Questions right other similar things to help me get to know myself
December 9, 2016 8:35 PM Subscribe
Frequently people are searching for questions or a game or excercise to help people know eachother better. I am seeking something similar but for discovering things about myself.
I have found the following to be useful:
1. For each action or thing you say, ask yourself, "What are my motivations for doing or saying X?"
2. Make lists of things you know you like and dislike (knowing what you dislike is sometimes as instructive as knowing what you like).
Make those lists in all the areas you can think of: food, music, TV/movies if you watch them, books, hobbies, pop culture interests, sports (participating and watching), politics, spirituality, colours, how you like to decorate your house, etc.
Note: Be really honest about what you like and don't like; it's easy to just write down what you think you like, because it's what everyone else likes or because you grew up with it and never questioned it.
Once you've made the lists, you might find an interesting pattern in your likes/dislikes. Or you might not. But at least you'll have articulated your likes and dislikes.
3. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Knowing the answer to that can really change how you live your life.
4. I strongly recommend working through the exercises in The Artist's Way. This book outlines a 12 week course and should be of great use to you if you do the exercises (written and others) that she recommends.
5. Also, I strongly recommend a book called Callings: Finding And Following An Authentic Life by Gregg Levoy. That really helped me.
6. Meditating (mindfulness meditation) will be helpful for this over the medium to long-term and has many other benefits as well.
posted by purplesludge at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2016
1. For each action or thing you say, ask yourself, "What are my motivations for doing or saying X?"
2. Make lists of things you know you like and dislike (knowing what you dislike is sometimes as instructive as knowing what you like).
Make those lists in all the areas you can think of: food, music, TV/movies if you watch them, books, hobbies, pop culture interests, sports (participating and watching), politics, spirituality, colours, how you like to decorate your house, etc.
Note: Be really honest about what you like and don't like; it's easy to just write down what you think you like, because it's what everyone else likes or because you grew up with it and never questioned it.
Once you've made the lists, you might find an interesting pattern in your likes/dislikes. Or you might not. But at least you'll have articulated your likes and dislikes.
3. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Knowing the answer to that can really change how you live your life.
4. I strongly recommend working through the exercises in The Artist's Way. This book outlines a 12 week course and should be of great use to you if you do the exercises (written and others) that she recommends.
5. Also, I strongly recommend a book called Callings: Finding And Following An Authentic Life by Gregg Levoy. That really helped me.
6. Meditating (mindfulness meditation) will be helpful for this over the medium to long-term and has many other benefits as well.
posted by purplesludge at 8:34 AM on December 10, 2016
Here's another group of things to think about (I've answered a couple of questions similar to this, so both this answer and my first one are cribbed from my previous posts):
1. Try tracking your emotions (e.g. contentment, anger, joy, shame, guilt), tracking what triggers those emotions, and how you act on them.
2. Try tracking whether you've been stressed, what triggered the stress, how you reacted to it (and whether that was a skilful reaction), and what you've done for stress relief.
3. Try recording your dreams and looked for patterns and symbols in them. Don't worry about buying a dream interpretation book--Jung said that dreams speak the language of the dreamer.
posted by purplesludge at 8:47 AM on December 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
1. Try tracking your emotions (e.g. contentment, anger, joy, shame, guilt), tracking what triggers those emotions, and how you act on them.
2. Try tracking whether you've been stressed, what triggered the stress, how you reacted to it (and whether that was a skilful reaction), and what you've done for stress relief.
3. Try recording your dreams and looked for patterns and symbols in them. Don't worry about buying a dream interpretation book--Jung said that dreams speak the language of the dreamer.
posted by purplesludge at 8:47 AM on December 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you are a uterus-having humans person, I would recommend reading "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" as it gives a lot of insight about the inner workings of your own body - stuff that I didn't have figured out until I was in my 30s. Hormones are a helluva drug, and recognizing cycle symptoms feels really freeing.
posted by jillithd at 11:42 AM on December 10, 2016
posted by jillithd at 11:42 AM on December 10, 2016
I'm doing Unravelling the Year for the second time because I found it helpful last year, especially processing shitty stuff that happened and making a list of big-ish things I wanted to finish and plugging those into a monthly calendar. It is very woo, I skip/edit the bits I don't like and basically look at it like a list of writing prompts. You have to sign up with an email to get the pdf, but I just unsubscribe and don't get spammed.
Journalling in general is really good for figuring out who you are. Just write for 15 minutes a day, about anything, and be kind to yourself.
posted by momus_window at 12:08 PM on December 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Journalling in general is really good for figuring out who you are. Just write for 15 minutes a day, about anything, and be kind to yourself.
posted by momus_window at 12:08 PM on December 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't believe in any sort of occult or spiritual significance of the cards or the process, but I find that I can learn what's at the top of my mind and where I think things are heading in my life by reading my own Tarot cards. Do a couple hours' reading on what the cards mean and basic spreads, and see where it takes you. I've been surprised to find how crystal clear my thoughts on various topics were when the spread gave them just a little push in one direction or another. Something about the vagueness and broadness of the symbols means that your brain can seize on what it wanted you to think anyway, if that makes any sense.
posted by potrzebie at 10:17 PM on December 10, 2016
posted by potrzebie at 10:17 PM on December 10, 2016
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Also: Get To Know Yourself: 29 Questions to Discover the Real You.
posted by bunderful at 8:54 PM on December 9, 2016 [2 favorites]