“The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
Do you feel connected to your roles? Do you get a sense of fulfillment from your job? Are you satisfied with your personal relationships? These are a few important questions to ask yourself from time to time to see if you are living in a way that is aligned with your inner needs and your true self. The closer you are able to align your outer world with your inner self, the happier you will become. In order to do this, you will need to cultivate your self-awareness through open and honest dialogues with yourself.
When you begin your journey toward self-awareness, you will discover some positive things, some negative things, some things that will surprise you, and some things that will inspire you. This is perfectly normal as self-awareness involves understanding your strengths, your weaknesses, and your dreams. Pay attention to the emotions you are experiencing along the way and write down your feelings in a journal so you can reflect on them later. Understanding what contributes to your happiness and your sadness will help you to get in touch with your inner self.
One exercise you can do to help the dialogue with yourself flow is to make a list of your achievements and challenges. List five of your accomplishments and for each, write down what the experience taught you or the new things you learned during that time. Then make a list of five challenges you faced or are currently facing and write down at least one thing that you learned from each of those experiences or something that you can do currently to change the situation for the better. When you are done, take some time to reflect on the way that both positive and negative experiences impact your life and create an environment for learning and self-expansion.
There are many ways to talk with yourself and many things to talk about! Remember to always be open, honest and vulnerable to yourself. By developing a greater knowledge of yourself, you will discover who you truly are, where you are now and where you want to be. And most importantly, you will be able to find a way to get there with your unique STRENGTHS and powerful BELIEF!
