60 Thought-Provoking Questions for Self Discovery

Self discovery is a journey. Who you are today is not who you were yesterday, and who you are tomorrow will not be who you are today.

Because of our ever changing nature, it’s not uncommon to look at ourselves in the mirror and feel like we don’t really even know ourselves.

But by asking ourselves the right questions for self discovery, we can break out of this feeling and learn more about ourselves.

By engaging in self discovery, you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals. In turn, this builds feelings of self worth and allows you to make choices that are aligned with who you are.

Self discovery is all about questioning. In order to truly discover yourself, you must ask yourself challenging questions about who you really are:

I’ve compiled 60 questions for self discovery that can help you in this journey.

Benefits of Self Discovery

• Self discovery is the first step to self love. In order to love yourself, you must first know yourself.
• Helps practice mindfulness: as you learn more about yourself, you’ll be able to acknowledge your thoughts as they happen.
• Improves our relationships with others: knowing who you are allows you to connect with others you are compatible with, and grow your current relationships
• Self discovery paves the way for self development: in order to become better versions of ourselves, we must understand who we are in the present.
• Gives our lives purpose: knowing who you are gives you a better sense of your purpose and direction in life
• Builds confidence: to be comfortable in who you are, you must first know your strengths and weaknesses

How to Use These Questions for Self Discovery

The most practical way to use these self discovery questions is through journaling.

By writing down your answers to these questions, you can deepen your reflection and get more out of them.

These questions can be used all at once, or separately. Feel free to pick some questions out of the list that resonate with you. Here’s a few ways you could consider using these questions:

1. Journal about 1 question each day, going through the list
2. Pick 3-5 questions that resonate with you and do an extended journaling session on just these questions
3. Meditate on a question that feels especially significant to you.

However you choose to go about these self discovery questions, it’s important to be gentle with yourself and keep an open mind.

Plan on doing these questions somewhere you feel safe and secure. If any of your answers make you feel uncomfortable, recognize and validate your feelings. It may be something to work through with a counselor or therapist if you feel that would be helpful.

60 Questions for Self Discovery

1. What are 5 of my greatest strengths?
2. What 3 words describe me best?
3. How would my friends describe me?
4. How would my family describe me?
5. What does my perfect day look like?
6. What do I dream about?
7. What is my proudest accomplishment?
8. What do I value?
9. What’s something I’ve always wanted to try?
10. Would I rather slow down time, or speed it up?
11. What are 5 of my weaknesses?
12. What do I wish I was better at?
13. How did I get to the point in life that I am now?
14. If I could share one quote or message with the entire world, what would it be, and why?
15. What is something I want to do less of?
16. What motivates me?
17. What fears do I have about the future?
18. What makes me unique?
19. What am I grateful for’?
20. Am I honest with myself?
21. What is my intuition telling me?
22. What is love?
23. What is my purpose in life?
24. What is my ideal partner like?
25. In what ways am I proactive? In what ways am I lazy?
26. What do I stress about?
27. How do I feel about my primary caregivers? (ie. Mother & father)
28. How am I growing?
29. What bad habits am I falling into?
30. Am I in the right career path/ school?
31. How would I be different if I didn’t care about other people’s opinions?
32. If I could go back and change one thing in my past, what would it be?
33. How do I help others?
34. What am I better at than other people?
35. What’s the best thing that could happen to me this coming year?
36. What am I a victim of?
37. How do I react to criticism?
38. Is my life fun?
39. List 5-10 things you value. Then ask yourself: Are these values reflected in the daily choices I make?
40. When am I shy? When am I outgoing?
41. What is my favorite place and why do I love it?
42. What are my favorite childhood memories and why?
43. Am I a spiritual person?
44. Am I open minded?
45. What needs do I have that are not being met?
46. Do I ever want to get married?
47. Do I believe in miracles?
48. What are my favorite books and movies? Reflect on why you like them so much. How do they make you feel?
49. Who or what are the strongest influences in my life?
50. What is my greatest failure? What did I learn?
51. Am I free?
52. How am I like my family? How am I different?
53. Do I ever want to have children of my own?
54. When am I at my best?
55. What are my gifts?
56. How do I cope with negativity and discomfort?
57. On a scale of 1-10, how well would I rate my sense of personal identity?
58. Do I feel valued?
59. What activities suck the life out of me?
60. What activities are life givers? (they make me feel more motivated and happy)

Closing Thoughts

I hope you found these questions supportive in your self discovery journey.

What questions stood out to you the most? More importantly, what did you learn about yourself?

Because of our ever evolving nature, it can be helpful to revisit the same questions at different points in life.

Take note of questions you would like to revisit, and notice how your answers change over time.

If you want to take the next steps toward self discovery, one of the most powerful ways to do so is through shadow work, which focuses on examining the hidden parts of yourself.