“Self-reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things – then better yourself.”
Sonya Teclai
Can you be real with yourself? Truly honest? If you want to create a better version of yourself, the first step is to curate internal conversations that frankly won’t be very comfortable. Sometimes the hardest person to be truthful with is the one who lives inside our own minds.
For me, this starts with a willingness to ask tough questions and then sitting down with a journal to write out my answers. I find the act of writing to be the defining factor that allows me to separate my internal narrative, the story I believe in my head, from a broader and more instrospective truth. When I write the worlds flow from my hands without a filter, without a conscious narrative that distorts the truth.
Of course, the most important step is to find the right questions. The easiest way to circumvent accountability and ownership is to avoid the questions you don’t want to have to answer. I found a good list of questions several years ago and I am going through an exercise now to answer each of these in order. These might not be the right questions for you but it is a good place to start. You can’t create the right answers if you don’t ask the right questions.
100 Questions That Will Transform Your Life
Challenge yourself to take the next 100 days and answer one question each day. Be honest in your answers, don’t overthink, just grab a pen and paper or your favorite digital journal and simply write. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself…
2 Responses
Great post, great prompts, Dusty!
Journaling is a powerful habit and tool. I’ve been digging into Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations and have become positively addicted to my Remarkable writing tablet. By the way, the original title to Marcus’s work is “Ta eis heauton,” which roughly translates as “To Himself.”
I encourage you to check out this podcast as well, https://dailystoic.com/ryder-carroll/
Thanks Anthony! It is so funny that you mention the Remarkable writing tablet. I have the 2nd version on order and am very much looking forward to receiving it. I’ll check out this podcast and the Marcus Aurelius Meditations.