If you’re wanting to get to know yourself on a deeper level to help improve your life, you may want to consider the process of self-discovery. This can be beneficial to your life because it can help you understand what your passions are. Understanding what self-discovery is and how you can begin the process can also help you implement new ideas into your career. In this article, we explain what self-discovery means, list nine tips for self-discovery, and discuss how your career can benefit from it.
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What does self-discovery mean?
Self-discovery means getting to know who you are as a person. This includes reflecting on what your likes and dislikes are and what you want to achieve in life. When you’re discovering more about yourself, you may also learn what your core principles are and what your potential is in life. You can divide the process of self-discovery into four parts:
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Self-awareness: This focuses on your ability to understand yourself, your personality traits, your habits, your emotions, your needs, your desires, and your values. You can benefit from being self-aware because it can help you understand multiple perspectives and build better relationships.
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Interest awareness: Interest awareness is about discovering what you’re interested in and what you’re passionate about in life. This can help you reach your full potential as you find what motivates you in your daily and work life.
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Hopes and dreams: This focuses on writing out what your hopes and dreams are in life that you want to achieve. You can benefit from understanding your hopes and dreams in-depth because it can help you form career goals to work toward.
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Career discovery: Career discovery combines self-awareness, interest awareness, and your hopes and dreams when looking for a job that can help you reach your full potential. It’s important to find a career that is right for your personality and goals because it can help you feel fulfilled at work.
9 tips for self-discovery
Here are nine tips you can use to help you discover yourself:
1. Picture and define your ideal self
When discovering yourself, you may find it helpful to start by picturing your ideal self. Ask yourself who you would like to be, such as where do you want to work, what are your interests and what’s important to you in your personal and work life. You can also ask yourself where you see your life proceeding in the next 10 years. Try to picture who you are without defining yourself based on relationships, and instead think about who you are alone. You can begin here and then explore the areas that inspire you to further your self-discovery process.
2. Spend more time with your passions
Your interests can show you what excites you in life. It’s beneficial to spend time with your passions and interests when you’re discovering yourself. This can include enjoying the hobbies that you may not have had time to do lately, which can remind you of how much joy they bring. If you’re spending more time with your passions and interests, you can start to incorporate them into your work. For example, if you’re interested in volunteering during your personal time, you can ask your employer if they can give employees time off to give back to their community.
3. Explore new hobbies or interests
Exploring a new hobby or interest can help you discover something you may be interested in. This can be helpful if you’re unsure of what your hobbies and interests are. Think about things that sound fun or interesting to you that you want to know more about in your life. From there, you can start researching how to get into it. You may find your self-esteem improves from accomplishing something new.
4. Note your skills and strengths
Make a list of all the strengths you have and how you can use them. For example, if you’re skilled in writing, you can consider working in a variety of careers, such as becoming an author, copywriter, or freelance writer. If you can’t think of your strengths, think about what people in your life regularly ask you to help them with. If you incorporate your strengths into your daily routine, you can use them more which may increase your confidence. It can also serve as motivation to keep developing your skills.
5. Discover what your values are in life
Understanding your interests, passions, and skills is necessary for discovering what your values are in life. Values are the things that are important to you, and they can help you make decisions about your life. Your values can also help form stronger relationships because if you communicate what you value, others can know what you expect from them. Having a list of your values can help you make sure you’re aligning your life choices with them. Here are some examples of values you may have:
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Trust
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Honesty
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Kindness
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Empathy
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Respect
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Resilience
6. Expand outside your comfort zone
Expanding outside your comfort zone can help you discover yourself because it allows you to experience unfamiliar situations. These experiences can show you how you react under different circumstances and may introduce you to something new you might enjoy. You may also develop a new skill when you step outside your comfort zone. For example, maybe you’re afraid of public speaking, so you’ve avoided it when you can. If you give a speech, you may find you’re good at it. This might transfer into the workplace by giving you the confidence to speak up more at meetings.
7. Use failure to develop your growth further
If you encounter a challenge during your self-discovery process, you can use it as an opportunity to grow. To do this, you can reflect on what you could do differently next time. Failure can encourage you to keep trying until you eventually succeed at what you’re trying to accomplish. Each time you try to do a task but end up failing, you learn from the experience. Learning from your mistakes can help you discover your learning style. There are four types of learning styles:
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Visual: You learn better by seeing examples, such as charts, graphs, and figures. If you’re this type of learner, you might consider organizing information into pictures or diagrams.
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Auditory: You learn better by listening to information. If you’re this type of learner, you may benefit from audio recordings or podcasts.
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Reading and writing: You learn better by reading or writing words. If you’re this type of learner, you may write down new information as it becomes available to you.
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Kinesthetic: You learn better with a hands-on approach. If you’re this type of learner, you may benefit from completing tasks in person.
8. Maintain a journal
You may find it helpful to maintain a journal when you’re trying to discover yourself. A journal can help you explore your emotions, interests, and passions when you’re reflecting on your day. When you journal, you can write freely about your thoughts, which can allow you to notice things about yourself that you might not have thought of before.
If you want more structure while journaling, you can look up prompts online for you to answer in your writing to help you learn more about yourself. You can also use a journal to track habits you’re trying to add to your life and locate habits you want to change about yourself.
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9. Create a routine
Creating a type of routine either in the morning or at night can help you achieve your goals while you’re discovering who you are. In your routines, you can use the time to work on your hobbies, journal, goals, and education. For example, in the evening after work, you may attend a cooking class and then come home and end your night reflecting in your journal. This can add structure to your day, which may increase your overall energy and motivation in your career and personal life.
Career benefits of self-discovery
Here are some career benefits that might come as a result of self-discovery:
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Develop your strengths and weaknesses
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Find careers that match your career goals
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Have more self-awareness in your life
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Implement your values into your positions
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Discover what your passions and interests are
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Find what motivates you to do well in your career
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Make better choices for your goals and advancements
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Discover careers you might not have thought of before
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Decide if you want to continue your education or training
I hope you find this article helpful.
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