrace a sense of fulfillment. Many people feel lost or unfulfilled at some point in their lives, but it's important to remember that you have all the time in the world to explore different paths and figure out what truly makes you happy. Don't give up on your journey towards mastery – keep pushing yourself and trying new things until you find your purpose.

Does Everyone Have A Purpose?

Many people wonder if they have a purpose in life or if finding fulfillment is even possible. The truth is, everyone has a purpose, but it may not be the same as their passion. While some are lucky enough to turn their passions into careers, others find that their true calling lies elsewhere. It's important to understand that purpose isn't always about what we do for a living; it can also be found in our personal relationships, hobbies and interests, and contributions to society. So don't worry if you haven't found your "dream job" yet - there are many ways to live a meaningful life and make an impact on the world.

In conclusion, the journey to finding your life purpose is a personal one. No one can tell you what it is or how to achieve it. It requires self-reflection, exploration, and embracing your unique path.

Don't worry if you haven't found your purpose yet; it's never too late to start. By focusing on your passions and values, and taking action towards meaningful goals, you can create a fulfilling life path that aligns with your purpose. Embrace the journey, trust in yourself and remember that your purpose may evolve over time as you grow and change.

Journeying to the Core: The Definitive Within Wiki Companion Welcome to the exploration of the […]

In a world that seems more divided than ever, the idea of envisioning a world without borders may appear to be an impossible dream.

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Aug 21, 2023

10 Ways To Start Your Self-Discovery Journey

Written by: vivien roggero , executive contributor, executive contributors at brainz magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise..

Self-discovery is an intrinsic part of personal growth . It allows us to delve beyond the surface of our identities and explore the depths of our being. Our personalities, behaviors, and beliefs are not set in stone; they are continuously shaped and reshaped by our experiences and perceptions. Let's embark on this journey of self-discovery and uncover the richness that lies within us.

Exploring the concept of self-discovery

Self-discovery is an enriching voyage that sheds light on our authentic selves. This journey uncovers our hidden depths, revealing who we truly are beyond our conditioned identities. The path to self-discovery invites us to question, explore, and ultimately transcend the labels and expectations imposed on us by society.

Understanding the benefits of self-discovery

Embarking on a journey of self-discovery opens the door to personal growth, emotional healing, and self-transformation. As we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, we develop a clearer perception of our passions, aspirations, and purpose in life. Moreover, self-discovery nurtures self-acceptance, fostering a sense of peace and fulfillment within us.

I present to you 10 insightful steps to initiate your self-discovery journey. Each technique is rooted in introspection, self-examination, and heartfelt exploration. By integrating these steps into your routine, you can progressively peel back the layers of your identity and connect with your true essence.

Reflecting on your past

Understanding the role of past experiences in shaping your identity.

Our past experiences play a crucial role in shaping our identities. They influence our beliefs, behaviors, and emotional responses. Reflecting on these experiences can unearth deep-seated scripts that operate unconsciously, shaping our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us.

Journaling prompts to explore childhood memories

Journaling provides a safe space for introspection and self-expression. It enables us to delve into our childhood memories, explore pivotal moments, and dissect significant challenges. Journaling prompts can guide our exploration, helping us unearth our unconscious patterns and behaviors. Here are a few prompts to start with: what is your earliest memory? What events from your past do you often revisit in your mind?

Acknowledging patterns and behaviors that stem from past experiences

As we reflect on our past, we often discover patterns and behaviors that stem from our experiences. Recognizing these patterns is a significant step in our self-discovery journey. It allows us to understand why we behave in certain ways and provides insights into areas of our life that need healing and transformation.

Practicing mindfulness and self-awareness

Exploring mindfulness techniques for staying present.

Various mindfulness techniques can assist us in staying present and enhancing self-awareness. Practices such as deep breathing, body scans, and mindful observation focus our attention on the here and now, anchoring us in the present moment. These techniques not only ground us but also train our minds to become more focused, aware, and accepting.

Cultivating self-awareness through meditation and self-reflection

Meditation is a potent tool for cultivating self-awareness. It encourages us to introspect and observe our thoughts and emotions without judgment. Complementing meditation with regular self-reflection can greatly enhance our self-understanding, bringing us closer to our authentic selves. As we become more self-aware, we gain deeper insights into our actions, behaviors, and motivations, furthering our self-discovery journey.

Noticing your thoughts, emotions, and reactions without judgment

Self-discovery involves observing our thoughts, emotions, and reactions with openness and curiosity, free of judgment or criticism. As we become more mindful of our inner dialogue, we begin to identify recurring patterns and themes in our thought processes. This non-judgmental observation is a cornerstone of self-discovery, arousing self-compassion and leading to transformative personal insights.

Setting intentions and goals

Defining what you want to achieve through self-discovery.

The journey of self-discovery is fueled by our desire to understand ourselves better. It's essential to define what we hope to achieve through this process. Whether we aim to heal past wounds, understand our values, or discover our passions, having a clear objective guides our exploration and keeps us motivated on our journey.

Setting both short-term and long-term intentions

Setting intentions for personal growth is a dynamic process that involves short-term and long-term goals. Short-term intentions focus on immediate growth areas, providing momentum and instant gratification. Long-term intentions shape our overall journey, guiding our long-term growth and development.

Aligning your goals with your values and aspirations

Aligning your intentions and goals with your values and aspirations ensures that your self-discovery journey is authentic and fulfilling. These goals provide a roadmap for your exploration, highlighting areas of focus and growth. In alignment with your authentic self, these goals become potent motivators, fueling your journey with purpose and passion.

Exploring your passions and interests

Identifying hobbies, activities, and subjects that ignite your curiosity.

Your hobbies and interests reveal what genuinely excites and motivates you. Whether it's painting, hiking, reading, or dancing, these activities offer a window into your values, desires, and passions. Identifying and nurturing these interests can provide profound insights into your authentic self, guiding your self-discovery journey.

Trying new experiences and stepping out of your comfort zone

Stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new experiences can play a pivotal role in self-discovery. Each new experience, though potentially daunting, offers an opportunity to learn more about yourself, your strengths, and your limitations. Embrace novelty, for it is in the unknown that we often discover the most about ourselves.

Recognizing how your passions can provide insights into your authentic self

Your passions are not merely activities you enjoy; they are reflections of your inner self. They can provide valuable insights into who you are and what makes you truly happy. Recognizing this connection can transform your perspective on self-discovery, turning it from a daunting journey into an exciting exploration of your passions and interests.

Seeking different perspectives

Engaging in meaningful conversations with diverse individuals.

Engaging in conversations with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences can offer rich insights. These interactions can illuminate different ways of thinking, challenge our existing beliefs, and inspire us to see the world from varied perspectives. Each conversation is an opportunity to learn and grow, making our self-discovery journey more comprehensive and insightful.

Reading books, articles, and listening to podcasts on personal development

Dive into books, articles, and podcasts that delve into personal development topics. These resources can provide you with wisdom and insights from experts, thought leaders, and individuals who have embarked on their self-discovery journeys. The lessons encapsulated in these resources can enhance your understanding and guide you on your self-discovery path.

Challenging your beliefs and expanding your worldview

Self-discovery is an invitation to challenge your beliefs and expand your worldview. It involves questioning and reevaluating your long-held assumptions, making way for new insights and perspectives. As you open your mind and challenge your beliefs, you pave the way for a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you.

Embracing self-care and well-being

Prioritizing self-care routines that nourish your body and mind.

Develop self-care routines that nourish your body and mind. This could involve anything from regular exercise and healthy eating habits to mindfulness practices and engaging in activities you love. As you take care of your physical health, you also nurture your mental and emotional well-being, creating a strong foundation for your self-discovery journey.

Engaging in activities that promote relaxation and well-being

Find activities that help you relax and rejuvenate. This could be spending time in nature, practicing yoga, or indulging in a creative hobby. These activities foster relaxation and well-being, creating a balance in your life and promoting mental clarity crucial for self-discovery.

Recognizing the connection between self-care and self-discovery

Self-care and self-discovery are intrinsically connected. By taking care of yourself, you show respect and love for yourself, reinforcing your self-worth and boosting your self-esteem. This mutualistic relationship ensures that as you discover more about yourself, you continue to nurture and care for your ever-evolving identity.

Keeping a self-discovery journal

Starting a dedicated journal to document your self-discovery journey.

Kickstart your self-discovery journey by starting a dedicated journal. This journal serves as your personal space for exploration and reflection, allowing you to document your thoughts, feelings, and insights. As you journey through self-discovery, your journal becomes a testament to your growth, marking milestones and chronicling your transformation.

Writing about your thoughts, feelings, insights, and progress

Use your self-discovery journal to express your thoughts, feelings, insights, and progress. The act of writing down these experiences encourages introspection and enhances understanding. It allows you to delve deeper into your psyche and uncover patterns and perspectives that you may otherwise overlook.

Using journal prompts to delve deeper into various aspects of your identity

Journal prompts can be instrumental in unearthing different aspects of your identity. They provide a starting point for your introspection, guiding your thoughts and encouraging deeper exploration. Use prompts such as "What values are most important to me?", "What is my happiest memory?", or "What fears hold me back?" to stimulate reflection and discovery.

Seeking guidance and support

Exploring self-help books, workshops, and online resources.

Numerous self-help books, workshops, and online resources focus on self-discovery. These invaluable tools offer guidance, evidence-based techniques, and motivational anecdotes to enrich your self-discovery journey. Leverage these resources to deepen your understanding and navigate your journey more effectively.

Connecting with mentors, therapists, or coaches who specialize in self-discovery

Connecting with a mentor, therapist, or life coach who specializes in self-discovery can be immensely beneficial. These professionals bring their expertise and experience to guide you, provide feedback, and offer techniques to handle personal challenges. Their outside perspective can shed new light on your experiences, accelerating your self-discovery journey.

Building a supportive network of friends and like-minded individuals

Surround yourself with supportive friends and like-minded individuals who understand and respect your journey. This supportive network can provide encouragement, share their experiences, and offer fresh perspectives. As you navigate the waters of self-discovery, this support system becomes your anchor, providing stability and reassurance.

Embracing change and growth

Emphasizing the importance of embracing change and being open to growth.

Change is an undeniable part of self-discovery. As you learn more about yourself, your perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors may evolve. Embrace these changes as necessary stages in your journey. They denote growth and the shedding of outdated or unhelpful patterns, signifying progress in your journey.

Celebrating your progress, no matter how small, along the self-discovery journey

Celebrating your progress, regardless of its size, is a crucial component of self-discovery. Every insight gained, every negative pattern acknowledged, every positive habit developed is a victory. These victories, big or small, indicate your growth and deserve recognition and celebration.

Understanding that self-discovery is an ongoing process with no final destination

Remember, self-discovery is an ongoing process with no definitive endpoint. As you evolve, so does your understanding of yourself. Continue to explore, question, and learn with an open heart and mind. Welcome this continuous journey of self-discovery as a growth-centered approach to living, a path that leads to self-awareness, acceptance, and personal transformation.

Recap of the 10 Transformative Steps to Start Your Self-Discovery Journey.

We've journeyed together through ten transformative steps towards self-discovery: reflecting on your past, practicing mindfulness, setting clear goals, exploring your passions, seeking different perspectives, embracing self-care, maintaining a self-discovery journal, seeking guidance, and embracing change. Each step offers a unique path towards understanding and expressing your authentic self.

Encouragement to Embark on This Path of Personal Growth and Exploration.

Embarking on the journey of self-discovery is like opening the door to a new world – a world that existed within you all along, waiting to be explored. It can present challenges, but the rewards of this journey are incalculable: genuine freedom, a deeper connection with yourself, and a richer, more fulfilling life. As you traverse the path of self-discovery, remember that every step, every revelation, and even every challenge adds to the richness of your journey.

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Create a Life You Love

Self-Discovery Journey: 17 Best Ways to Get Started

October 3, 2023 by Mick

Do you feel disconnected between how you show up in the world and your inner experiences? And do you struggle to find out who you are and what you’re meant to do in this world?

You’re not alone.

For the longest time, I felt the same way.

And I was looking externally for answers. I thought that getting rich, having a girlfriend, and accumulating more friends would make me happier.

But I was wrong.

Instead, I had to search within first.

Embarking on a self-discovery journey provides answers.

Self-insight leads to clarity and inner harmony.

Your life’s quality increases when you align your actions with your personality, core values, needs, and strengths. Every aspect of your life becomes more meaningful when you pursue what matters most to you.

The self-discovery process is key to success and fulfillment.

So, let’s take a step back from the hustle and bustle of life. It’s time to explore your essence to unravel your most authentic self .

Let’s dive in!

What is self-discovery?

Why is it important to discover yourself.

The 2-step self-discovery process

How to start your self-discovery journey?

This post contains affiliate links, so if you buy something through my link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Note that I only endorse products that I’ve personally bought and enjoyed

Self-discovery is a lifelong process of learning who you are, what you want, and why it all matters to you.

This includes many aspects like your values, beliefs, desires, emotions, strengths, weaknesses, passions, purpose, and more.

But why care about self-discovery?

The self-discovery journey leads to self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and a clearer understanding of your life’s path. And aligning your actions and behavior with your true self leads to more meaning, fulfillment, and joy.

Here’s why you should embark on self-exploration:

Authenticity : Discovering yourself reduces the need for external validation and leads to congruent decisions, actions, and behavior.
Self-awareness : Recognizing triggers and behavioral patterns allows you to respond to life’s challenges more effectively.
Personal growth : Self-discovery allows you to better navigate your strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to reach your full potential.
Fulfillment : Pursuing activities, relationships, and career paths that align with your passions and values increases life satisfaction.
Self-confidence : Unraveling your strengths, values, and passions fosters self-belief in your ability to navigate life’s challenges.
Purpose and meaning : Doing what matters most allows you to find deeper meaning in your actions and contributions.
Healthy relationships: Understanding your communication style, needs, and boundaries sets the basis for effective communication and better relationships.

Self-discovery enables you to reinvent yourself and live a more intentional life. Let’s find out how you can make it happen.

2-Step self-discovery process

There are 2 general steps to the self-discovery process:

Take action : Try something new and explore interests and ideas.
Self-reflection : Reflect on your actions, behavior, feelings, and emotions to learn about your needs, preferences, and styles. Here’s an extensive list of questions to ask yourself .

Repeating those two steps leads to deeper self-understanding.

And if you do something related to each step every week, just imagine how much you’ll learn about yourself over the course of a year.

Now, let’s uncover…

Most people do one of three things:

They take consistent action but rarely reflect.
They reflect often but rarely try something new.
Or they neither reflect nor take consistent action.

What most fail to realize is that self-discovery requires consistent action and continuous reflection. These two steps are essential if you want to discover yourself fast.

The next section provides ideas. Develop good habits or a daily routine around a few of those items to promote consistency.

Now let’s get started:

#1: Map your archetype

Trying to be like someone else is a recipe for disaster. And exploring your inner world is the only way to live a truly fulfilling life.

It took some time for me to understand that.

My extroverted friends got all the girls at school, whereas I struggled with introversion.

But being an introvert wasn’t my problem.

Instead, I was trying to be like my extroverted friends. I felt fake and inauthentic. And the girls smelled it from miles away.

I kept struggling with myself until I discovered my strengths as an introvert. Rather than trying to be the life of the party, I had to learn to be myself. And to have fun in my own way.

That’s sexy.

And not just in relationships – but in all areas of life.

You must understand who you are and what makes you tick to design your best life.

So what helped me to get unstuck after years of frustration?

I learned about myself through the best personality tests . These insights changed everything. And that’s why they’re my most recommended tool for people who’re just starting their self-discovery journey.

Here are my favorite options from Truity :

16 Personalities Test
Enneagram Test
Big 5 Personality Test

Once you’ve mapped your personality traits, it’s time to…

#2: Discover your superpowers

You excel in life when you work from personal strengths .

Of course, you should upgrade any weaknesses that interfere with your work and personal life. But for the most part, you’ll experience more joy and achieve better results when you lead with your superpowers.

Here are some questions to find out what you’re good at :

What do you happily spend money on?
What did you achieve, and how?
What provides you joy?
What gives you energy?
And what compliments do you get often?

Use these questions to brainstorm. In addition, you can conduct a personal SWOT analysis . And then supplement your findings with a strengths test to gain a different perspective, such as the HIGH5 Test .

#3: Unravel your personal core values

Your personal values serve as the governing rules of your life.

You feel congruent when you make decisions and take actions that align with your core values.

And you’ll feel disconnected when there’s a mismatch.

Mapping your values can explain your emotions, feelings, and behaviors in certain situations. It helps you navigate challenges. And it guides your decision-making processes.

Below are some questions to unravel your values:

What do you value most in life?
When do you feel happy and most fulfilled?
What areas of your life do you value the most and why?
Who inspires you, and which of their traits inspire you the most?
Finally, select what resonates from this list of core values .

Brainstorm a list of all the values that come to mind.

Then, delete the least important values until a top 10 remains. Finally, prioritize these 10 from high to low.

Consult your top three to five values often to live congruently.

#4: Make a list of interests

Unraveling your personality traits, strengths, and values is a great first step on your journey of self-discovery.

And I hope you did the exercises.

The next step is to list your interests.

What would you like to explore?

Write down everything that comes to mind.

This is your mini-bucket list, something to try at least once.

Here are some questions to inspire your list:

What piques your interest already?
What are potential passions you want to explore?
What topics would you want to read a book about?
What new skills do you want to learn ?
What outdoor activities do you want to try out?
What sports have you never done before?
What new hobbies would you like to explore?
What instruments would you like to play?
What places would you love to visit?

Trying new stuff makes life more fun. It also teaches you a ton about yourself. And you might just stumble upon a new passion or career path like me.

Once you’ve got an extensive list, it’s time to…

#5: Create personal quests

Personal quests are your life goals .

And perhaps you already set personal goals . But if not, pick the most appealing items from your list of interests.

What would you like to explore first?

For example, say you want to travel through South America for a few months. And you want to learn Spanish in the next 2 months.

And perhaps you want to find meaningful work after your travels. So you decide that you’ll spend 6 months learning a high-income skill when you get back.

Now, you’ve already got a year’s worth of personal quests.

Even if you’re unsure about your long-term plans, you should set short-term goals and get moving.

That’s much better than dabbling or waiting around.

For starters, setting and achieving goals is a cure for boredom. But remember that taking action is what provides self-knowledge and insights, enabling you to set better and more meaningful goals.

Some questions to clarify your options:

What skills would you like to master?
What do you want to become an expert in?
If money was no issue, what would you do?
What would you like to achieve in life?
How would you like to make a difference in the world ?
What experiences would you like to accumulate?
What places would you like to travel to?
And what does your ideal self look like?

Write down everything that comes to mind.

And don’t forget to…

#6: Embark on a solo adventure

Backpacking by myself through Australia was one of the greatest catalysts for self-exploration.

Solo adventures accelerate personal growth, independence, and self-awareness. Besides learning about yourself, you’ll learn a lot about others and the world around you too.

Backpacking was the best decision I ever made.

But you don’t have to travel for months.

Consider these solo adventures:

Go on a hike by yourself
Do a floatation tank session
Go to a wellness center for the day
Enjoy a holiday abroad by yourself
Visit a silence retreat for a few days
Make a little road trip by yourself
Or travel alone for extended periods

Traveling alone can feel awkward and scary. But discomfort is okay. In fact, pursuing discomfort is the catalyst for personal growth.

And there’s nothing wrong with a solo adventure.

Quite the contrary.

You’ll unlock your greatness when you…

#7: Embrace solitude

There’s great power in silence.

But in a world that glorifies extroverted traits and constant connectivity, solitude may seem intimidating.

Yet, moments of aloneness are essential to turn inward. Tune out of external distractions to deepen the connection with yourself.

Solitude is the secret sauce to connect with your inner self.

Many successful people embrace periods of solitude for deep thinking and self-reflection. Think about Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, J.K. Rowling, Mahatma Gandhi, and many more.

And there are many ways to embrace solitude.

Going on a solo adventure is an excellent option. But also consider the following practices and habits:

Deep breathing
Walking in nature
Riding your bike
Creative thinking
Observing sunrise or sunset
Engaging in creative acts
Reflecting on your goals
Disconnecting from technology

Schedule time for solitude. Although it may feel uncomfortable initially, exploring your inner world can lead to long-term success and happiness.

Appreciate and enjoy periods of solitude

But you can also take a different approach and…

#8: Volunteer somewhere

Volunteering can lead to self-awareness while positively impacting others and the community. It exposes you to different perspectives and viewpoints you might never consider on your own.

It also provides a sense of purpose. And you’ll undoubtedly meet some amazing people in the process.

Here are some volunteering ideas:

Environmental conservation such as community clean-up projects.
Mentor or tutor (unprivileged) others and share your knowledge.
Care for animals in need of love and attention in animal shelters.
Help organize charity events, fundraisers, or community gatherings.
Provide support and resources at homeless shelters.
Organize or assist in creative workshops.
Spend time with seniors at nursing homes.
Volunteer at hospitals or healthcare centers.
Get involved with organizations supporting social causes.
Join disaster relief teams or organizations to assist communities affected by natural disasters.

There are many more volunteering opportunities. Perhaps your work has connections to volunteering organizations too.

Try it out and reflect on your experience.

#9: Start a writing practice

Something happens in the brain when we write.

The art of writing stuff down provides greater clarity – especially when you write with pen and paper. Having a writing practice is a transformative way to promote self-discovery for many people.

And yet again, there are many different options:

Keep a journal to explore your thoughts, fears, and reflections.
Daily goal-setting to create clarity and maintain focus.
Keep a gratitude journal to appreciate the little things in life.
Try creative writing , such as poetry, short stories, or fiction.
Write letters to yourself, others, or your future self.
Use mind-mapping techniques to organize thoughts and ideas.
Compose a personal manifesto that outlines your core principles.
Reflect on significant events or milestones in your life.
Rewrite your story by crafting the perfect next chapter of your life.
Write Morning Pages , a concept from The Artist’s Way . Write three pages of free-flowing thoughts every morning.

Putting thoughts into words clarifies your emotions, feelings, beliefs, needs, goals, and aspirations.

If you need some help, you can…

#10: Use self-reflection cards

Do you lack the inspiration to sit down and journal? If so, you might enjoy daily journaling prompts to get you started. Use these reflection cards to tap into the benefits of journaling .

Grab a new card each day and answer the question.

You can answer it out loud.

But again, there’s magic in writing stuff down. Writing slows your thought process, forcing you to sit with each thought a little longer.

These unique questions help you to think about different aspects of your life. And they also encourage you to ask the hard questions.

So definitely try this tool on your journey of self-discovery.

And for the dreamers…

#11: Visualize your perfect life

Visualization is a great technique to manifest success and abundance .

But it’s also very effective to explore opportunities.

Lay down and close your eyes for the next 5-15 minutes. Imagine yourself achieving and having everything your heart desires.

What do you see?
How do you feel?
And who are you with?

Then imagine that you did everything there was to do, bought everything you wanted to buy, and visited all the places you wanted to see.

What would you do next?

Exploring your ideal life is fun, fosters a positive mental attitude , and ignites a greater sense of purpose beyond the superficial stuff.

Another idea is to go back in time and…

#12: Dig into your childhood

Your past is a goldmine for self-discovery.

It holds valuable clues to the building blocks of your identity.

Childhood memories, experiences, and influences shape who we become as adults. And delving into your past can reveal patterns, beliefs, and values that still influence you today.

Here’s how to revisit your earlier life:

Gather memory triggers such as items, photographs, old diaries, or any objects that remind you of your childhood.
Begin with your earliest memories and gradually work your way through various stages of childhood. Remember moments of joy, challenges, fears, and significant events.
Reflect on your emotions as you recall past experiences. They’re powerful indicators of what mattered to you during those times.
Identify influential people throughout your life and consider how they shaped your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.
Identify patterns in your thoughts and beliefs. And evaluate whether they still influence your actions and decisions today.
Journal your discoveries to record insights and realizations.

Remember that personal growth and self-discovery is the goal of exploring your childhood memories. So, make sure you celebrate positive memories and learn from any challenges.

This practice may uncover the roots of many beliefs and behaviors.

Alternatively, try…

#13: Walking meditation

Walking through nature is one of my favorite ways to become self-aware.

And I occasionally plan a long hike to connect with myself.

I’ll grab a bag, pen, and my favorite self-help journal . And I’ll pack some of my favorite snacks and drinks. Then, I’ll go far out to explore a new place on foot.

I usually split my long walk into sessions:

Listening to podcasts
Listening to music
Immersing myself in nature
Brainstorming new ideas
And exploring my thoughts

Regardless of what I’m doing, thoughts and ideas always arise. And when they do, I’ll explore them or write them down to explore later.

Feel free to give your spin to it.

But be mindful of what you do during your walk. If you listen to podcasts 100% of the time, you still distract yourself from your inner voice.

#14: Learn new skills

Skill development is a fantastic way to make yourself more valuable and attractive to the marketplace. And the process also unlocks self-insights and new possibilities.

For example, I started my blog to crystalize my thoughts and deepen my personal growth journey. But blogging also taught me more about writing, marketing, web development, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Although I didn’t know about SEO before, I found it fascinating.

So I quit my finance career to pursue an internship with my new long-term goal to become an SEO consultant.

And today, I’m a freelance SEO specialist. I love what I do and I’ve the freedom I always desired to work from anywhere.

All because I decided to start blogging.

Where can you start?

Here is some inspiration:

Brainstorm skills you already want to learn more about.
Browse the catalog of Udemy to explore interesting skills.
Explore high-income skills you can learn from home .
Read my list of new skills to learn at home .
Learn a new language with Rocket Languages .
Start a personal project, like a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel.
View the book categories on Amazon and dive into subcategories to discover new topics.

Schedule time in your week to learn a new skill or upgrade existing ones if you want to unlock your wildest dreams and aspirations.

#15: Try something new – and do so often

When was the last time you did something new?

We often are too busy or scared to try new things. And we fail to see the immense value of engaging in novel experiences.

But there are many benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone and seeking new experiences.

Trying new things to gain self-awareness

It’ll improve your confidence, creativity, and resilience.

And it’ll make your life much more exciting and interesting.

Finally, it boosts self-awareness.

So challenge yourself to engage in novel activities regularly.

In your downtime, you can use the following…

#16: Self-discovery questions to raise self-awareness

Our greatest gift is to wonder.

And self-questioning is an effective tool to become curious about your thoughts, feelings, needs, values, goals, and aspirations.

Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself:

How am I living in alignment with my core values?
What currently brings me the most joy and fulfillment?
What are the activities or environments that drain my energy?
How do I define success and happiness?
What are my biggest fears, and how do they hold me back?
What are the greatest obstacles that keep me from my goals?
Is there anything I should change about my current situation?
What do I like best about myself and my situation?
How did I cope with recent stress and challenges?
What activities or hobbies make me lose track of time?
What are some self-limiting beliefs I hold about myself?
How did I handle criticism and feedback from others?
What are patterns or recurring themes in my daily life?
What are my most recent accomplishments?
How do I want others to see me?
Which relationships do I want to invest more time in?
What are the things I need to let go of to move forward?
What are some past experiences that shaped who I am?
How do I define my identity and sense of self?
What do I want to learn or explore more in life?
What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?
How do I ensure consistent personal growth?
What are my favorite ways to express creativity?
What lessons did I learn last week?
How did I recently take care of my physical, emotional, and mental well-being?

Frequently asking yourself these self-discovery questions fosters self-awareness , continuous self-improvement , and self-esteem .

#17: Accept yourself fully

Accepting yourself is crucial for well-being, success, and happiness.

And here’s how you can cultivate self-acceptance:

Treat yourself like a good friend in distress.
Identify and challenge negative self-limiting beliefs . Replace them with positive affirmations and constructive statements.
Acknowledge and celebrate your successes, no matter how small.
Strive for progress, not perfection.
Set realistic goals to gain momentum.
Express yourself authentically through activities you enjoy.
Forgive yourself for past mistakes and learn from them instead.
Spend more time around people who support and uplift you, rather than those who bring you down.
Seek support if you struggle to accept yourself. A therapist can guide you through the process and provide a fresh perspective.

Recognize that accepting yourself is an ongoing process.

And it’s normal to have ups and downs along the way.

So stay patient and self-compassionate.

What’s next?

The process of self-discovery is transformative and unlocks authenticity, inner harmony, and personal fulfillment.

Gaining deeper insights into your values, desires, and beliefs empowers you to make better decisions. And it’ll open doors to better opportunities, meaningful relationships, and a more purposeful life.

Key takeaways:

Self-discovery involves exploring your personality traits, strengths, values, desires, interests, purpose, feelings, emotions, and more.
Take consistent action and try novel things often to expand your comfort zone and uncover what you like and dislike.
Self-reflect often and embrace periods of solitude.

Challenge: I encourage people who are just starting to take a personality test . And if you already did then challenge yourself to do something new this week.

Also, check out the following resources to dive deeper into self-discovery and personal development:

The best guided journals
The best personality tests
The best books on self-awareness
The best books on finding your life’s purpose

Finally, are you ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and unlock your true potential? Sign up for weekly insights for personal growth and living an authentic and meaningful life!

Mick is a personal growth enthusiast and was able to use it to transform his life. He now helps others pursue their dreams, create positive change, and build better lives through self-improvement.

14 Powerful Self-Discovery Activities for Your Personal Journey

OVERVIEW : This comprehensive guide outlines the three stages of self-discovery as a developmental model, highlighting the common pitfalls along one’s journey and offering tools and methods for each stage.

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Know thyself— the famous aphorism from Ancient Greece.

No better phrase can capture the essence of self-discovery.

Let’s dive deeper into what this aphorism means …

What is Self-Discovery?

Self-discovery is the process of learning about and finding oneself.

There are many different facets of this discovery process. In the earlier stages, you learn about your personality type, what you value, your strengths, weaknesses, talents, dreams, shortcomings, aspirations, and interests.

In a later stage, self-discovery is about getting to know the parts of yourself that were “disowned” in childhood, commonly called the shadow.

The process of self-discovery is a continual movement from less conscious to more conscious, from less aware to greater awareness of oneself.

Similar to the hero’s journey motif, the self-discovery journey is the path toward mature adulthood.

Self-Discovery versus Self-Development

These two concepts are intrinsically linked together.

On its own, self-discovery is simply about revealing what’s always there: who you are on a conscious level.

Self-development is about molding and growing in various areas, including physically, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually.

Can you engage in self-discovery without self-development? Only on a very cursory level. Why?

In the act of getting to know yourself, you’re placing your attention on various aspects of your being. In doing so, development will likely take place.

Although there’s a large self-improvement industry that promotes ways of “bettering oneself,” the reality is that development is a natural process .

Early childhood trauma and conditioning hinder that process, but once it’s initiated in adulthood, it tends to take on a life of its own.

As such, self-development is an integral part of one’s self-discovery process.

What are the 3 Stages of Self-Discovery?

The common stages of self-discovery outlined here largely mirror the stages of human development from transpersonal psychology but in a very simplified format.

Stage 1: Discovering Your Conscious Self (Personality)

Stage 2: Exploring Your Personal Unconscious (Shadow)

Stage 3: Returning Home (The Self)

First, we’ll examine each of these stages in more detail. Then, we’ll explore the self-discovery activities commonly used at each stage.

Before we dive into these three stages, let’s examine where we start: the persona.

Stage 0: Wearing Our Social Masks

In early development, we are mostly focused on adjusting to our environments and “fitting in” at home, school, and anywhere else we find ourselves.

Our identities at this stage are largely defined by “others” in a social context. That is, our identity is mostly a series of personas (social masks) designed to help us “fit in.”

When we’re in the persona stage we’re not technically in the self-discovery process yet.

We create our personae unconsciously and subconsciously. It’s the starting point from which self-discovery can be initiated.

Self-Discovery Stage 1: Discovering Our Conscious Personality

Stage 1 can be a fun stage for many individuals. It’s the part of self-discovery that many people associate with the term “self-discovery journey.”

Stage 1 is marked by discovering one’s conscious personality including strengths, weaknesses, habitual patterns, drives, desires, and aspirations.

Self-discovery comes through our engagement with life. Like any good hero’s journey , life is filled with trials and tribulations. Setbacks and victories. Each experience provides a window into ourselves.

If we pay attention, we learn through our reactions and interactions with others and the world.

In this initial stage, we develop a strong curiosity about ourselves. It’s common at this stage to take a wide range of assessments.

Learning about your “personality type” is highly instructive: it highlights many of your greatest strengths and mortal weaknesses. It illuminates common behavior patterns that you may not have noticed.

You’ll discover a myriad of patterns that you spontaneously engage in without knowing why. At this stage, you’re also likely to inquire about your core values to clarify what you stand for and what’s most important to you.

You might take up journalling, and begin capturing your big life goals, dreams, and even a vision for yourself.

This stage usually goes on for many years. In fact, many individuals never move beyond this initial stage of self-discovery.

Self-Discovery Stage 2: Exploring Our Personal Unconscious

The second stage of self-discovery brings you toward your inner world where the meaning of “self-discovery” vastly changes.

Stage 2 often begins either at midlife or after a major life event that rattles you to the core. This event could be a divorce, the death of someone close to you, physical illness, or some other crisis.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung often said this inward turn should happen at midlife: after you’ve built a healthy ego in the world (career, home, family, etc.). That is, the first half of life is meant to be more externally oriented while the second half is internal.

In tribal cultures, at midlife, members of the tribe would go on extensive walkabouts or vision quests. They returned as different people, now taking up a more shamanic-type role as ritual elders of their tribe.

For us, this inward turn is more about engaging in inner work , addressing our childhood trauma, exploring our dream world, and getting to know our shadows . Here, internal observation, self-awareness , reflection, self-analysis, understanding, sensitivity, and inner honesty are required.

In stage 2 of self-discovery, we address our deep-seated internal tensions and splits within our psyche.

The self-identity that we created for ourselves in stage 1 becomes less codified and more fluid. As we move toward psychological integration, that self-identity moves further into the background.

This stage will also last many years depending on your life circumstances. For example, if you’re in midlife and still very active in the world, there may be less time available for self-reflection and inner discovery.

Self-Discovery Stage 3: Returning Home of the Self

In the third stage of self-discovery, an individual returns home to their Self (capital “S”).

The meaning of “self” changes greatly at this stage. The self in “self-discovery” when we set out on our path was our conscious personality. It starts to become a distant memory at this later stage.

This stage is marked by transcending an exclusive identification with the self (small “s”) and realizing one’s true Self (self-realization).

The ego we developed in the prior stages now must take a back seat so that the original Self can return.

In The Ego and the Dynamic Ground , professor of philosophy Michael Washburn called it “regression in the service of transcendence.”

This stage requires us to strip away everything we are not so that our Original Nature can take its rightful place in the Center.

In Taoist philosophy, they make a distinction between the conscious spirit and the Original Spirit.

The conscious spirit (ego or “acquired mind”) is what we develop in stage 1. This self-identity is a set of conditioning from the external world.

In contrast, the Original Spirit is our primordial Self that is unconditioned by the insanity of this world.

At this stage, the focus is on self-inquiry, self-observation, neutrality, stabilizing the mind, and moving toward inner stillness.

In transpersonal psychology, they often call this stage integration . Maslow called it self-transcendence . Jung referred to it as wholeness —the final stage of individuation .

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Now, let’s review a series of self-discovery activities and exercises you might use at each stage of your personal discovery journey.

Self-Discovery Activities for Stage 1

Here are seven self-discovery activities and exercises you can use for Stage 1 of your journey:

myers-briggs assessment self-discovery activities

Myers-Brigg Personal Assessment (Common Self-Discovery Activity)

Personality Assessments

Personality assessments are one of the most common self-discovery activities most people use.

Any quality personality assessment will reveal different aspects of your personality. They can be very insightful—especially when you’re in the beginning stages of self-discovery. Three popular ones include:

The Enneagram
Human Design Engineering
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

(Just do a quick search. There are many paid and free versions online.)

Values Assessment

Getting to know your core values is an essential self-discovery activity. Self-aware individuals tend to know what’s most important to them. Knowing your core values helps you make better decisions.

If you don’t know your values yet, you can go through my popular 7-Step Values Assessment .

Strengths Assessment

Getting clarity on your strengths and weaknesses is another excellent self-discovery activity..

While we learn our natural strengths and weaknesses by observing our life experiences, the VIA Character Institute offers a free survey to help you determine your strengths right away.

See my guide on authentic happiness for a primer on this topic from positive psychology.

Personal Vision Casting

A personal vision can help guide you through your self-discovery journey. It helps clarify what’s most important to you.

A compelling vision can also help you remove distractions and stay focused on your long-term self-development goals.

Get step-by-step instructions on how to craft your vision statement .

Wheel of Life Assessment

As you begin to flush out who you are and what you stand for, you’ll likely determine specific goals you have for self-development. It’s important to understand that we all have multiple lines of intelligence and areas of focus.

The Wheel of Life assessment is a good coaching tool to clarify your self-development goals for different areas of your life.

Active Journaling

Journalling can be a powerful aid in this stage and the next. A journal can be used to capture your dreams, ambitions, life lessons, and insights on the written page.

Self-Development Plan

Some individuals prefer to have more structure to help them proceed with their discovery process and self-development.

Creating even just a basic self-development plan with the data you gather above can help you reduce distractions and stay focused on your long-term objectives.

Self-Discovery Activities for Stage 2

What’s strange about Stage 2 is that it can seem like we’re going backward.

While we’re building our personalities and moving toward a vision in stage 1, in this stage, we need to take a step back and explore our past.

Getting to know our past is absolutely essential for deeper levels of self-discovery.

As such, the energetic striving we experienced in Stage 1 now gets replaced by a more self-reflective mind. We now have enough life experience behind us to observe major patterns that we couldn’t see before.

The self-discovery activities in Stage 2 different greatly from Stage 1. Overall, Stage 2 is less about tools and assessments and more about methods and exercises that support one’s inward discovery journey.

Observational Meditation

Many individuals will likely discover meditation in the first stage of their journey. However, the quality and function of meditation take on a different meaning in Stage 2.

Your journey through Stage 2 benefits from a reflective mind and a strong Inner Observer . To gain insight into one’s psyche, it helps to be able to carefully monitor one’s deepest thoughts, feelings, reactions, attitudes, moods, and impulses.

For some, developing this Inner Observer happens naturally. For others, it takes meditative training .

Shadow Work

One of the most remarkable aspects of Stage 2 is that you eventually realize that everything you built up in Stage 1 isn’t entirely accurate.

All prior personality growth and self-development were based on a sense of self (ego construct) that was never closely examined.

To function in the world in early life, we necessarily cut off and dissociate many parts of ourselves that get relegated to our personal unconscious. This creates a split in our psyche that leads to internal tension. This internal tension is the source of our moodiness, emotional instability, neurotic behaviors, and dis-ease .

Think of it like renovating an old house with lead paint. Sure you can paint over the lead with a new “eco-friendly” paint and add new furnishings, but you still have a house with lead paint.

When you reach the Inward Turn, you begin examining what’s been cut off and hidden inside of you.

Every aspect of yourself that was deemed “unacceptable” during childhood was relegated to your personal unconscious. Now, it’s time to bring the unconscious to consciousness. Shadow work becomes an indispensable self-discovery activity at this stage.

See my guide on shadow work here .

Inner Work (Active Imagination & Dream Analysis)

Getting to know your shadow is an integral part of inner work. Inner work is more of a general term for turning inward and examining aspects of one’s unconscious.

Jung used two primary methods for helping his patients harmonize the split within their psyche: dream analysis and active imagination.

Jung saw dreams as a primary means for the unconscious to speak to us—to our conscious minds. So by paying attention to our dreams, we bring to consciousness aspects of ourselves currently hidden from us.

Active imagination is another excellent self-discovery activity. It’s the process of inner dialogue with “parts” within our psyche.

The psyche is filled with a collection of semi-autonomous archetypes that constantly influence our behavior.

In the second stage of our self-discovery process, it becomes necessary to dialogue with or at least become conscious of these various subpersonalities operating within our psyche.

Trauma Release Exercises

In the course of exploring our past, we encounter numerous psychic wounds that need our attention.

Trauma plays a large role in our early development. Addressing this trauma is a necessary aspect of becoming whole.

While mental processes are useful, we also need to address the body directly where this past trauma is stored. (See Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score .)

I cover the topic of trauma more deeply in this guide on repressed emotions .

There are a range of methods available to use from David Berceli’s Trauma Release Exercises (TRE) to Alexander Lowen’s Bioenergetic Analysis. All of these self-discovery activities can be highly therapeutic at this stage.

Regardless of the modalities you use for your journey, the key thing is that you release this stored trauma and build a stronger connection to your physical body. This is called body-mind integration. In No Boundary (2001), integral theorist Ken Wilber labeled it the Centaur Level .

Cultivating deeper levels of body awareness is an important, often overlooked, part of one’s journey to self-discovery and healing.

Self-Discovery Activities for Stage 3

In Stage 2, we put our house in order. The more we harmonize the opposites within us, the more internal tension we resolve. We move, slowly and patiently, from fragmentation to greater wholeness.

As this unfolds, we can hold to the Center with greater ease.

From the Center, there’s no need to strive to become anything. Even the growth need of self-actualization begins to take a back seat.

The ego we’ve developed through the first two stages doesn’t go anywhere. But a different quality emerges from the Center. One’s true Self comes forth and gently guides us.

This stage takes us beyond Western psychology and into the realm of mysticism and sagehood .

This third stage is less about self-discovery activities and more about stabilizing one’s mind. Self-inquiry and the closer examination of one’s consciousness become more than just a daily sitting practice, but a continuous way of being.

Becoming versus Being

In the first stage of self-discovery, we’re in the process of becoming . The self-discovery activities above aid us in this developmental process.

Self-development and personal growth are integral to this stage as we do our best to cultivate healthy egos that can thrive in this crazy, chaotic world.

In developing our personalities, we are, as psychologist Abraham Maslow put it, actualizing our potential .

Some of us do this through our careers and vocations. Others do it through cultivating skills and various intelligences out of personal interest.

Eventually, however, there’s a shift in quality in one’s process of self-discovery.

The drive to “become” moves into the background while a quality of beingness wants to emerge. This represents the shift inward that marks stage 2 and reaches fruition in stage 3.

Self-Discovery Through the Three Gunas

In Yogic philosophy, they have what’s called the three gunas or qualities of consciousness:

Tamas : inertia, inactivity, darkness, and ignorance
Rajas : activity, passion, desire, energy
Sattva : purity, knowledge, beingness, truth

Those stuck in tamas (inertia) are unlikely to engage in their self-discovery journey. They sadly remain stuck in their personas. Self-discovery activities are likely uninteresting to them.

Stage 1 occurs when the active quality of rajas is present. Rajic energy is necessary for developing our personalities and fully engaging in life (the process of becoming).

The shift toward sattvic consciousness starts when we embrace our inner world in Stage 2. However, a sattvic state isn’t realized until we arrive home within the Self in Stage 3.

Self-Discovery Activities Roadmap

7 Factors that Hijack Self-Discovery

Keep in mind that self-discovery is a natural process. Sages often refer to it as the “play of consciousness.”

However, many common factors can potentially stall our development. Maslow called this aborted self-actualization . When this occurs, the self-discovery activities we highlighted above either don’t come into play or they hold no meaning.

Let’s take a look at some internal and external factors:

Internal Factors That Can Hinder Self-Discovery

Numerous potential internal hurdles can stall self-discovery. When this occurs, one does not fully engage in self-discovery activities

Here are four potential hurdles:

Early Childhood Trauma

This is probably the most common culprit. A series of psychic scars in early childhood cause various shadow archetypes to take the helm in our conscious mind.

Childhood trauma leads to neurosis like anxiety and depression. Under these conditions, the discovery and awakening process may be thwarted. Instead, life becomes an endless struggle to meet their basic human needs and/or the pursuit of fleeting pleasures.

Trauma often triggers the puer aeternus archetype (eternal child), leading to the Peter Pan syndrome.

However, once brought to consciousness, trauma can be a catalyst for engaging in self-discovery activities.

A Fixed Mindset

Psychologist Carol Dweck’s decades of research presented in her bestseller Mindset (2007) reveals that a fixed mindset, conditioned into us in childhood, can have lasting consequences if not addressed in adulthood.

With a fixed mindset, individuals fear growth and have fundamental blocks to learning in adolescence and adulthood. In contrast, with a growth mindset , one naturally engages in self-discovery activities.

Misaligned Values of Society

The unspoken values of society include image, attractiveness, wealth, material possessions, competition, and “success.” When these are one’s ideal standards, it leads to neurotic behaviors and excessiveness (a feeling of never having enough).

In fact, many people engage in self-discovery activities when they realize how empty these societal values truly are.

As J. Krishnamurti said in Commentaries on Living :

Is society healthy, that an individual should return to it? Has not society itself helped to make the individual unhealthy? Of course, the unhealthy must be made healthy, that goes without saying; but why should the individual adjust himself to an unhealthy society? If he is healthy, he will not be a part of it. Without first questioning the health of society, what is the good of helping misfits to conform to society?

This is why it’s vital to discover your personal values . Your values will naturally help guide you toward self-discovery instead of “following the pack.”

A Strong Drive for Comfort

We all like being comfortable, but for various reasons (two of which are listed above), many individuals avoid risk while clinging to comfort. They have an unhealthy drive for safety and aversion toward growth—the exact opposite of self-actualizing individuals .

An excessive drive for comfort often degrades into addictive tendencies that result in a downward spiral. Endless distractions replace the natural drive for self-discovery activities.

External Factors That Can Hinder Self-Discovery

Here are three common external factors that cause us to withdraw from self-discovery activities:

Financial Restraints

We all have basic human needs and when we have difficulty meeting these needs, it creates a great deal of tension.

For example, how are you supposed to invest energy and attention into learning about your personality, when you’re worried about paying rent next month?

You don’t need to be affluent to pursue self-discovery, but it does help to have your “house” in order first. You just need an internal space for psychological safety where you are calm enough to pursue self-discovery activities.

An Unsafe Environment

Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers points out in On Becoming a Person (1995) that psychological safety in our environment is an important condition for creativity and the development of positive mental health.

This lack of psychological safety can be due to an abusive relationship, socio-economic conditions, or some other factor. These days, just turn on the news: external psychological safety seems to be in short supply.

A Disempowering Peer Group

Being surrounded by destructive individuals or people with mental illness (including narcissism) can make it challenging to pursue self-development. Your peer group can act like “crabs in a bucket,” pulling you down if you try to get out.

This external factor is more of a concern at the early stages of discovery when you’re first building momentum.

When individuals first engage in self-discovery activities, for example, they often search for other like-minded individuals. Others, at least for some time, go it alone.

Self-Discovery: A Pathless Path

Ultimately, the path you take to self-discovery will be unique to you.

The above stages and self-discovery activities are mere guidelines, designed to capture the essence of the journey home.

Remember, too, that it’s normal to slide off your path at times and to experience major setbacks along the way. Tests, trials, and tribulations are a part of the journey.

As Jung often pointed out, the way is not without its dangers. As soon as you leave the conventional, ordinary world and enter the “special world,” you’re on your own. While this can be terrifying, it can also be liberating.

It’s only when you step back and view this self-discovery process from a 10,000-foot view that you can fully appreciate the play of consciousness expressing itself through a myriad of forms representing all of us. What a peculiar thing.

Travel safely. Or don’t.

Either way, stay alert.

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About the Author

Scott Jeffrey is the founder of CEOsage, a self-leadership resource publishing in-depth guides read by millions of self-actualizing individuals. He writes about self-development, practical psychology, Eastern philosophy, and integrated practices. For 25 years, Scott was a business coach to high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and best-selling authors. He's the author of four books including Creativity Revealed .

Learn more >

Great Information! Thank YOU! BARB!

You’re most welcome, Barb.

Return to hOMe. Be Blessed.

Guía extensa, pero iluminadora. En mi caso, es un excelente enrutador, ya que me aclara situaciones que me agobian y me hacen detenerme sin rumbo definido. Esta guía me hace reflexionar y decidir qué camino debo seguir. Gracias Scott por tu valioso apoyo.

Sure thing, William.

Returning to Home and Self! The path is not without danger and suffering but it will be liberating. And I know I can do it.

Travel safety or not. Either way stay alert.

Thanks Scott a lot! Your writings and wisdom is making a lots of difference in the world, at least in my world.

Thank you for the feedback, Niimka.

Great to hear that the material is making a difference for you.

I have a a clarification regarding the content of this article , however, I might reference other articles on which my thought process is based. Please bear with me, as I try to make clearer sense of the “Sage Stage”.

In my view and based on experience/inner work it seems relevant to me to see three types of consciousness. Namely, Superconscious, Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious.

In this article does the Sage stage refer to the “Consciousness arising from a leaning towards a Superconscious influence on an individual or is it coming from an archetypal “Sage” arising from the Subconscious/Unconscious?

I perceive inner work more aligning with Superconscious/Inner Guidance rather than Archetypal/SubConscious/Unconscious.

To seems to me, Spirit can interact with Soul-Ego(Human) only from a place of SuperConscious.

Please let me know how you perceive our internal construction that navigates self-discovery in relation to evolving consciousness? Thank you!

Personally, I don’t use terminology like “superconscious.” But I also don’t perceive that third stage in terms of a “Sage Stage.” I referenced “sagehood” as it links to the Sage archetype guide that’s relevant here. From a purely Jungian perspective, that’s accurate.

However, I’m not Jungian. To me, the Spirit isn’t an archetypal image as it is to Jungians.

“Returning home” doesn’t involve images. Navigating through images is the defining characteristic of Stage 2.

“Please let me know how you perceive our internal construction that navigates self-discovery in relation to evolving consciousness?”

So this is probably what may be different in our understanding. The transpersonal literature speaks about “evolving consciousness,” but wholeheartedly don’t agree with this. Sure, there’s the development of the ego. That’s why there are stages. But the “Return Home” is not evolutionary or developmental; it’s a function of stripping away what the Taoists call “mundane conditioning” to return what was there all along (hence, the “Original Spirit” or “Original Nature”).

Bringing order to the psyche (Stage 2) helps reduce mental illness. With less mental illness, there’s less neurosis. With less neurosis, the mind is more still. When the mind is still, one can be. If one can “just be” long enough, one’s energy stabilizes. As one’s energy stabilizes, the Spirit returns.

In this way, Stage 3 is more “alchemical” — not evolutionary or developmental.

Yes, I can now see the difference in views.

I had a very unique and personal experience in getting to come to know about the work of Sri Aurobindo. Although I am Indian, I did not know anything about him at all and his work on human evolution. It was through a personal sequence of synchronistic events in the last few years that were totally unexplainable that I came to know of him. In exploring his work I found a deep connection with my own personal “evolution of consciousness” making sense. The way he describes the process of moving from ego-centric mind to a higher mind has been very resonant with me at a personal level.

It fits accurately even within what you refer to as “sagehood”.

Because my personal experience is very valuable to me, I might like to perceive it as my consciousness is continuously evolving. Offers me the necessary motivation to stay on track even though inner work is hard.

Thank you for the clarifications.

It seems that the process on inner work being so non-linear in nature adequately covers the areas of de-conditioning and addressing neurosis as long as I stay dedicated to the discipline needed for inner work. It seems like the end is similar but being addressed in different ways.

To clarify, I did not suggest that “inner work” is non-linear. Sure, the psyche can be messy, and establishing order doesn’t necessarily follow a step-by-step process. Stage 2 of the self-discovery process is where inner work takes place. Stage 3 is more about contemplative practices that enable stabilization.

“The way he describes the process of moving from ego-centric mind to a higher mind has been very resonant with me at a personal level.”

Sure. But what I’m saying is that it’s incorrect to call this “evolution.” It’s the wrong word.

In the way I view inner work, I am considering messy and non-linear to be similar. In my mind it is similar to “not a step-by-step process”. I used the word non-linear to imply not in a straight line, sometimes straight, other times with repeats and new situations to navigate and explore…I see this as the “messy psyche” I am trying to “order” at some level.

The Indian word “Sadhana” that seems to align with Spiritual Contemplative practice to me is really what is most useful to me (as I have mentioned before I have a strong inclination towards spiritual contemplation). It could be different from other contemplative practices so sure. What is achievable through Sadhana is difficult for me to put into a few words. It is a state of being to which stabilization is definitely arriving. Also I’m over-simplifying everything here just to be concise.

The use of the word evolution is present in his literature aligning with a progressive movement. I think “awakening” applies here too. Is there a better word to describe the process?

“The Indian word “Sadhana” that seems to align with Spiritual Contemplative practice to me is really what is most useful to me”

Yes, Sadhana is the pathway of Stage 3.

“What is achievable through Sadhana is difficult for me to put into a few words. It is a state of being to which stabilization is definitely arriving.”

In the Indian tradition, especially the nondual schools, the focus is primarily on a transformation of consciousness — transcending the identification with the body-mind organism and moving beyond the “I am” (primary Maya). In the Taoist tradition, especially the Southern Reality School, the emphasis is on the stabilization of the energy within the body first. Then, they move to a transformation of consciousness.

“The use of the word evolution is present in his literature aligning with a progressive movement. I think “awakening” applies here too. Is there a better word to describe the process?”

Transformation and development both work.

Thank you for your time to clarify my questions and comments. It is very much appreciated.

Is the practice that is proposed by Jung for working with the unconscious mind “Active Imagination” suitable for all individuals?

The reason I ask is that some people have a predisposition towards “fantasy thinking” that utilizes imagination actively (not is terms of Jungian Active Imagination).

What I mean by fantasy thinking could be divided into two kinds, what I refer to as “Magical thinking, that goes like : I wish things would magically happen” or “Wishful thinking which is a active conscious thought process involving romanticizing reality, looking at life through rose-colored glasses or in some cases even dark fantasy that involves getting back at someone for wrong doing (even if it be in the realm of thought). The first two is something I seem to indulge in more easily. But I know people around me who indulge in (dark fantasy/more violent type) the later frequently. What I have described in this paragraph is a conscious active mental process.

I would say that based on knowing and studying myself as well as studying and observing others, some types (Enneagram in particular) have a greater predisposition towards fantasy thinking.

In fact I could even say that some “guided visualizations” that take people on mental journeys fall into a form of fantasy thinking process, that are more unproductive than useful. I find such guided visualizations very ungrounding and airy experiences. Please correct me if I wrong.

Makes me wonder if this is why hypnosis that takes a creative-imagination driven format with its practical applications works well only for some people.

Since active imagination is a way to tap into the unconscious would a person prone to fantasy thinking feel more ungrounded by engaging in it, without a clear sense of whether they have shifted into pointless imaginations or real useful work with their unconscious “parts”?

Is there a grounding practice that accompanies active imagination would support an individual to stay on track with “active imagination” vs. getting lost in imaginary conversations with parts (that they might be accustomed to given their fantasy-driven tendencies) that might produce useful, meaningful and desired results that tap into their psyche?

I hope my questions and background I have provided is clear enough.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

“In fact I could even say that some “guided visualizations” that take people on mental journeys fall into a form of fantasy thinking process, that are more unproductive than useful. I find such guided visualizations very ungrounding and airy experiences. Please correct me if I’m wrong.”

Yes, I generally discourage guided visualizations, despite how popular they are. Guided instructions can be useful as a learning aid, but guided visualizations serve little value in my experience.

“Since active imagination is a way to tap into the unconscious would a person prone to fantasy thinking feel more ungrounded by engaging in it, without a clear sense of whether they have shifted into pointless imaginations or real useful work with their unconscious “parts”?”

Not necessarily. Someone prone to fantasy may find active imagination very instructive as it can add a useful structure to their fantasies.

“Is there a grounding practice that accompanies active imagination would support an individual to stay on track with “active imagination” vs. getting lost in imaginary conversations with parts (that they might be accustomed to given their fantasy-driven tendencies) that might produce useful, meaningful and desired results that tap into their psyche?”

Yes. See these two guides: https://scottjeffrey.com/how-to-ground-yourself/ https://scottjeffrey.com/center-yourself/

Hi Scott, I’ve been considering the statement you mention “Not necessarily. Someone prone to fantasy may find active imagination very instructive as it can add a useful structure to their fantasies.” As someone who has not benefited in anyway in indulging in fantasy, I have not been able to use many of the practices that have been outlined by Jung. I don’t mean to dismiss or disqualify the validity and use of the practices…it might be extremely useful for certain individuals. I think I am very driven to focus on reality as it occurs and then try to connect it to fields of study. There is a neat distinction made by John Vervaeke (he may not be the originator), between “imagination” and “imaginal”. A website definition of this distinction goes as follows … Here it is important to differentiate between the imaginary (fantasy) and the imaginal, with the latter being seen as a crucial bridge between subjective and objective experience, as well as between perceptual and conceptual domains.” … It seems to me that Inner Work aligns well with “Imaginal” rather than “Imagination”. Personally, inner work continues to breakdown the hold of fantasy in my life…which continues to make inner work very useful. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to think through this via this discussion.

To clarify, inner work and active imagination are not about engaging in fantasy as such. What you’re doing is actively engaging in dialogue with semi-autonomous subpersonalities within the psyche. There’s no need to get hung up on definitions of “imagination.” You don’t have to “imagine” these inner voices. They are already there. It’s just a matter of whether or not you tune into them.

Also to clarify, inner work is not the same thing as sadhana. With inner work, you engage with the images in the psyche. With sadhana, you don’t. That is, Eastern practices are focused on going beyond the images (because, as you observed, focusing on the images can lead to fantasy — i.e. delusion).

The integral movement (including transpersonal psychology) places inner work practices at a lower stage as it relates more specifically to the personality and contemplative practices (sadhana) at a higher stage of development. Overall, I would agree with this structure.

Thank you for the clarifications Scott.

It definitely sounds more honest to tune into inner voices. I can relate to that. I don’t think I make a clear distinction for myself about the stages of development. I tend to use a broad term as “Inner Work” that is simply ongoing, placing awareness onto various aspects of my life.

I don’t even have any specific affiliation with people who call themselves “integral” or “transpersonal psychologists”. When something resonates and seems to match something in my reality it offers a little more clarity. Thank you for sharing your time and guidance with me.

Sure thing, Roopa. I also don’t have any affiliations with these various groups. I mentioned integral here in this context because before this “fifth wave of psychology” there wasn’t really a language or understanding to differentiate these different schools of thought — both East and West — and the levels of development they represent. And without this differentiation, there tends to be a lot of internal confusion. This type of differentiation itself is a function of developing cognitive consciousness.

Scott, your portrait shows you becoming more distinguished, retaining the handsomeness.

Forgive me if I seem to be repeating what you have said. I think writing it down helps me understand.

“Stage 1: Discovering Your Conscious Self (Personality)”.

Is this how people see you? Is this the unconscious that acts in your conscious? Is this the personality enneagram types and are they archetypes?

So far, I’ve asked about the persona as an unconscious part. Is it possible for our persona to be consciously developed? As a boy I emulated my father, then later years became an image (perhaps the persona mask). Can I say that I made my image and is this my archetype making me believe it’s me? What archetype I don’t know, you might have an idea which it is? Thank-you.

How people see you is a function of numerous factors that don’t necessarily align with Stage 1.

Yes, the Enneagram types are ultimately expressions of archetypes as I explain here: https://scottjeffrey.com/archetypes-list/

“Can I say that I made my image and is this my archetype making me believe it’s me?”

Not really. No. The psyche is a collection of archetypes — not just one. And there are a host of factors involved here.

Also, you don’t really consciously develop your persona. It’s more of a reaction to your environment.

That said, we all do learn by observing the behavior of those around us — especially those we project onto like parents and other authority figures.

My understanding of the persona; is an Image we relate to others. Do you think we would rather be our true personality to others?

I think the persona is not far off compared with our personality. As you can see from this quote”The list shows how likely it is that you are each enneagram type.

Most people will be the type at the top of the list, however, your actual personality type might be somewhat lower in it (usually it’s in the top 3).

This is from an enneagram test, which tells my we are not willing to show our true personality. Don’t you think we would be more contented with ourselves if we were able to incorporate the persona with personality? Thank-you.

The social mask is something that’s subconsciously created as a response to one’s environment. It’s a reaction.

One’s true personality is not known until the individual builds consciousness via processes like shadow work. Until then, they are divorced from many qualities about themselves (positive and negative) and engaged in self-deception. The goal of individuation is to bring the individual to a sense of wholeness.

The persona falls away during this process.

Thank-you Scott for your patient reply. However, from the quote on the enneagram test “Most people will be the type at the top of the list, however, your actual personality type might be somewhat lower in it (usually it’s in the top 3)” and your comment quote “One’s true personality is not known until the individual builds consciousness via processes like shadow work”.

There seems to be a conflict, are you suggesting the enneagram test people are wrong?

Perhaps there is not a conflict, I may be seeing the comments in a black and white perspective. I would like you to detail both quotes for me. Thank-you.

There’s no conflict here. The Enneagram is a typing system. Like any personality typing system, it can only highlight general predispositions of particular “types.” If you read any good book on the Enneagram, for example, you’ll resonate with many of the type descriptions. That’s why many individuals have difficulty zeroing in on their type. Their singular type represents a “center of gravity” — it’s not codifying who they are. Plus, there are nine levels of development for each type — from least healthy (9) to healthiest (1). Most people are in the mid to lower range (unhealthy to average mental health). Finally, as you develop your personality through inner work, you actually move toward a different type in the Enneagram (“path of integration”). Ultimately, the more one moves toward individuation the less any of these types become relevant. That’s part of the reason Jung didn’t approve of Myers-Briggs (MBTI). In his view, it missed the point of what psychological types represent.

Ilike the expression you used “center of gravity”. You have answered where the enneagram fits in to the individuation process. It does seem useful to consciously stay in your enneagram type. Thank-you. Perhaps you might elaborate on the phrase “center of gravity” …

“Center of gravity” is a term used in the developmental literature. There are all kinds of developmental stage models, including the Enneagram’s 9 levels, Loevinger’s ego development, Erikson’s psychosocial development, spiral dynamics integral, Maslow’s needs, etc. It’s a mistake to pigeonhole someone at a certain stage of any model. It’s more accurate to say that a person’s “center of gravity” is at a particular stage as it reflects the reality that we are complex beings with many parts. For example, with spiral dynamics, a person’s center of gravity value structure may be “green” (sensitive self) but that doesn’t mean they don’t they don’t also express orange (achievement) and blue (right-wrong morality) under different conditions.

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Are you reaching your full potential? A guide to personal development

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What is personal development?

5 areas of personal development, the benefits of personal development, 6 steps to developing a personal development plan, how personalized development can help.

I’m no stranger to feeling stuck. There are days I wake up and just go through the daily motions. I make coffee then sit down at my computer for a day of work. I’ll usually work out, walk the dogs, make dinner. Then, read, watch a show, go to bed. The next day? Wake up and do it all over again.

Especially at the height of the pandemic, it started to feel like vicious monotony. Our lives seemingly stalled in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It feels like dreams, goals, and ambitions are buried in thick molasses or honey at the back of our brains. And even as we navigate this new normal , that “stuck” feeling might be stuck with us.

The good news? You’re not alone — and personal development is here to help.

I embarked on an intentional personal development journey well before I knew what it meant. I knew I wanted to see personal growth — and had reached a point in my life where I needed real change .

At BetterUp, personal development comes to life in what we call an Inner Work® practice . Inner Work® is deep work, a practice that isn’t always visible to the outside eye. But with the right personal development toolkit, you can build a lifelong practice of Inner Work® .

My own personal growth journey has seen its series of ups and downs, failures and successes. Any personal development journey is a lifelong commitment, not a sprint or achievable task. It will weather bumps and roadblocks but it can also thrive in other areas of your life.

If you’re looking for ways to up your personal development game, we’re here to help.

It’s certainly not as easy as it sounds. Every person is unique. So, it only makes sense that personal development will look different for everyone. But what does it actually mean?

Personal development is looking inward and focusing on ways to better yourself. Personal development increases your self-awareness, your self-esteem, increases your skills, and fulfills your aspirations.

At BetterUp, we’re big believers in the practice of Inner Work®. In many ways, personal development is a form of Inner Work® . It is the act of looking inward to achieve a purpose or result, especially in the pursuit of clarity, purpose, and passion in life.

Personal development is much larger than just career development or self-development. It encompasses all aspects of your life where you’d like to see personal growth — and it doesn’t discriminate on where it shows up for you.

When it comes to personal development, it’s hard to not reference Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, your basic needs need to be fulfilled in order to reach your fullest potential. In other words. To reach self-actualization means we’re reaching the highest levels of self-awareness , self-confidence , personal growth, and self-realization.

Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see five different areas of personal development. Different personal development goals can fall into different categories.

Mental

Exercising your brain and staying mentally fit is critical to personal development. At BetterUp, this comes to life in a few ways: coaching, learning opportunities , and career growth. For example, right now, I’m taking a creative writing course to help keep my mental creative muscles going strong. (And BetterUp foots the bill as part of our learning stipend.)

Mental development can be anything from workshops, training sessions , or even just rest. Rest is just as (if not more) important than mental exercise. And as your mental fitness improves , so does your resiliency, innovation, and self-awareness.

Social

Social connections and relationships are also a must-have for any personal development. After all, self-improvement is not a solitary pursuit. Humans are social creatures — we need that connection to learn and grow. And from social connections, we gain important skills. Like communication skills , problem-solving, relationship-building, and the ability to receive (and give) feedback. We also learn from those around us and their experiences.

Spiritual

Personal growth and development — whether you’re religious or not — can come through in spirituality. It’s important to recognize that religion and spirituality are not synonymous. In fact, far from it.

Spirituality means you’re investing in a deeper understanding of your own self in the world around you. It helps you get to know yourself and uncover your values. And in the context of Inner Work®, the spiritual personal development tool can bring greater awareness to self and change.

Emotional

Emotional personal development often goes hand-in-hand with emotional intelligence . At its simplest, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand feelings. Beyond feelings, it’s understanding how those feelings shape our thoughts and actions.

Any number of experiences lends itself to emotional personal development. And those experiences can help you in your pursuit of self-improvement. Take your own Inner Work® journey so far. What experiences have shaped you into who you are today? When you reflect on your journey, what have you learned?

If you’re looking back at your journey and identifying the growth, it’s likely you’ve fostered a sense of emotional development along the way. This requires emotional intelligence to understand what role your feelings and thoughts played.

Physical

A healthy body nourishes a healthy mind. There’s an intrinsic link between your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

This aspect of personal development is focused on physical health — like nutrition, sleep, exercise, and movement. When your physical self is nourished, it’s likely your mind is also reaping those benefits. Consider ways you can build this area of personal development and take note of how your body and your mind feel.

There are plenty of benefits to personal development. Personal growth isn’t easy but the benefits will make the journey worthwhile.

My friend at Google has worked with a BetterUp coach for the last year. In her own personal development journey, she's shared why working with a coach has transformed her personal growth journey.

"My experience with BetterUp has transcended the professional workplace. My coach knows me on a personal level, which allows for her to help me set boundaries, manage expectations, and receive feedback. Ultimately, it's helped me reach my biggest goal of having a work-life balance." A Google employee, BetterUp Member

Increased self-awareness and self-esteem. Personal growth requires looking inward at your own thoughts, feelings, habits, and reactions. It requires attentiveness — and awareness — to who you are as a person in a present state. But it also challenges you to look to the future to where you want to go. By investing in yourself, you’re increasing your self-awareness and by default, self-esteem .
Increased mental fitness. Becoming mentally fit requires work. And many aspects of personal development aid in building strong mental fitness. With increased mental fitness, you’ll see a ripple effect of positive benefits. We’ve gathered data around the impact of mental fitness . People with strong mental fitness are more productive, are less likely to experience mental illness, and are more creative and innovative.
Greater resilience. With personal development, you gain greater resilience . This is another positive symptom of strong mental fitness, too. Investing in your personal growth means investing in your ability to bounce back after rough patches.
More knowledge and learned skills. Oftentimes, personal development comes with more knowledge and learned skills. This can come to life in different ways. For example, you may take courses in digital marketing that help you gain the skills you need to further your career development. Or, you may sign up for art or pottery classes, which help you gain skills in entirely different areas of your life.
Improved personal and professional relationships. Another personal development benefit is improved personal and professional relationships . This is an area that flourishes when you invest in your personal growth, especially in emotional and social aspects.

11 personal development skills to work on

If you’re not sure where to start, consider working with a coach . Personalized coaching can help serve as your guide while you’re building your roadmap to self-actualization.

Your coach will work one-on-one with you to help identify key skills to work on catered to your own experience. You can start by taking the Whole Person Assessment to help assess where your strengths and areas of opportunity lie.

We’ve identified some common areas of self-improvement and personal development you may consider investing in:

Communication and interpersonal skills
Problem-solving
Cognitive agility and adaptability
Self-compassion, self-care , and self-reflection
Conflict and conflict resolution
Navigating change and uncertainty
Future-mindedness
Organizational skills
Growth mindset
Teamwork and collaboration
Self-awareness

Like any other goal, it’s important to put together a plan. By assembling your personal development plan with some structure, you’re more likely to achieve your goals.

1. Identify areas where you’d like to improve

This first step will likely require some Inner Work®. Take a minute to reflect on where you are right now. What are your strengths? In what areas do you want to focus? What growth and development do you want to see in yourself?

If you’ve taken the Whole Person Assessment, this can help as a useful tool. Once you’ve reflected on your personal goals , identify the areas where you’d like to improve .

2. Work with a coach or mentor to assemble a plan

Even if it's your own personal development plan, you don’t have to do it alone. Lean on support systems — like life coaches or mentors — to help frame a plan. With the right structure in place (and feedback along the way), you’ll be better equipped to put the plan into action.

3. Structure your personal development goals

Stick to a routine — and build consistency. Start to examine your day-to-day and try to find ways to either build habits or stack new habits onto existing ones.

In this last year, I wanted to build strength training into my fitness routine. The kicker? I never use weights. I decided to put a yoga mat with weights next to my running shoes. Every time I go for a run, I have to think about those weights sitting next to my shoes. It helps to remind myself to do a quick 5-minute exercise with some dumbbells.

4. Find an accountability buddy

Sometimes, having someone holding you accountable makes all the difference. If you and a friend are both setting intentions and goals, consider ways you can support one another.

Every new hire at BetterUp gets a stack of great books during the onboarding process. My teammate reached out today to see if we could create an accountability plan . We’re each holding each other to 100 pages of reading a week.

5. Be honest and aware of your progress

Your personal development plan requires integrity. Be honest with yourself about your growth and progress. This also requires a level of self-awareness. You can also gather feedback from friends, family, and colleagues to help gather insight on how you’re progressing in your goals, too.

6. Factor personal development into your mental fitness plan

How does personal development factor into your mental fitness plan? Consider ways you can work with your coach on building aspects of personal development into your overall mental fitness.

Personal development is just that: it’s personal.

Every human is different. If our society cracked the nut on personal development, every self-help book would help everyone. Or every learning process would benefit every student.

But we know from our life experiences that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution to anything when it comes to human nature.

It’s important to lean on personalized support like coaching to help craft a catered plan that works for you. You won’t have the same needs, strengths, opportunities, and skills as your neighbor. So why would your personal development plan be the same?

Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. By doing so, you'll be on the path to reaching your full potential .

While self-actualization and Inner Work® is a lifelong process, your personal development goals shouldn't be daunting. Start small — like building a new skill or even investing in work-life balance . By doing so, you'll set yourself up for success in all areas of your life.

If you're ready to make a change to improve the quality of your life, consider how personal and professional development coaching can help. With help from BetterUp, you can awaken your full potential .

Transform your life

Make meaningful changes and become the best version of yourself. BetterUp's professional Coaches are here to support your personal growth journey.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

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12 Techniques to Help You Start Your Journey to Self-Discovery

...because you’re so worth knowing.

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If so, take comfort in knowing that, just as self-love looks, feels, and unfolds in wildly different ways from one person to the next, so does the practice of learning about yourself. And while your journey might involve traveling across oceans or leaning into a spiritual practice like meditation , the quest for self-discovery isn’t as simple as collecting stamps on your passport or stretching across a yoga mat .

So if you’ve been thinking about pulling the lid off of your unmet dreams, desires, passions, strengths, and values, stay with us. We rounded up the experts and asked them to share their self-discovery rituals, techniques, and tools, along with some empowering ideas to keep in mind as you explore deeper realms of who you are and who you wish to become.

Start a morning journaling practice.

Julia Cameron, bestselling author of The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity , coined the now-famous ritual she calls “morning pages,” which is essentially three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing to be completed upon waking. “Morning pages are like sending a telegram to the universe that says, ‘This is what I like. This is what I don’t like. This is what I want more of. This is what I want less of,’” Cameron tells Oprah Daily.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to perform for the pages, though. Cameron emphasizes that they’re designed to access your curiosities. “This disciplined daily practice is private, sacred, and full of surprises. Many people begin to find themselves fascinating. This is because morning pages train you to see your own worthiness,” she says.

Make Living Well a Daily Practice with Oprah's The Life You Want™ Planner

Take an audit of your relationships.

Terri Cole, licensed psychotherapist and author of Boundary Bos s , suggests kicking off your self-discovery journey with a brave and honest inventory of your relationships—particularly the ones that might be draining or toxic .

“Ask yourself, Where do I feel resentful, unseen, or taken advantage of? Before you can more deeply know yourself, you absolutely must determine your boundaries with others . You need to become more discerning about who gets access to you. Because not everyone should,” she tells Oprah Daily.

Make a list of things that delight you.

“Make an ‘okay’ and a ‘not okay’ list. It might contain things that either enhance or hinder your sense of ease. These small shifts are important because they offer ways of showing yourself that you’re worthy of your own attention and consideration,” says Cole.

For example, you might decide that your home will feel more cozy and inviting if you fill it with softer light and scented candles . Or it could simply be a matter of deciding that you need to craft a thoughtful email to your boss about your lack of work-life balance.

“The idea is to stop doing anything that goes against your constitution. Making small adjustments will allow you to experience more comfort and peace in all areas of your life,” says Cole.

Lean into a daily spiritual practice like meditation or yoga.

Ryan Haddon , spiritual life coach and meditation teacher, says that engaging in a quiet spiritual practice helps you recognize that any negative thoughts you have, no matter how loud or persistent, don’t have to run the show.

“We have upwards of 30,000 unconscious thoughts a day, most of which are negative. By curating a spiritual practice like meditation or yoga, you’re able to choose uplifting thoughts, rather than be at the mercy of the negative ones that lead you into a downward spiral. That’s true empowerment because you realize you have influence over your own mental and spiritual states,” she says.

Have a thoughtful, loving conversation with your inner child.

No matter how long you live, there will always be a child inside you, tugging at your attention, hoping to be acknowledged and comforted. Cole says that revisiting your vault of childhood wishes and wounds is a key part of any self-discovery journey, though it’s the part that makes most people roll their eyes.

“It can be difficult, but I’ve observed that you have to go back to the scene of the crime in order to understand why you are the way you are and why you’re sensitive to certain things. The child inside of you needs to be heard so that you can give your adult self permission to stop hiding or doing whatever it is that may have kept you from fully knowing yourself,” says Cole.

Pay attention to what lights you up.

What have you fantasized about doing for so long that you never got around to doing? It could be skydiving, studying a foreign language , or launching a side-hustle designing business. Or following your inspirations might simply look like carving out time each day to indulge in the books, documentaries, and podcasts that captivate you, says Rachel Rodgers, CEO of Hello Seven and author of We Should All Be Millionaires ,

Whether it’s combing through your old bucket lists, banging around on a piano, or curling up with a cup of coffee and a rapturous novel, focus on what makes you feel the most alive, even if it's just for a few minutes a day.

Consider leaving your comfort zone.

One of the easiest decisions in the world is to stay where you are. Rodgers stresses that self-discovery happens only when you’re willing to step into the future that you can’t stop dreaming about.

“Sometimes we feel trapped by the space that exists in between who we’ve been and who we want to be. There might be something you want to explore or try, but you’re afraid to let go of what’s familiar. If something is calling you, whether it's an adventure, a life change, or a new business idea, listen,” says Rodgers.

Know that when you get excited about your own growth and self-discovery, everyone wins.

If you aren’t acting from a place of authentic joy and fulfillment (when that's possible, at least), no one in your life will ever link arms with the best of you. So, attempt to prioritize yourself—we know, it's easier said than done—because if you want to serve the world, you’ve got to start by standing tall in your truth.

“I recommend that everyone sit down and brainstorm about 25 ways that they, their loved ones, and their community will benefit when they start prioritizing their needs and desires. Then read, reread, and add to the list often."

Of course, there are stages with every self-discovery journey, and some are more pleasant than others.

Over the years, Cameron has observed some interesting stages as readers move through her Artist’s Way program. In the beginning, there’s often a feeling of elation, quickly followed by a stretch of anger upon realizing the ways they may have settled in their life. Next comes a period of bargaining, which is then followed by the peaceful acceptance of one’s newfound evolution. And, finally, if one persists through the disorienting stages, there comes expansion, which Cameron says is the beautiful realization that it’s safe to take risks and reach for higher realms of fulfillment.

“Years ago, I taught these workshops where the rooms had these low-hanging styrofoam ceilings. You’d enter the space and think, Oh, wow, the ceiling is quite low. But then you realized you could tap it and move it to the side and see that there was actually 10 more feet of space above it. This is sort of how I see self-discovery. We often go through life thinking we’re a certain height—creatively, intellectually, spiritually. But as you start to tap the ceiling, you’re revealed to be so much more than you ever imagined,” says Cameron.

Remember that this journey is about you, and that you’re the one in control.

Deep exploration often invites big revelations. You might suddenly feel a flicker of desire to live a life that’s more adventurous and colorful, or to feel more seen and understood in your relationships. Or, perhaps, you might realize that you feel like you’re a hostage to a career or a lifestyle. The process can be intense and overwhelming, and you might feel pressured to act upon those epiphanies with haste. If so, Cole says it’s critical to remember that you don't have to burn the village down, so to speak. In fact, much of self-discovery and personal transformation can happen with a whisper.

“Don’t fear the personal inventories and discoveries, because you don’t have to change or blow up anything right away. The process can be gentle, and can simply look like getting honest with yourself about the things that feel right and the things that don’t. You can even stay in a situation, if you choose, but you’ll be doing it mindfully. And that’s the root of all self-discovery,” she says.

Embrace the ongoing process of your personal evolution.

While it’s tempting to view self-discovery as some shining destination on high, that’s not reality. Self-discovery is more of an ongoing pilgrimage that we make throughout our lives—sometimes one that’s jagged and lopsided, with unexpected stops, disorienting detours, and restarts.

Rodgers says we should give ourselves grace and freedom to revise our needs as the seasons change and the years pass. “Never stop discovering new levels of who you are and what you want. Constantly reevaluate your schedule, your priorities, and your life,” she says.

Coles believes that, in essence, self-discovery is the audacious act of choosing to no longer be driven by the wounds of the past, and deciding to become increasingly self-aware and self-determined. It’s about seeking the progressive realization of your own happiness, and discovering that the only life you can ever truly save is your own.

“Knowledge is power, but self-knowledge is the most powerful. This whole journey is one long, beautiful inquiry—an inquiry about knowing you,” says Cole. “And, I promise you, whatever that entails, you are so worth knowing.”

Lacey Johnson is a writer and editor whose has contributed to Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Woman’s Day, POPSUGAR and others, and is the founder of The Wonder Report. She feels most at home in airports, and is a radical seeker of engrossing conversation. Also a coffee connoisseur.

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7 Powerful Aspects of Personal Growth: A Journey Worth Taking

I. introduction.

Hang on to your hats, folks! We’re about to embark on a fascinating journey, one that each of us is already a part of whether we realize it or not. It’s a journey that doesn’t require a passport or a plane ticket, but it does ask for a heaping dose of curiosity, a dash of courage, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. It’s the journey of personal growth .

Now, you might be thinking, “Personal growth? That sounds like one of those fuzzy, abstract concepts that’s hard to pin down.” And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But don’t worry, we’re here to demystify it, to break it down into digestible bites, and to make it as tangible and accessible as possible. Because, at its core, personal growth is a deeply human experience, one that’s all about becoming more self-aware, developing skills, improving relationships, and striving towards meaningful goals.

And why, you might ask, is personal growth so darn important? Well, in this fast-paced, ever-changing world we live in, standing still isn’t really an option. Not if we want to live fulfilling, enriching lives. Personal growth allows us to adapt, to evolve, to continually become better versions of ourselves. It helps us lead happier, more successful lives, and who doesn’t want that?

So, are you ready? Ready to delve into the exciting world of personal growth? To explore its ins and outs, its ups and downs, its joys and challenges? Good! Because this journey, this lifelong pursuit of personal growth, is one of the most rewarding adventures you’ll ever embark on. Let’s dive in!

II. Understanding Personal Growth

Okay, so let’s get down to brass tacks. What is this elusive concept of personal growth we keep talking about? Well, in the simplest terms, personal growth is the process of improving oneself. But, as with most things in life, it’s not quite that straightforward. Personal growth is a multi-faceted concept, a kaleidoscope of elements that come together in a beautiful, ever-evolving pattern.

Imagine personal growth as a tree. Its roots are firmly planted in self-awareness, as understanding who we are right now—our strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs—is the foundation for any kind of growth. The trunk of the tree represents our goals and aspirations, the direction in which we want to grow. The branches are the various areas of our lives where we can experience growth, such as emotional intelligence, skills and knowledge, health and wellness, and relationships.

Each leaf is a milestone, a marker of progress. Some leaves might fall off as we learn that certain goals no longer serve us, and new ones will sprout as we develop new interests and objectives. And, just like a tree, personal growth is a lifelong process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but rather, it’s a gradual, continuous journey.

Another crucial aspect of personal growth is the understanding that it’s not a linear process. It’s perfectly normal to experience peaks and valleys, to have periods of rapid growth followed by times of stagnation. In fact, these so-called ‘plateaus’ are often times of consolidation, where we internalize our recent growth and prepare for the next leap forward.

And perhaps most importantly, personal growth is deeply personal. What it looks like, what it involves, and how it’s achieved can vary greatly from one person to another. It’s not about comparing ourselves to others, but about bettering our own previous best. It’s about setting and pursuing our own goals, in our own time, and in our own way.

So there you have it: personal growth is a complex, dynamic, deeply individual journey of self-improvement and self-discovery. It’s a journey that requires patience, persistence, and a good dose of self-compassion. But rest assured, it’s a journey well worth taking.

III. The Psychology Behind Personal Growth

Now that we’ve got a grasp on what personal growth is, let’s delve a little deeper and explore the psychological underpinnings of this fascinating process. You see, personal growth isn’t just about the what and the how; it’s also about the why and the who. It’s about understanding why we think and behave the way we do, and who we are at our core.

One of the fundamental concepts here is the idea of a “growth mindset”, a term coined by psychologist Carol Dweck. According to Dweck, individuals with a growth mindset believe that their abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort, learning, and persistence. They embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as a path to mastery, learn from criticism, and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others. In contrast, those with a “fixed mindset” believe that their talents and abilities are set in stone and cannot be changed.

So, why does this matter? Well, research has shown that having a growth mindset is strongly associated with greater comfort in taking on challenges and a higher degree of resilience when faced with obstacles—both key components of personal growth.

Another psychological aspect of personal growth revolves around self-concept. This is our perception of ourselves, including our beliefs about our nature, qualities, and behavior. As we grow and evolve, so does our self-concept. We start to see ourselves not just as we are, but as we could be. We become more aware of our potential and start to take steps to realize it.

Then there’s the role of intrinsic motivation—that is, doing something because it’s inherently satisfying, rather than for some external reward. When we’re intrinsically motivated, we engage in activities that align with our personal interests and values, which can lead to greater satisfaction and personal growth.

And let’s not forget about emotional intelligence, which refers to our ability to understand, use, and manage our own emotions in positive ways. Developing emotional intelligence can help us communicate better, manage stress, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict, all of which contribute to personal growth.

In a nutshell, the psychology behind personal growth is about understanding that we are capable of change, that we have the potential to grow, and that our mindset plays a crucial role in this process. It’s about embracing challenges, cultivating a positive self-concept, fostering intrinsic motivation, and developing emotional intelligence. It’s about recognizing that personal growth is not only possible, but it’s also a deeply fulfilling and enriching process.

IV. Steps to Personal Growth

Alright, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. How do we facilitate this personal growth we’ve been talking about? Well, while the journey is different for everyone, there are some universal steps we can all take to guide our personal growth.

1. Self-Reflection: This is where it all begins. Self-reflection is about taking a step back and looking at ourselves with an honest, non-judgmental eye. It involves asking ourselves tough questions like: What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What are my values, and am I living in line with them? What are my goals, both short-term and long-term? What are the habits or behaviors that are holding me back? It’s not always comfortable to face these questions, but it’s an essential step in understanding where we are now and where we want to go.

2. Goal Setting: Based on your self-reflection, it’s time to set some goals. What do you want to achieve in terms of personal growth? Maybe you want to become more assertive, or learn a new skill, or develop healthier habits. Whatever it is, make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This will help keep you focused and motivated, and it will make it easier to track your progress.

3. Plan of Action: Now that you’ve got your goals, you need a plan to reach them. This is your roadmap to personal growth. For each goal, break it down into smaller, manageable steps. What actions do you need to take to achieve your goal? What resources or support do you need? How will you overcome potential obstacles? Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so start small and build from there.

4. Execution: This is where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to put your plan into action. Implement the steps you’ve outlined in your plan. Remember, consistency is key. It’s better to take small, consistent steps towards your goal than to make a big leap only to burn out quickly. And be kind to yourself. Change is hard, and it’s okay to stumble. The important thing is to pick yourself up and keep going.

5. Review and Adjust: Personal growth is not a “set it and forget it” kind of deal. It’s important to regularly review your progress and adjust your plan as needed. Maybe you’ve achieved a goal and need to set a new one. Maybe you’ve encountered unexpected obstacles and need to find a way around them. Or maybe you’ve learned something new about yourself that changes your perspective. Whatever the case, be flexible and adaptable, and remember that it’s okay to change course if that’s what’s needed.

So there you have it. Self-reflection, goal setting, planning, executing, and reviewing. These are the steps to personal growth. It’s not an easy path, and it requires commitment, patience, and a dash of courage. But trust me, the journey is worth it. After all, as the saying goes, “The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you’ve come.”

V. Personal Growth Strategies and Techniques

Now that we’ve mapped out the steps to personal growth, let’s delve into some strategies and techniques that can help you on this journey. Think of these as tools for your personal growth toolbox. Ready to start building? Let’s go!

Mindfulness and Meditation

Person practicing mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment, accepting it without judgment. It’s a powerful tool for self-awareness and stress reduction. Meditation , a practice often used to develop mindfulness, can also boost creativity, improve concentration, and foster a sense of calm. So why not carve out a few minutes each day for mindfulness or meditation? It could do wonders for your personal growth.

Continuous Learning

An individual embracing lifelong learning

Never underestimate the power of knowledge. Reading books, attending workshops or webinars, enrolling in online courses—these are all fantastic ways to expand your horizons and fuel your personal growth. Plus, learning can be a lot of fun! So try to keep learning as often as you can.

Putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) can be incredibly therapeutic. Journaling allows you to express your thoughts and feelings, reflect on your experiences, and gain insights into your behaviors and patterns. It can also boost your creativity, improve your writing skills, and even enhance your memory.

Coaching or Therapy

Sometimes, we all need a little help. Whether it’s a life coach, a career coach, a therapist, or a counselor, these professionals can provide guidance, tools, and strategies to aid your personal growth. They can help you gain a fresh perspective, overcome obstacles, and achieve your goals.

Building connections with others not only enriches our social lives but also opens up opportunities for personal and professional growth. Join clubs or organizations that align with your interests, attend networking events, or simply reach out to someone you admire.

This isn’t just about bubble baths and spa days (although those are great too!). True self-care is about taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental health. It’s about getting enough sleep , eating healthy, exercising regularly, practicing self-compassion, and setting boundaries. When you take care of yourself, you’re better equipped to grow.

Gratitude Practice

Studies have shown that practicing gratitude can lead to increased happiness, improved health, and a greater ability to deal with adversity—all of which contribute to personal growth. Try keeping a gratitude journal or simply taking a moment each day to reflect on what you’re thankful for.

Remember, personal growth is a journey, not a destination. These strategies and techniques are not one-size-fits-all solutions, but rather tools you can use and adapt as you see fit. So, go ahead, give them a try, and see what works best for you. After all, as the saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Let these strategies and techniques be your first steps on your journey to personal growth.

VI. The Role of Challenges and Failures in Personal Growth

Now, we’ve got to address the elephant in the room: challenges and failures. They’re not the most pleasant topics to discuss, but they’re an integral part of the personal growth journey. So, let’s not shy away from them. Instead, let’s shine a light on these often misunderstood aspects of personal growth.

First off, let’s talk about challenges. Life is full of them, right? From minor hiccups like a flat tire or a lost cell phone to major hurdles like a career setback or a health crisis, challenges are a part of our daily lives. But here’s the thing: challenges are not just obstacles to be overcome. They’re also opportunities for growth.

You see, when we face a challenge, we’re pushed out of our comfort zone. We’re forced to adapt, to think creatively, to develop new skills or capabilities. We learn about our strengths and weaknesses, about our resilience and our capacity to cope with adversity. In short, we grow.

Now, let’s move on to failures. Nobody likes to fail. It’s disappointing, it’s frustrating, it can even be embarrassing. But just like challenges, failures too have a silver lining. They provide valuable lessons, they give us a chance to re-evaluate our goals and our strategies, and they help us build resilience and determination.

In fact, many successful people credit their failures as key contributors to their success. They see failure not as a dead-end, but as a detour, a stepping stone on the path to success. As the famous inventor Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Portrait of Thomas Edison with his iconic light bulbs

The key here is to develop what’s called a “growth mindset,” a concept we discussed earlier. With a growth mindset, we see challenges and failures not as threats, but as opportunities for learning and growth. We understand that struggle and effort are not signs of inadequacy, but necessary parts of the growth process.

So, don’t be afraid of challenges and failures. Embrace them. Learn from them. Grow from them. Remember, it’s not about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up. And each time you do, you’ll be a little stronger, a little wiser, and a little closer to becoming the best version of yourself. That, my friends, is the true power of personal growth.

VII. Benefits of Personal Growth

After all this talk about self-reflection, goal setting, challenges, and even failures, you might be thinking, “Why bother?” Well, let’s take a moment to explore the ‘why’—the benefits of personal growth. Trust me, they’re well worth the effort.

1. Enhanced Self-Awareness: Personal growth starts with self-reflection, which leads to a deeper understanding of who you are: your values, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, and more. This self-awareness is a powerful tool, helping you make decisions that align with your true self, and enhancing your relationship with yourself and others.

2. Improved Skills and Capabilities: Whether it’s learning a new language, improving your emotional intelligence, or mastering a new cooking technique, personal growth often involves the development of new skills and capabilities. This not only makes you more versatile and adaptable, but it can also open doors to new opportunities.

3. Greater Resilience: Through facing challenges and overcoming obstacles, personal growth helps you build resilience . You become better equipped to cope with life’s ups and downs, and can bounce back more quickly from setbacks.

4. Increased Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence: As you grow and achieve your goals, you’ll likely notice a boost in your self-esteem and self-confidence. You’ll start to believe in your abilities and realize that you are capable of more than you thought possible.

5. Enhanced Satisfaction and Happiness: Personal growth can lead to increased satisfaction with life. As you align your actions with your values, set and achieve goals, and become more resilient, you’ll likely find a greater sense of fulfillment and happiness.

6. Better Relationships: Many aspects of personal growth, such as improved communication skills and increased emotional intelligence, can enhance your relationships. You’ll be better equipped to express your feelings, understand others, and resolve conflicts in a healthy way.

7. Healthier Lifestyle: Personal growth often involves developing healthier habits, whether that’s eating better, exercising more, getting enough sleep, or practicing mindfulness. These changes can lead to improved physical and mental health.

In a nutshell, personal growth can touch every aspect of your life, enriching your experiences, enhancing your relationships, and opening up a world of opportunities. It’s a lifelong journey, but each step along the way brings its own rewards. So, don’t be afraid to take that first step. Embrace the journey of personal growth, and reap the benefits that come along with it. After all, as the saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And each step you take is a step towards a more fulfilling, more satisfying, more authentically you kind of life.

VIII. Personal Growth Success Stories

Sometimes, the best way to illustrate the power of personal growth is through real-life stories. Here are five inspiring examples of individuals who have harnessed the power of personal growth to create extraordinary changes in their lives.

1. From High School Dropout to World Renowned Chef: Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver, a world-renowned chef and advocate for healthier eating, was once a high school dropout struggling with dyslexia. His passion for food led him to attend culinary school, and he started his career as a sous chef in London. Despite early setbacks and challenges, Oliver’s commitment to personal growth and continuous learning paid off. He got his big break with a BBC show, “The Naked Chef,” and has since published numerous cookbooks, opened restaurants worldwide, and launched a campaign to improve school meals. His story shows how passion, coupled with relentless effort and a growth mindset, can lead to unexpected success.

2. From Poverty to Philanthropy: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey , one of the most influential women in the world, had a childhood marked by poverty and hardship. However, she believed in her potential and used these challenges as fuel for her personal growth. She won a scholarship to Tennessee State University, became the first African American TV correspondent in the state at 19, and eventually launched “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which ran for 25 years. Now a billionaire, Winfrey is known not only for her media empire but also for her philanthropy, proving that personal growth can create not just personal, but also societal success.

3. From Drug Addiction to Ultra-Marathon Runner: Charlie Engle

Charlie Engle’s story is one of redemption and extreme personal growth. Engle was once a drug addict, but after hitting rock bottom, he decided to transform his life. He took up running as a form of therapy, eventually becoming an ultra-marathon runner and even running across the Sahara Desert. Engle’s story demonstrates that no matter how low you sink, it’s never too late to embrace personal growth and make a radical change.

4. From Childhood Trauma to Mental Health Advocate: Eleanor Longden

Eleanor Longden, a psychology researcher and mental health advocate, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her early twenties, partly due to severe childhood trauma. Instead of accepting her diagnosis as a life sentence, Longden decided to understand her voices as a source of insight into her trauma. She pursued higher education, earned her PhD, and now advocates for a paradigm shift in how we perceive and treat mental health. Longden’s journey underlines the power of resilience, self-understanding, and advocacy in personal growth.

5. From Servitude to Nobel Laureate: Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai , the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, was born in a region of Pakistan where girls were often denied education. Despite the cultural norms and threats from the Taliban, Malala advocated for girls’ education. At 15, she was shot in an assassination attempt but survived and continued her activism with even more fervor. She’s since written a best-selling memoir, spoken at the United Nations, and started the Malala Fund, a charity dedicated to giving every girl the opportunity to achieve a future she chooses. Malala’s story epitomizes how personal growth, combined with courage and perseverance, can spark a global movement.

These stories highlight the transformative power of personal growth. No matter the starting point, embracing the journey of personal growth can lead to unimaginable success, fulfillment, and impact on the world.

IX. Conclusion: Embrace the Journey of Personal Growth

We’ve embarked on quite a journey together, haven’t we? We’ve explored the nuances of personal growth, delved into the psychology behind it, charted out steps to pursue it, and discovered powerful strategies and techniques to foster it. We’ve confronted the role of challenges and failures, celebrated the many benefits of personal growth, and drawn inspiration from remarkable success stories.

But remember, personal growth isn’t a destination—it’s a journey. It’s about embracing change, valuing progress over perfection, and understanding that setbacks and missteps are not roadblocks but stepping stones towards becoming a better version of yourself.

It’s about the courage to step out of your comfort zone, the resilience to bounce back from adversity, the wisdom to learn from your failures, and the humility to acknowledge that no matter how much you know, there’s always more to learn.

It’s about recognizing your worth and potential, and understanding that you have within you the power to create the life you desire. It’s about learning to love and respect yourself, to take care of your physical, emotional, and mental well-being, and to forge meaningful and healthy relationships.

And most importantly, it’s about realizing that personal growth isn’t a solitary pursuit. We grow as individuals, but we also grow as communities. Our personal growth journeys can inspire and encourage others, just as we are inspired and encouraged by the journeys of those around us.

So, whether you’re just starting your personal growth journey or you’re well on your way, remember: every step you take is a step towards a more fulfilling, more satisfying, more authentically you kind of life.

Embrace the journey of personal growth. Celebrate each milestone, no matter how small. Learn from each setback, no matter how big. And always, always keep growing. Because at the end of the day, personal growth isn’t just about becoming the best version of yourself—it’s about living the best life you possibly can.

So, here’s to growth. Here’s to life. And here’s to you—the incredible, evolving, growing you. Keep growing, keep evolving, and keep shining. The world needs your light.

KEY CONCEPTS

What is personal growth.

Personal growth is the process of self-improvement, which involves developing skills, knowledge, values, and reaching your potential.

Why is personal growth important?

Personal growth is key to enhancing self-awareness, skills, resilience, self-esteem, happiness, relationships, and promoting a healthier lifestyle.

How can I start my personal growth journey?

Start by setting clear, achievable goals, then take steps each day to reach these goals. Remember to reflect and learn from both successes and setbacks.

Does personal growth involve challenges and failures?

Yes, challenges and failures are integral parts of personal growth. They provide valuable lessons and help build resilience and determination.

Can personal growth lead to success?

Absolutely! Personal growth can open doors to new opportunities, boost self-confidence, and contribute significantly to achieving success.

Is personal growth a lifelong process?

Yes, personal growth is a lifelong journey. It’s about continuous learning, adapting, and striving to become a better version of yourself.

How can I enhance my personal growth?

Strategies like self-reflection, reading, learning new skills, embracing challenges, and seeking feedback can significantly enhance personal growth.

Does personal growth impact others?

Definitely! Personal growth can inspire others, improve your relationships, and can even spark societal change.

What role does mindset play in personal growth?

Mindset is crucial. A growth mindset embraces challenges, sees effort as a path to mastery, and views setbacks as opportunities for learning.

Can anyone achieve personal growth?

Yes, personal growth is achievable for everyone. It’s about your journey, moving at your pace, and becoming the best version of yourself.

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Home » The Tony Robbins Blog » Productivity & Performance » Power through personal growth goals

Power through personal growth goals

How to develop a personal growth plan that works.

Remember, as Tony says, “Rewards come in action, not in discussion.” You’ll never overcome your personal growth challenges just by thinking about them. Create a personal growth and development plan that consists of actionable items. Then put in the work to tackle any obstacle in the way of your goals . With hard work and dedication, you will become the best version of you possible .

What is a personal growth plan ?

Your personal growth and development plan is a completely customized blueprint for your life . It starts with your purpose : What will bring you the most happiness in life? From there , work backward. Determine the habits you need to develop, the skills and knowledge you must master . Establish the step-by-step goals you need to achieve to get there.

Personal growth isn’t just for those who are feeling stuck or have a major obstacle to overcome. Everyone benefits from working through a personal growth plan . Learning how to continue your personal growth is essential to building confidence , reaching your goals and finding fulfillment. If you’re not growing, you’re dying – so it’s time to get growing.

Determining your personal growth challenges

The first step of setting personal development goals is to decide what is important in your life. What does your personal growth and development plan mean to you? Does it mean becoming a better communicator with your partner ? Do you envision professional success? Would you like to adopt a sustainable healthy diet and get into better physical shape? Do you want to become better at handling your finances? No matter your personal growth challenges, there’s a way to achieve your goals.

Growth and success mean something different for everyone, but personal growth plan s usually tackle four areas of life: professional, relationships, intellectual and physical health. Within these areas, you can tailor your goals to your own life to ensure you continue to grow.

Professional goals include both short- and long-term aims for your career. They have actionable items and named deadlines. For example, you want a promotion within the year, to reach a certain role within five years and then strike out on your own and start a business within ten years. These goals also include professional development such as certifications and attending conferences.
Relationship goals can mean finding love if you’re not in a relationship or strengthening your current partnership. If you’re in search of love, you’ll work on defining and finding your ideal partner and overcoming your limiting beliefs . If you’re in a partnership, you may want to reignite the spark or stop arguing .
Intellectual growth means feeding your mind , gaining new skills and staying inspired to always keep learning. You could decide to tackle a long novel you haven’t gotten around to, learn how to play the piano or commit to doing a crossword every day.
Physical health is one of the most common areas for improvement in a personal growth plan . On the surface, your goal is to lose weight or build six-pack abs, but dig deeper. Physical health is ultimately about living an overall healthy lifestyle that will give you the energy and vitality you need to go after your other goals.

Understanding the categories of personal growth plans

There are as many personal growth plan examples as there are people, but for our purposes we can break them down into seven categories. These include:

Personal Skills

These can be the skills you’re born with – or they can be learned and acquired. To excel in all areas of your life, you must understand which of your skills are the strongest and which ones need more work.

Personal Growth

Growth requires evolution. In order to achieve business, relationship, life or physical goals, you must evolve into a different person than you were before. You must deepen your knowledge and remain open to growth.

Personal Power

Personal power applies to the authority you grant to others. If you want to grow, you need to take back some of your personal power. Stop letting other people control you.

Personal Improvement

To improve your life, you must keep a positive mindset and work hard. Any growth relies on personal improvement. If you aren’t pushing yourself to become a better person, you will never achieve your goals.

Personal Empowerment

What is the unique power that you see within yourself? It has nothing to do with how others see you. Increase your personal empowerment by holding strong to a positive image and find creative outlets that you enjoy.

Personal Analysis

Personal analysis is when you get serious with your strengths and your weaknesses. No one is good at everything. Be truthful when it comes to analyzing where you come up short and what you can do to make improvements.

Personal Objectives

Setting personal objectives are essential for creating change and achieving goals. Ambition will get you nowhere without a clear set of outcomes in mind.

How to create a personal growth and development plan

1. identify what you really want for your personal growth.

The first step in developing a personal growth plan is thinking about what you really want . Ask yourself these questions: what are the results you crave? What is the ultimate desired outcome for your pursuit? You need to clarify what you want from your personal growth and development plan. Do you want to get promoted at the office? Strengthen your romantic relationship? Feel stronger and healthier? Whatever your personal growth goal is, name it.

Once you have a clear outcome in mind, think about your reasons behind the goal. At first glance, you may think it’s just because you want to feel better about yourself or find ways to build yourself up. These are all important factors, but to really take your growth to the next level, you have to dig a little deeper.

2. Discover the deeper “why”

To understand how to continue your personal growth, you need to challenge yourself to think of a larger “why.” Do you want a promotion so you can better provide for your family? Will a stronger romantic relationship lead to greater happiness and productivity in your life? Does being in better shape allow you to give back to your community more thoroughly?

By recognizing that you’re driven by factors larger than yourself, you’ll feel more encouraged to take on the task at hand and really commit to your personal growth plan . Your reasons need to be clear and compelling and they need to help you focus on what achieving your personal growth will mean to your way of life. When you do this, you stop pushing yourself toward a goal. Instead, you are pulled toward that goal with passion.

3. Pinpoint obstacles in your personal growth plan

Now you need to take a look at what’s getting in your way. Many people see challenges as obstacles that are keeping them from following their personal growth plan when they’re actually opportunities . Take a look at what you perceive as roadblocks on your path and see how you can remove them – or reframe and use them to get you closer to your objectives.

It’s easy to believe that not having an advanced degree in your industry is a roadblock, but when you’re really honest with yourself, perhaps there are more insidious obstacles in your way. Maybe you just don’t have passion for your industry. This challenge is actually encouraging you to take a different path and explore a career that means more to you. You don’t have to choose between passion and profitability – when you follow your calling, you can have both.

personal growth two men sitting at table talking

4. Get the tools and coaching you need

It’s okay to ask for help. Acknowledging that you can’t create a personal growth plan all on your own is not failure . Many of the world’s most successful people turn to external tools and strategies when they embark on their path to personal growth. Check out the best personal growth books , turn to stories or quotes you find inspiring or find a mentor who empowers you. You can also work with a personal growth coach who can help you clarify your plan and develop the best strategy to achieve it.

If you can’t access a mentor, identify someone you admire and study their choices. Use Tony’s words as a guide: “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.” How did they find success? How do they approach their daily responsibilities? What path did they take to personal growth? Whether this is someone who’s famous or someone close to you, by using tools and tapping into the success of others, you’ll more easily develop your own path to success.

5. Make sure you’re in alignment with your personal growth goals

There’s more to personal growth than setting goals and then working hard to achieve them. Many of us suffer from inner conflicts that lead to self-sabotage . We must first unlock these conflicts and get ourselves into alignment before we can take the next step toward our personal growth plan . Abiding by the law of attraction can help to achieve alignment.

Once you are aligned, you will find yourself taking action that leads to success. You’ll focus on what you really want and know, deep down, that you deserve to have the personal growth and successful life you are striving toward.

6. Write it all down

Keeping track of your personal growth plan in your head is difficult . It’s easy to make little changes and adjustments that keep you from achieving your goals. When you write it down, you have visual proof of your original plan and you can re-read it as many times as you need to . Writing down your plan and tracking your progress also helps you increase focus and limit distractions.

The world can be a noisy place and it’s very easy for your mind to fill with chatter. Having a written plan turns down that noise and brings you back to center. Some integrative systems like Tony Robbins’ Rapid Planning Method have tracking built in that helps create purpose, maintain momentum and feel an enormous sense of fulfillment throughout your personal growth adventure.

personal growth people working at table drinking coffee

7. Celebrate your successes

Don’t wait until you accomplish all your goals to celebrate. When you make progress on any part of your personal growth plan , take time to recognize it. You can perform little acts of self-care like getting a massage or treating yourself to some uninterrupted time with your favorite activities. Increase your enjoyment of the celebration by sharing it with someone else who is aware of your personal growth journey. This increases connection and makes your progress that much more rewarding.

Although the road to change feels long at the onset, as you keep track of your personal growth over time, you’ll be inspired to continue. Celebrate small milestones in your personal growth journey, and don’t let yourself become discouraged if you reach a hiccup in your plan. As Tony lays out in The Time of Your Life , it’s crucial to appreciate the work you’ve already put in as you continue on your personal growth journey.

8. Follow through and hold yourself accountable

Keep yourself accountable to your personal growth goals by regularly updating a close friend or family member on your progress. You can also work with a health coach or other type of professional accountability partner who can help you stay on track and modify your plan when necessary. It’s often beneficial for those working on personal growth to partner with another person who is working on their own plan. This allows you to go on the journey together and provide support and encouragement.

Establish your personal growth goals today

Everyone has the power to change their lives for the better. Whether you seek further fulfillment in your personal or professional life, the first step is deciding you’re ready to commit to a personal growth and development plan. With this growth plan , you will never have to compare yourself to others again. This will then lead to clarifying your true reason for wanting to change, seeking out the best tools to get you there and then keeping track of your progress along the way.

As Tony says, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Start making changes in your life today, and you’ll soon start seeing the results you’ve always wanted.

To see which resources you can get started with today, at home, see our Growth Resources page .

Team Tony cultivates, curates and shares Tony Robbins’ stories and core principles, to help others achieve an extraordinary life.

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How to Start Your Journey of Personal Development

Michelle Breitstein

No matter where you are in life, you’ll find that you have almost limitless potential. People can achieve pretty much anything they put their mind to, and you’re certainly no exception. The real trick is figuring out how to change your mindset and learn to maximize that potential. That’s what self-improvement is really all about. It’s about growing becoming the person you always had the potential to be. To achieve the life you’ve always wanted, you have to be willing to change, adapt, and never stop growing. Personal improvement is a lifelong journey, but like any journey, it starts with a few key first steps. Not sure where to start? Here are some tips to set you on the path to your own personal development.

Start with a Blank Slate

Every building needs a foundation, and every personal development journey needs to start with a blank slate. What does this mean? It means taking an honest and open look at yourself, recognizing your flaws and failures, and releasing them. Everything that you’ve done so far has been in the past. For you to improve yourself and take those steps forward, you have to look to the future. As you work on your personal development, your mindset and the way you look at the world are going to change. You need to wipe your slate clean and think of yourself as a blank canvas so you can truly move forward with your life.

Change Your Mindset

There’s a theory that says every person in the world can be put into two categories: those with a fixed mindset, and those with a growth mindset. If you have a fixed mindset, that means your image of yourself and your skills is static. People with this kind of mindset feels like their skills and abilities are innate and they should just focus on what they’re already good at. This can be very comforting! However, it’s not really conducive to personal development. What you want is a growth mindset. People with this mindset are eager to grow and expand their knowledge while developing new and better skillsets. You’re capable of so much more than you might think, and accepting a growth mindset is the best place to start.

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

Once you’ve accepted your growth mindset, it’s time to say goodbye to your comfort zone. It’s important to keep in mind that just wanting to change isn’t actually enough by itself. You have to be willing to go out and make that change happen. Don’t just sit around waiting for life to come to you. Everything you’ve ever wanted is out there, so you need to step up and grab it. Sometimes, that means stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things. New things lead to new people and new opportunities, and you might just discover something about yourself at the same time. Try to think outside the box. Hell, just throw the box away – you don’t need it anymore.

Set Realistic Goals

Once you follow the first few steps, you’ll start to notice changes right away. You’ll feel better, more confident, almost invincible. Ready to go out there and change your life. That’s great! But now it’s time to inject just a little reality into the situation. You can absolutely achieve anything you set your mind to, but that doesn’t mean you can achieve it all at once. Focusing on huge and nebulous goals is a great way to set yourself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, start with what you know you can achieve from where you are. Take a few baby steps before you reach for the stars. Then, once you’ve picked up some momentum, start thinking bigger. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it will take a little time for you to achieve the biggest goals on your list. Start with some smaller, more achievable ones first.

Keep Yourself Motivated

Anyone who’s ever taken a road trip knows that no journey is without obstacles. There will be times when you feel lost, or frustrated, or just plain unmotivated. That’s perfectly normal, and by no means is it a reason to give up. Finding ways to stay motivated is one of the most important parts of personal development. Firstly, try keeping your goals in mind when you’re feeling unmotivated. Remember what this is all for! You can also lean on the people in your life a little when you need motivation. Your friends, family, partner – they all want to help you, and you can always use them for motivation if you need it. If you need a major boost of motivation, you can always try going to see some conference speakers . It might seem a little cheesy, but these people are professionals and they know exactly how to stay motivated, probably better than anyone else.

Consistency is Key

The journey of personal development is a marathon, not a sprint. You’re never going to reach a point where you’re “done.” There will always be some new skill to develop, or a new piece of knowledge to learn or some new personal achievement you’d like to reach. This is a lifelong process, and having a true growth mindset means knowing that your personal journey only ends when your life is over. With that being said, it’s important to not burn yourself out too early. You can’t just rush through everything in a few days and rest on your laurels. You need to be willing to make small steps every single day and stick to that path. Everything is achieved one step at a time, and consistency is the only way to make sure you keep making progress.

There’s a lot more to personal development than just those six steps. It’ll be up to you to find your own path. However, these tips provide a great foundation for you to build your own success on. Just take it one day at a time, one step at a time, and you’ll be surprised at how far you can go.

Daily Progress, Extraordinary Results

Looking Inward: 47 Self-Reflection Quotes to Inspire Your Personal Journey

Life is a journey filled with learning and growth. At the center of this journey is self-reflection, the process of examining our thoughts, feelings, and actions to gain deeper insights into our lives.

Today, we invite you on a voyage of introspection with 47 enlightening self-reflection quotes that can act as beacons to guide and inspire you.

“Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.” – Baltasar Gracián

To grow and evolve, one must take time to look inward, observe, and learn. Gracián’s quote reminds us that self-reflection is a vital teacher, imparting the wisdom we need to navigate life.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

Socrates emphasizes the importance of self-examination. By investigating our life, we come to understand ourselves better, thus giving our existence meaning and value.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle

The ancient philosopher Aristotle tells us that the journey to wisdom starts with understanding ourselves. This understanding can only come from self-reflection.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – Carl Jung

Jung suggests that our reactions to others often mirror our own insecurities. When something bothers us about someone else, it’s an invitation to reflect on our own behavior.

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” – John Dewey

This quote reinforces the value of reflection in the learning process. It’s not the experience itself but our examination of it that fosters growth.

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” – Margaret J. Wheatley

Wheatley underlines the importance of self-reflection for intentional living. It is through reflection that we can avoid unnecessary mistakes and achieve our desired outcomes.

“The journey into self-love and self-acceptance must begin with self-examination.” – Dodinsky

According to Dodinsky, the key to self-love and acceptance lies within self-examination. To love and accept ourselves, we must first understand who we truly are.

“Self-reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things – then better yourself.” – Sonya Teclai

Teclai emphasizes the humbling nature of self-reflection. It is through this humility and introspection that we can continually improve ourselves.

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung

Jung suggests that clarity of vision comes from introspection. By looking inward, we awaken to our true selves and desires.

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” – Marcus Aurelius

The great Stoic philosopher Aurelius tells us that our inner self is a wellspring of goodness. Self-reflection is the shovel we use to access this inner resource.

Self-reflection is a valuable tool, enabling us to understand our actions, feelings, and thoughts more deeply.

However, it’s often easier said than done. The following quotes can help you embrace the practice of self-reflection.

“Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light.” – Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad
“Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future.” – Robert L. Rosen
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius
“It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.” – Ella Maillart
“What we perceive about ourselves is greatly a reflection of how we will end up living our lives.” – Stephen Richards
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter Drucker
“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine
“The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.” – Thomas Carlyle
“A man must find time for himself. Time is what we spend our lives with. If we are not careful we find others spending it for us.” – Carl Sandburg
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Søren Kierkegaard

As we continue our journey into self-reflection, it’s essential to remember that the practice involves not just introspection but also active change.

These quotes remind us of the transformative power of self-reflection.

“Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.” – Elbert Hubbard
“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” – Proverb
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” – Albert Einstein
“We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea.” – C. JoyBell C.
“Change is the end result of all true learning.” – Leo Buscaglia
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway
“Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.” – Hans Margolius
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” – Dalai Lama
“The only source of knowledge is experience.” – Albert Einstein

Reflection can often bring about emotional and spiritual healing. These quotes illustrate the healing power of self-reflection.

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” – Khalil Gibran
“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.” – Benjamin Franklin
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” – Ralph Ellison
“The soul usually knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” – Caroline Myss
“People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot.” – Bryant McGill
“There is no greater journey than the one that you must take to discover all of the mysteries that lie within you.” – Michelle Sandlin
“The way we reflect the world around us is the direct reflection of the world within us.” – Anonymous
“You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” – James A. Froude
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott
“Self-reflection is so healthy. Journaling works for me – when I record the details of what I’m going through, whether it’s a relationship issue or negative thoughts, I can look back and see how far I’ve come. It makes me proud to see my progress and how I got through a bad situation.” – Kelly Rowland

Our final set of quotes urges us to keep going, to maintain our commitment to self-reflection and growth.

“It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.” – Kristin Armstrong
“The more reflective you are, the more effective you are.” – Hall and Simeral
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
“The purpose of fear is to raise your awareness, not to stop your progress.” – Steve Maraboli
“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another.” – Anais Nin
“Every now and then a man’s mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
“The act of reflection in and of itself, is a form of mindfulness, and thus a step towards greater wellness.” – Lisa A. Romano

Self-reflection is not a destination but a journey, a process of understanding our thoughts, our actions, and ourselves. It can be a challenging journey, filled with discomfort and vulnerability, but the fruits of this labor are immense.

The 47 quotes shared here today are waypoints on this journey, guiding lights to help us navigate the challenging terrain of our inner world.

Remember, self-reflection is a practice that requires time, patience, and kindness towards oneself.

It is a personal journey and each step, no matter how small, is a step towards self-awareness and personal growth.

So, let’s embrace the power of self-reflection and embark on the journey of becoming the best version of ourselves.

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How to Answer “Tell Us About Yourself” in a Job Interview? (5 Sample Responses)

Klara Cervenanska ,
Updated October 31, 2023 7 min read

Learning how to answer "tell us about yourself" is a crucial step in preparing for any job interview . It's the most commonly asked interview question and it's usually the very first thing the hiring managers ask.

But don't be fooled. This question isn't just an ice breaker to make you feel comfortable. Instead, they want to see:

who you are as a professional;
how well you can pitch yourself for the job.

Your answer to this question sets the tone for the entire interview. It’s your chance to showcase your strengths, experiences, and why you’re the perfect fit for the position.

In this article, we will provide sample answers for practice, help you tailor an answer that best represents your professional journey, and avoid common mistakes.

Click on a section to skip

Understanding the question

How to prepare your answer.

How to answer "tell us about yourself"
Common mistakes to avoid when answering "tell me about yourself"

Tips for delivering your answer confidently

Key takeaways: How to answer "tell us about yourself"

When interviewers ask "tell us about yourself," they're not asking for your life story.

They want a brief but comprehensive summary of your professional journey, tailored to the job you’re applying for.

What they look for:

Relevant professional experience. Highlighting past jobs and responsibilities that are pertinent to the role you're interviewing for. Sharing the skills that make you an asset to their team.
Confident communication. Clearly and confidently articulate your thoughts, ensuring you provide a well-structured and thoughtful answer, rather than being quiet or unprepared.
Cultural fit. Showing traits that prove you'd blend well with the company’s values and work environment.

It’s a simple question, but it’s easy to misstep. Some might think it’s a casual ice-breaker and start delving into personal stories. That’s a common pitfall.

This question is not about making you comfortable; it's a structured opportunity for you to sell yourself from the get-go.

Why it can be tricky:

Misinterpretation. Thinking it’s a casual conversation starter when it’s actually a strategic interview question.
First impression. It’s usually the first question, so nailing it sets a positive tone for the rest of the interview.
Lack of structure. Failing to provide a concise, well-thought-out response.

To ace this question, recognize it for what it is: your moment to shine professionally right from the start, setting a strong and positive first impression.

Prepare for your next interview with AI.

AI interview questions generator will help you practice answering the most common interview questions for your job position.

Preparing for how to answer "tell us about yourself" question is a step you shouldn't skip. By planning ahead, you gain control over how you present yourself, ensuring clarity and relevance in your response.

Here's how to structure your answer to "tell me about yourself" in 4 steps:

Begin by discussing your current role, explaining why you are a great match for the job, and highlighting your top three qualifications. Example: "I'm a data analyst with seven years of experience, now part of the team at TechSolutions. In this role, I manage extensive datasets and analyze them to guide strategic decisions. I bring to the table strong expertise in R, a solid grasp of data visualization, and the ability to demystify complex data for stakeholders without a technical background."

Next, you want to highlight examples of past successes, ensuring they are relevant to the position you're aiming for. Example: "What I'm really proud of is a project back at DataGen, where we got to unravel customer feedback layer by layer. We put advanced predictive analytics to work, honing in on ways to amp up our product game. It was a huge win, with customer satisfaction scores soaring by 20%"

After that, pick one thing from this particular job or company that excites you. Example: "I am particularly drawn to this role because of your company’s innovative approach to data analysis, and the opportunity to work with big data applications, something I am very passionate about."

Connect your future career aspirations with the potential role. You can also connect this to the previous point. Example: "Looking forward, I’m eager to dive deeper into predictive modeling and I believe this position offers the perfect platform to expand my skills and contribute to innovative solutions."

By preparing your answer and structuring it, you not only showcase your technical expertise but also your enthusiasm for the role.

How to answer "tell us about yourself"

Now that we've walked through how to structure your answer, let’s put theory into practice.

Below are five sample answers tailored to different job positions, applying the strategies we discussed in the previous chapter.

We highlighted the best opener sentences for each part of your answer:

Introduction to your current role and top skills
Highlighting your past achievements
Pin-pointing one thing that excites you about the job/company
Discussing your future career aspirations

1. Marketing manager

Example answer:.

“ I’ve been spearheading the marketing team at TrendingNow for over seven years, really honing in on digital advertising and SEO.

I’m particularly proud of how we managed to boost our main product line’s organic traffic by 40% last year, all thanks to a solid strategy and a bit of elbow grease.

When I look at your company, I’m genuinely excited about your commitment to data-driven decisions. It’s right up my alley, especially with my experience in analytics and content creation.

Looking ahead, I’m keen on bringing my skills to your team, growing with a company that’s as forward-thinking and innovative as you guys.”

2. Software developer

“ I’ve dedicated the last five years to honing my software development skills at DevSolutions, primarily working with Python and Java to solve complex challenges.

Just recently, we successfully implemented a new feature that significantly enhanced our user experience, a project I played a key role in.

I’ve been following XYZ’s work closely and am impressed with your dedication to agile methodologies, something I value highly as a developer.

I’m at a stage in my career where I’m looking to elevate my skills and contribute to innovative projects, and I believe XYZ provides the perfect environment for that growth. The challenging and innovative work you do here is precisely what I am seeking in my next role.”

3. Project manager

“ I’ve spent the last six years immersed in project management at BuildRight, where I’ve successfully led teams through the entire lifecycle of numerous projects, always ensuring we stay on time and on budget.

One of my proudest moments was steering a project that was initially behind schedule back on track, ultimately delivering it two weeks early and 15% under budget.

I’m particularly drawn to GlobalInnovate due to your commitment to sustainability and innovative tech. This aligns with my passion for eco-conscious project management.

I see a great opportunity to contribute my skills here, and I’m eager to be part of your innovative journey, further developing as a project manager.”

4. Graphic designer

“ In my four years as a graphic designer at CreativeSolutions, I’ve mastered various design tools and developed a keen eye for aesthetics, which has greatly enhanced our visual content and branding efforts.

A project I’m particularly proud of involved rebranding a client’s visual identity, resulting in a 30% increase in their customer engagement.

I’ve been following your work at DesignInnovate, and I’m really impressed with your commitment to creativity and innovative design solutions.

I’m excited about the chance to bring my unique style and skills to your team, and I believe this role is the perfect opportunity for me to further refine my design capabilities.”

5. HR specialist

“ Over the last five years at PeopleFirst, I’ve honed my skills in employee relations, benefits administration, and talent acquisition, playing a key role in creating a positive work environment and improving our employee retention rate by 25%. I’ve successfully implemented various employee engagement programs that have not only boosted morale but also enhanced productivity across departments.

I’m particularly proud of the mentorship program I spearheaded, which has significantly aided in the professional development of our staff.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the innovative HR practices at TalentInnovate, and I’m thoroughly impressed by your commitment to employee well-being and professional growth.

The chance to bring my expertise to your esteemed team, contributing to your progressive HR initiatives, is an exciting prospect.”

Of course, you need to tailor your answer to "tell us about yourself" according to the job you're applying for. The samples provided are just a guide to show you how you might structure your answer in various roles.

Aim for your answer to be concise yet comprehensive, typically lasting between 1-3 minutes . This length allows you to provide enough detail without losing the interviewer’s attention.

Rehearsing is key – practice your response out loud until you feel confident.

Common mistakes to avoid when answering "tell me about yourself"

Navigating through the "tell us about yourself" question in an interview can be tricky, and even the most confident speakers might find themselves stumbling.

To make sure you don’t fall into common traps, here’s a rundown of mistakes to steer clear of:

Being too vague or too detailed: You want to hit that sweet spot. Give them the “just right” amount of information to showcase your qualifications without turning it into a monologue. A rule of thumb is to stay in a 1-3 minute range.
Turning it into a personal story-time. While it's nice to add a personal touch, this is not the time to delve deep into your personal life. Share a tidbit if it's relevant, but keep the spotlight on your professional self.
Forgetting to tie it back to the job. It’s not just about you; it’s about ‘You + Job’. Every skill or experience you mention should be a breadcrumb leading them straight to why you’re perfect for the role.
Saying "I don’t know," "ummm," or "sooo". These filler words are conversation killers. Practice makes perfect, and perfect means no unnecessary 'umms' and 'uhhs.'
Memorizing a script. Practice, but don’t memorize. If you sound like you're reading off a teleprompter, it’s not a good look. Remember, it’s a conversation, not a performance.

Delivering your answer with confidence is just as important as the content of your answer.

Here's how to nail it:

Master your body language. Stand tall and make eye contact. No slouching or fidgeting; show them you're confident and engaged.
Practice, practice, practice. Run through your answer multiple times. Use your mirror; it won’t judge you, but it will help you judge yourself.
Watch videos. YouTube is your friend. Watch how others do it, and pick up on their confidence-boosting techniques. Here's a great example .
Role-play. Grab a buddy and practice. Let them throw curveballs at you so you’re ready for anything.

Remember, the goal is to seem comfortable and in control, even if your stomach is doing somersaults.

Practice in front of a mirror. It might feel a bit awkward, but it’s a tried-and-true method that really helps in presenting yourself clearly and confidently.

Key takeaways: How to answer "tell us about yourself"

Wrapping up our journey on how to answer "tell us about yourself", it’s clear that this common interview opener is more than just a casual question.

It's a strategic opportunity to present yourself as the ideal candidate.

Here’s a quick recap of the structure for your answer:

Introduction to your current role and top skills. Clearly state your current position and emphasize the skills that make you excel in your role.
Highlight your past achievements. Showcase specific achievements from your past roles, demonstrating your capability and experience.
Pin-point something exciting about the job/company. Express genuine enthusiasm for the job or company, highlighting what specifically excites you about the opportunity.
Discuss your future career aspirations. Illustrate how this role fits into your broader career plans, showing alignment and long-term interest.

And while you're at it, don’t forget to prepare for other common interview questions like:

Why should we hire you?
Why did you leave your previous job?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Klara graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After having written resumes for many of her fellow students, she began writing full-time for Kickresume. Klara is our go-to person for all things related to student or 'no experience resumes'. At the same time, she has written some of the most popular resume advice articles on this blog. Her pieces were featured in multiple CNBC articles. When she's not writing, you'll probably find her chasing dogs or people-watching while sipping on a cup of coffee.

Best answers: where do you see yourself in 5 years (job interview), 100+ common job interview questions and how to answer them.

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The Power of Resilient Leadership & Adjusting Your AiM with J. Scot Heathman The Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast

Entrepreneurship

If you're tasked with leading, influencing, or inspiring others, strap in because you're about to embark on a transformative journey with today’s guest, J. Scot Heathman, a former Air Force commander and pilot with a remarkable tale of resilience, leadership, and personal evolution. Dive deep into the life experiences and insights of Scot Heathman, who not only shares his vast leadership wisdom gleaned from managing a team of 14,000 in the Air Force but also his journey through personal adversities that have shaped his unique approach to leadership. Scot is also a graduate of Spark the Stage, Aleya's speaker training program that helps Entrepreneurs and Executives become professional speakers who can deliver a signature talk from the stage. To learn more about Spark the Stage visit https://www.aleyaharris.com/spark. Key Takeaways: Resilience in Leadership: Scot’s story underscores the essential nature of resilience in leadership. From overcoming the physical requirement to become a pilot to navigating severe health challenges, his journey highlights how to confront and maneuver through personal and professional trials effectively. The Power of Vulnerability: Learn from Scot’s experience with a serious health scare that leadership involves not just strength but also vulnerability. Sharing one’s challenges openly can transform organizational culture and deepen team relationships, setting a stage for mutual support and understanding. Emotional Intelligence: Scot emphasizes the critical role of emotional intelligence in leadership. He discusses practical ways to enhance self-awareness and manage emotions, which are pivotal in leading effectively and fostering a positive work environment. Episode Highlights: [00:03:16] Scot Heathman's introduction and background: From dreams of flying to impactful leadership roles. [00:15:00] A pivotal story of persistence: Scot’s journey to becoming a pilot despite initial disqualifications and the life lessons it taught him. [00:48:03] Overcoming adversity: Scot shares his experience with a brain tumor, the challenges of recovery, and how it affected his leadership style. [01:16:23] Emotional intelligence in leadership: How understanding and managing your emotions can lead to better leadership outcomes. About J. Scot Heathman J. Scot Heathman’s life is marked by a desire to shoot for the skies. Throughout his career, Scot learned the importance of relatability and resiliency, and became a respected servant leader. In 2019, however, that resiliency would be tested beyond anything he had ever experienced. He was in a car accident and after an MRI of his head, doctors discovered that he had a brain tumor. This experience taught him how impactful his own lessons could be in inspiring others, and prompted a unique opportunity to elevate others. Today, Scot inspires CEO’s to front-line leaders to ‘command with courage’ so they can lead more effectively, drive a culture of innovation, and build a bigger bottom line. His Commander Level coaching programs inspire his clients to lead with relatability and respect, and embrace their vulnerability for positive change. Scot has Master's degrees in Organizational Leadership, Operational Planning & Strategy, and National Security & Strategic Studies, and is certified in Emotional Intelligence, designed to take leadership performance to the highest altitudes. He’s also the author of the upcoming book “Command With Courage” about resilience and elevating beyond adversity. Connect with J. Scot Heathman Website: http://ElevatingOthersLLC.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jscotheathman/ About Aleya Harris Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a former marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is a StoryBran

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How to Become a Certified Personal Trainer in 2024

April 23, 2024

Are you looking for a career where you can inspire others to achieve their fitness goals while leading a healthy lifestyle? If yes, becoming a personal trainer could be the perfect choice! This career offers a rewarding journey filled with challenges, growth, and the chance to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives. Keep reading to learn what it takes to become a certified personal trainer in 2024.

Overview of a Personal Trainer

As a personal trainer, you serve as a beacon of motivation, guidance, and expertise for individuals striving to enhance their physical fitness, improve their overall health, and achieve specific wellness objectives. Your role involves designing tailored workout routines, providing nutritional advice, and offering continuous support and encouragement to clients on their fitness journey.

Career Outlook for Personal Trainers

As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the demand for personal trainers is expected to rise by 14% through 2032 (much faster than the average 3% rate for all professions). This growth is fueled by increasing awareness of the importance of physical fitness and the rising prevalence of health-conscious lifestyles. Furthermore, the competitive salary packages and flexible work schedules make this profession even more appealing. The BLS reports that the median yearly salary for fitness trainers and instructors was $45,380, with the highest 10% earning over $80,330.

How to Become a Paralegal

1. Research and Understand the Requirements

Before diving into the certification process, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the prerequisites for becoming a personal trainer. This typically includes a high school diploma or equivalent, CPR certification, and a passion for fitness and helping others.

2. Choose the Right Certification Program

Selecting the right certification program sets the foundation for your career as a personal trainer. Opt for a reputable program that aligns with your career goals and offers comprehensive training.

3. Enroll in an Accredited Certification Course

Enroll in a credible certification course to kickstart your journey toward becoming a certified personal trainer. Georgia Southern University’s online NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Exam Preparation (Voucher Included) course is designed to provide you with in-depth knowledge, practical skills, and preparation for the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) exam, ensuring you are well-equipped to excel in the fitness industry.

4. Study and Prepare for the Certification Exam

Dedicate time to study and prepare for the certification exam, focusing on key topics such as anatomy, physiology, exercise science, and client assessment. Take advantage of study materials, practice tests, and resources provided by our certification program to enhance your understanding and boost your confidence.

5. Pass the NASM Exam and Earn Your Certification

Put your knowledge to the test by taking the NASM exam. With thorough preparation and dedication, you will breeze through the exam and earn your NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification, a testament to your expertise and commitment to excellence in the fitness industry.

6. Continue Learning and Growing in Your Career

Your journey as a certified personal trainer does not end with obtaining your certification. Stay updated on the latest fitness trends, techniques, and research to improve your skills and expand your knowledge continuously. Consider pursuing advanced certifications or specializations to enhance your credentials and further distinguish yourself in the competitive fitness market.

7. Start Building Your Clientele and Making a Positive Impact

Armed with your certification and passion for fitness, it is time to hit the ground running and start building your clientele. Utilize your expertise, interpersonal skills, and dedication to help clients achieve their fitness goals, improve their overall health, and transform their lives. Every session is an opportunity to make a positive impact and inspire others to lead healthier, happier lifestyles.

Start Your Fitness Career Today

The path to becoming a certified personal trainer is within your reach. Seize this opportunity to turn your passion for fitness into a fulfilling career. Enroll in our online NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Exam Preparation (Voucher Included) course and embark on a journey of transformation, both for yourself and for those you will inspire along the way. Take the first step towards realizing your dreams today!

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Discover Chemistry

This salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the sea

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Decoupled Ionic and Electronic Pathways for Enhanced Osmotic Energy Harvesting” ACS Energy Letters

Estuaries — where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea — are great locations for birdwatching and kayaking. In these areas, waters containing different salt concentrations mix and may be sources of sustainable, “blue” osmotic energy. Researchers in ACS Energy Letters report creating a semipermeable membrane that harvests osmotic energy from salt gradients and converts it to electricity. The new design had an output power density more than two times higher than commercial membranes in lab demonstrations.

An illustration showing an osmotic energy harvesting system, with a tank of salt water on the left, a semipermeable membrane in the middle and a freshwater tank on the right. Electrodes in each of the tanks measure ion flow.

Osmotic energy can be generated anywhere salt gradients are found, but the available technologies to capture this renewable energy have room for improvement. One method uses an array of reverse electrodialysis (RED) membranes that act as a sort of “salt battery,” generating electricity from pressure differences caused by the salt gradient. To even out that gradient, positively charged ions from seawater, such as sodium, flow through the system to the freshwater, increasing the pressure on the membrane. To further increase its harvesting power, the membrane also needs to keep a low internal electrical resistance by allowing electrons to easily flow in the opposite direction of the ions. Previous research suggests that improving both the flow of ions across the RED membrane and the efficiency of electron transport would likely increase the amount of electricity captured from osmotic energy. So, Dongdong Ye, Xingzhen Qin and colleagues designed a semipermeable membrane from environmentally friendly materials that would theoretically minimize internal resistance and maximize output power.

The researchers’ RED membrane prototype contained separate (i.e., decoupled) channels for ion transport and electron transport. They created this by sandwiching a negatively charged cellulose hydrogel (for ion transport) between layers of an organic, electrically conductive polymer called polyaniline (for electron transport). Initial tests confirmed their theory that decoupled transport channels resulted in higher ion conductivity and lower resistivity compared to homogenous membranes made from the same materials. In a water tank that simulated an estuary environment, their prototype achieved an output power density 2.34 times higher than a commercial RED membrane and maintained performance during 16 days of non-stop operation, demonstrating its long-term, stable performance underwater. In a final test, the team created a salt battery array from 20 of their RED membranes and generated enough electricity to individually power a calculator, LED light and stopwatch.

Ye, Qin and their team members say their findings expand the range of ecological materials that could be used to make RED membranes and improve osmotic energy-harvesting performance, making these systems more feasible for real-world use.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News . ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Child Development

What is your Most Important Hero's Journey?

Do you hear your "call to action".

Posted June 30, 2018

Movies and literature are replete with the main character engaged in what is commonly referred to as the hero’s journey, or quest. The movie or book may start peacefully, but something happens that challenges this character and his or her stable world. There is a disruption in the comfort of their world. This disruption presents a “call to action”.

At first the hero may have fears that cause him or her to hesitate. Perhaps it’s insecurity or deep personal doubts about being able to meet the challenge. The hero balks at taking the challenge. Perhaps it seems too big, or perhaps he/she doesn’t want to leave the comforts of home. But circumstances will not allow complacency. The challenge, the disruption, the crisis follows our hero, making life uncomfortable and even impossible to maintain.

The hero is forced out of her/his comfort zone, the environment and the world he/she is familiar with and confident in. During the hero’s journey she or he faces many tests each more difficult than the last. During this process the hero must determine whom to trust and whom to be wary of. As the hero confronts instead of running from each challenge, it supports the development of greater character, personal resources, and skills.

The journey causes the hero to face his/her innermost demons and fears; sometimes represented by going into a cave, where unspeakable dangers lie. With each step on The Path, the hero must find his/her courage and grow from the experience until there is the success that restores balance, wholeness and safety to the hero’s world.

Do you hear the call to action?

We are all born whole. Some might say we are whole prior to being born and then thrust out into the world that separates us from that place of wholeness. We are born into a family, a culture, a system that causes fragmentation of our selves. Joseph Campbell, renowned professor of mythology and religion, said that the “system eats us up”. We learn to conform to that system because our survival depends on it. Our survival depends on our primary caregivers and thus we adapt to the world the way they see it. The result is a wounding of major or minor proportions. We use our intellectual abilities to make this adaptation, and in the process, we separate from our bodies, where hurt is stored. We perpetuate this separation as a way of avoiding emotional and physical pain. It is easy because it fits with everyone around us.

Your personal hero’s journey

You may not recognize it, but you are faced with your own personal hero’s journey. The one that each of us faces has similar stages and challenges as described above. For most, we don’t recognize it until it hits us square in the face and even then, we are unconscious to the process.

The “comfortable” place in which we begin this journey is usually not comfortable, but simply familiar and validated by all that surrounds us. In fact, this state is already out of balance. I refer to this “home” as your Primitive Gestalt Pattern. It is the pattern that develops during childhood as you try to navigate the dangers and traumas presented to you without drowning in them. The result is a cage that we find ourselves in as adults. It might be a gilded cage, but a cage none-the-less. A cage because you are captured – and blinded – by the lessons and survival of your childhood.

If we are able to tune in to the imbalance – overwhelm, chronic upset, being on a treadmill, sadness – it would signal that we need to figure out how to restore balance; to engage in the quest. Usually we only awaken to the process when we begin to experience more severe discomfort in the form of physical symptoms such as tension headaches or insomnia , or emotional symptoms like anxiety or depression . Even then one’s goal is typically and simply to eliminate the symptom. That is why most turn to medications that cover over the imbalance, the fragmentation, the loss of spirit or soul.

The Path and answering “the call to action”

I invite everyone reading this to listen more deeply to your unmet needs, or longings, and accept – even if it’s reluctantly – the “call to action” presented by your own imbalance and fragmentation; by your own wounding and loss of, or the covering over of your soul. Enter your personal hero’s journey for wholeness and aliveness.

What I’m referring to, more specifically, is a quest to find your own truth, your emotional healing, and depth. The journey is to challenge and leave the familiar and false comfort of your childhood lessons. These lessons might include: you are not good enough, people are out to get you, the world is dangerous, you must be perfect, your value is in what you produce, not who you are.

The quest is to uncover your wounding, even if you are afraid it will be too painful. The Buddha said that pain plus resistance leads to suffering. You can avoid the suffering of whatever form, by accepting the pain that is already present inside you. This is The Path to letting go of the pain.

The journey is to move your center of gravity from the old Primitive Gestalt Pattern of childhood to a more mature pattern that is based on self-love, compassion, acceptance, support and care. Briefly the steps on The Path include stalking your Primitive Gestalt Pattern; identifying your beliefs that are no longer appropriate and are now getting in your way. Beginning to define your new and more mature pattern, based on self-love and acceptance. This pattern supports rather than undermines.

Many of my clients can easily find aspects of this new pattern if they reflect on how they treat someone else they love, such as a close friend or their son or daughter. What did your baby child do to deserve your love and acceptance? Usually you give it willingly with no prerequisites. There is no reason to treat yourself any differently.

So your hero’s journey starts with the recognition of your fragmented self; your wounded self; your conditioned self, and the awareness that this place you are residing in no longer serves or fits you. The quest is to reach inside and find your courage to face your wounding, and to establish a new center of gravity around a self-image born out of love, acceptance, and self-support.

One of my clients once asked me, “Does it ever get easier?” In my own journey I wondered the same thing. My lesson, and response is very simple: when you get to the place where you source your life from inside, rather than the world out there, your path becomes easier. When you learn to trust yourself, rather than needing the validation of others, your journey gets easier.

Dr. Sideroff is th

e author of "The Path; Mastering the Nine Pillars of Resilience and Success".

Stephen Sideroff, Ph.D., is an associate professor at UCLA and the author of The Path: Mastering the Nine Pillars of Resilience and Success .

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