How to Learn More About Yourself

Having knowledge about oneself is incredibly important and is applicable to assisting one in almost all aspects of life. There are multiple steps someone can take to better understand themselves. Though a slow and often arduous process, learning more about how you work and who you are as a person is a discovery that will lead to immense personal growth. Here are some things you can do to learn more about yourself:

1. Personality Tests: Starting out nice and simple, personality tests can be easy, affordable ways to better understand who you are as a person and different aspects of what makes you YOU! Examples of some tests that can be taken to provide insight would include the Myers-Briggs test to find out your personality type, Enneagram, Five Love Languages test, and/or the StrengthsFinder. These tests will provide insights to personal traits, strengths, and areas for growth to be aware of and appreciate.
2. Self Reflection: Take some time to ask yourself some questions about yourself and sit in those thoughts and questions. Analyze your behaviors and thoughts and draw conclusions about yourself. Observing yourself can be a great way to provide insight into how you work and what you like or dislike, which can lead to better understanding of oneself. This can also include journaling to contemplate your life and to dedicate some time to introspection.
3. Outside Feedback: Another great source of information about yourself is to ask the people who you are closest to: they will know you best. It is important when using this skill to take the words of others with a grain of salt. Neither of you are perfect, so therefore, not every observation you may agree upon or think is accurate.
4. Set Goals and Priorities: What can be worked on in order to make yourself a better version of you? Setting goals and mapping out how they will be achieved can be a great way to monitor yourself and learn about the changes occurring on the inside or outside. It also can be used to see what you struggle with and what you find to be easy and/or enjoyable.

A picture of a plant that in its nature, is wild, but constantly growing like ourselves and our perceptions of our experiences.

1. Therapy or Counseling: If accessible, therapy or counseling can be a fantastic help if one is facing internal struggle or wants to learn more deeply about what makes them who they are. Therapy or counseling is much more focused on thoughts and emotions and what the root cause of those are. In addition, exploring the past becomes an essential part of this experience and can be disclosed and studied more scientifically as it is with a trained professional.

Self discovery, at is core, is a process that can only be fully understood by you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be. Gaining a greater appreciation for oneself and increasing one’s self esteem can also be valuable results of taking time looking into self exploration.