Personal development has been growing in popularity within the last couple of years. Whether it’s books, podcasts, or inspirational documentaries, people are seeking a better understanding of who they are and how they can improve their life. A huge part of this personal growth movement is self-discovery.
Traditionally, self-discovery is simply known as discovering something about yourself, which is easy enough to understand. Most people associate self-discovery with taking a personality test like Myers Briggs, or doing some soul searching to figure out your dream career.
However, self-discovery goes way beyond just finding out your personality type or your perfect job. In fact, self-discovery is almost every aspect of personal development. While yes, the previous examples I mentioned do fall under this umbrella, what many don’t know is just how deep self-discovery can go when exploring these parts of personal development.
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Let’s get down to basics and explore all of the different exciting aspects of self-discovery:
Discovering Your Passions
Is there anything in your life that you can happily spend time on for hours and completely lose track of your day? Discovering your passions is one of the most exciting parts of self-exploration because there can be a wide range of possibilities that you aren’t even aware of yet. Plus, they can change and develop as you get older!
If you’re not quite sure if you have any passions, simply take 10 minutes a day to explore something that interests you. This could literally be anything, like researching a new sport or signing up for an art class. Maybe you invested in a fancy camera in the past and it’s been collecting dust for too long? (Guilty!) Take it out, look up some Youtube videos or explore some tutorials on Pinterest and start dedicating some time to see if this interest transforms into something bigger.
For me, writing has always been my biggest passion, which I discovered at a young age while writing short stories in elementary school. Later in life after I graduated high school, I developed a passion for blogging, which later transformed into an additional love for marketing! Pursuing each of these passions helped develop brand new ones, which is a wonderful and exciting way to learn more about yourself and bring more joy and positive change into your life.
Figuring Out Your Purpose
What are you meant to do in your lifetime? This doesn’t necessarily mean what you are “meant to do” for your career, but more what purpose do you feel you need to serve to make an impact in the world?
Now I know that sounds rather intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be scary. Making an impact during your lifetime could be something even as simple as reaching out to one person to help brighten their day with your radiant smile and positivity. Sure, some people may find their purpose to be something huge like selling all of their belongings and moving to another country to help conserve the environment, and that’s great too! Not one person’s purpose is better than another’s. What matters is you’re creating a positive difference and feeling aligned with your soul in the process.
Discovering your purpose doesn’t come at any specific time in life. Don’t pressure yourself to have it all figured out right now, especially if you’re finishing college or in your twenties – you have so much life left to explore! I recommend simply following what feels good and asking your friends what types of activities help you shine like the beautiful human you are. Stay curious, and you’ll never know what you’ll discover about yourself.
If you’re feeling stuck and unsure about where to even start with finding your passion or purpose, download my free 3-Step Life Audit Workbook.
Finding Out What Motivates You
For those days you feel stuck in a rut and need that kick-start towards productivity, it’s helpful to have an arsenal of tactics that help you feel motivated again. Do you know any quotes that resonate with you? Maybe some songs help light the fire? How about meditation techniques to help you clear your mind and find focus for productivity?
There is an abundance of articles online about finding motivation, but only you can discover what truly resonates and works for you the best. For example, simply explore all of the different workout playlists available on Spotify. There are countless types of music, ranging from HIIT pop to hip hop to rock music and beyond. This is because everyone not only has different tastes in music but also because various kinds of genres work better than others for specific people.
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Discovering Your Mental Capabilities
Mental health is slowly becoming more and more acceptable to talk about on a more casual level than in the years past, which is fantastic progress for such an important topic. With that in mind, now is the best time to spend time reflecting on your own mental health and capabilities.
What does this mean, you ask? Well, while some people may be aware of any mental health issues or struggles with anxiety or depression, we ALL need to be in tune with our mind and heart. When you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or simply a bit off, those are signs that your mind, heart, and soul are trying to let you know you need to take time for self-care.
Personally, I know I usually find myself feeling ultra motivated and productive for about two-week increments. However, if I don’t prioritize self-care (especially meditation) I’ll quickly find myself burning out with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. While I have a history with anxiety and went to a therapist to help discover more about this aspect of my mental health, I also took plenty of time to do research and explore different coping mechanisms and self-care practices that fit best for my own mental capabilities and needs.
Keep an eye on your triggers and don’t be afraid to turn inward when you’re feeling off or overwhelmed. Learning more about yourself and your own mental capabilities will help you not only feel more connected with your inner self but also create an effective strategy for preventing future breakdowns or simply feel more mentally balanced on a more consistent basis.
If you’d like to learn more about building a solid foundation of self-care, the Self-Care to Confidence Masterclass included in my Self-Discovery Starter Kit will help you with exactly that.
Learning What You Need in Relationships
Whether you’re in a relationship with a significant other or spend time with important friendships, you will have needs and expectations that are different than anyone else. This is another part of you that can change over time, learning more about who you are and what you want in life requires positive people who fit into the life you’re living. This is why you may gain and lose relationships with others as you grow older. Certain people fit into specific times in your life, and when you grow into a new stage, some friends may not fit your new needs.
If you’re unsure about what you need and if your relationships are a positive fit in your life, take some time to evaluate your own personal values. What’s important to you in life? What do you think creates a healthy friendship? Once you’ve pinpointed these needs, take a look at the people in your life and see if they fit into what you’ve written down. You may discover some of your relationships aren’t serving you in the way you need.
Essentially, self-discovery is an all-encompassing journey of getting to know yourself better, what makes you tick, and how you go about life.
This exploration has always been one of my absolute favorite parts of personal development, even before I realized it. I was taking personality tests, career aptitude tests, trying out different forms of productivity techniques to see what would work best…the list goes on! Basically, if there was anything I could research to help me learn more about myself, I was hungry for it. Learning more about myself and how I can improve or understand who I am as an individual in life, at work, in relationships, or with my mental health is completely fascinating and I’ve never gotten tired of it!
Along with this, I’ve always loved learning about others in this way as well. It’s probably why I was originally a psychology major when I started college. I’m extremely passionate about digging deep and learning the core of who my friends and family are, especially with personality types or trying to help them find what they love to do.
This is why I’ve felt pulled towards self-discovery for the direction of my coaching business. The inner work and soul searching is what makes personal development so beautiful and transformation possible. You can’t change without knowing where you are now, because you won’t have something to reference during your growth and change.
I want to help others experience the beauty of discovering who they are on so many different levels during their personal development journey. Feeling stuck and unsure where to even start? I’ve got you. Feeling fairly happy with your life, but feel like your career could use a change? We can do this. Love your job and your life, but something inside still feels off? Hell yes girl, I’ve been there and want to help.
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This is so important! It’s crucial to be on a self discovery path. I recently had to go on mine AGAIN and it was so rewarding and NECESSARY. You are so right about it helps you discover what you need in relationships (for yourself too) and developing your mental capabilities. LOVE your blog, thank you for your article!