125+ Enlightening Self Discovery Questions for Your Personal Growth Journey

Increase your self awareness with 125+ of the best self discovery questions. Learn what makes you tick, strengths, weaknesses, triggers, and more!

I’m literally sweating and my stomach is in knots.

“Hurry up! We’re going to be late,” I yelled at my kids as we were trying to get out the door rushing to get to our destination on time.

This same scenario played out over and over again for years. I would completely lose my cool when I felt rushed.

You see…feeling rushed is a trigger for me. It gives me major anxiety. It took me years to identify this. YEARS!

But now, I know this about myself. I can identify the feeling. And I can explain it to other people and I can usually prevent myself from losing it.

THAT is the power in self discovery.

Self Discovery Questions

Who am I? What do I want?

I’d venture to say that most of us might find it challenging to answer those big questions.

Asking specific self-discovery questions can be much easier and much more productive in the long run. Uncovering your feelings, desires, needs, and wants can help set you up for success in the future.

What do we mean by self discovery?

Self discovery is not some magic bullet that solves all your life problems. It’s simply a process of discovering who we are, what we believe in, what makes us tick, and what trips us up. It’s about developing a deep connection with ourselves, identifying our values, and loving ourselves at the same time.

Why should I even care about self discovery?

Anybody and everybody can benefit from venturing down a self discovery journey. Some of the benefits of self discovery include better communication skills, more meaningful relationships, and increased emotional intelligence, self confidence and self love.

Where do I start with self-discovery?

Know this: You are exactly where you need to be right now.

The best piece of advice I ever received was to allow myself to always be learning. You don’t have to have all the answers. As long as you stay curious and committed to learning to know and love yourself well, you’re on the right path.

Three steps to help you be successful on your self discovery journey:

1. Commit to the process. Self discovery is a long game. One of the most beautiful things about life is that we are ever changing beings. You’re going to be learning about yourself your entire life.
2. Make a plan and stay consistent. Set aside time to work on yourself. Whether you choose to journal these self discovery questions once a day, once a week, or tackle the entire list in a weekend, you will find more success if you make a plan and stay consistent.
3. Have realistic expectations. Is this going to be easy? Probably not. Will answering these self reflection questions be worth it? Absolutely. Digging in to what make you tick, how you react, and what your priorities in life are, will give you major insight into what parts of your life you may want to work on.

These self discovery questions are a great place to begin your self growth journey. Some other great places to start are journaling your thoughts, reading self discovery books, creating a vision board or goal planner, or even trying therapy.

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Questions for Self Discovery

If you’ve been wanting to grow as a person, get to know yourself better, and make a practical plan for the future, grab your favorite journal and get started answering these questions for self-discovery.

1. How would you describe yourself in five words?
2. Do you consider yourself a positive person?
3. What is one thing that is going really well in your life right now?
4. What is one thing that really needs your attention?
5. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
6. What makes you anxious?
7. What makes you happy?
8. What makes you angry?
9. What are you passionate about?
10. How do you talk to yourself? 
11. What has been bringing you joy lately?
12. Do you feel overwhelmed a lot? 
13. Do you consider yourself generally optimistic or pessimistic?
14. Do you consider yourself introverted or extroverted? Do you wish you were more of one or the other?
15. What are your biggest daily distractions?
16. What are you excited about each day when you wake up?
17. Who is your biggest fan?
18. What makes you laugh out loud?
19. Are you indecisive or are you certain with your decisions?
20. Do you feel like you spend a lot of time overthinking?
21. Do you have a lot of regrets?
22. How much time do you spend per day on social media? Do you see this as restful time or wasted time?
23. When do you feel like you are most “in your element”?
24. How much do you value other people’s opinions? 
25. What is the first thing you notice about other people?
26. What irritates you?
27. Do you consider yourself brave? Why?
28. Someone just handed you a million dollars…what are you going to do with it?
29. What piece of advice would you give to 16 year old you?
30. Who are the most important people in your life?
31. What is your biggest worry?
32. What keeps you grounded?
33. Are you good at planning or do you typically “fly by the seat of your pants”?
34. When you look in the mirror, what do you say to yourself?
35. How would you describe your childhood?
36. What are your top priorities right now?
37. Would you consider yourself a people pleaser?
38. What is the number one thing you do when you’re upset?
39. In five years, what do you want to be able to say you’ve accomplished?
40. What are your biggest stressors right now?
41. What is holding you back from achieving your goals right now?
42. What is one thing you never get tired talking about?
43. What makes you feel peaceful and content?
44. How do you practice self care?
45. What is one thing you wish more people knew about you?
46. What is your relationship with money? Do you consider yourself frugal? Good with a budget? An over spender?
47. What keeps you up at night?
48. Who do you go to for advice?
49. What is one thing you’ve always wanted to do? Why haven’t you done it?
50. Do you consider yourself a productive person?

Self Awareness Questions

If you’re looking to gain some insight or find yourself, try answering these self awareness questions or use them as journal prompts:

51. Where is your favorite place to be?
52. What is your biggest dream?
53. Describe your ideal day.
54. Do you consider yourself confident? Resilient? Passionate?
55. How do you define success? What do you need to do to consider yourself successful?
56. What calms you down when you’re angry?
57. What is one thing you need to forgive yourself for?
58. Who do you talk to when you’re struggling?
59. What are you grateful for?
60. What is one bad habit you’d like to eliminate?
61. Is there anyone you need to apologize to?
62. What is your dream job?
63. What offends you?
64. What is the last lie you told?
65. Do you consider yourself laid back or wound tight?
66. Did you make someone smile today? Laugh? Cry?
67. Who is the kindest person you know?
68. What are the top three things on your bucket list?
69. If you could hire a coach right now, what would it be for?
70. What do people always come to you for? Advice? A listening ear? Fun night out? A favor?
71. What do you need to heal from? How are you making that healing happen?
72. Where do you spend most of your time? How could you make that environment better?
73. When you die, what do you want people to remember about you?
74. Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
75. What does unconditional love mean to you?
76. What is one thing you absolutely cannot live without?
77. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
78. Name the five people you spend the most time with. Now describe them. Do you consider them to be positive influences?
79. How is “public you” different than “private you”?
80. What are you dreading?
81. What motivates you?
82. How do you handle conflict?
83. What is your biggest pet peeve?
84. What inspires you?
85. Are you a jealous person?
86. What have you given up on?
87. Name three things you love about your life.
88. What are your favorite activities?
89. What are your first thoughts when you wake up?
90. Describe one moment in life you’ll never forget.
91. Are you living life on your own terms? Or trying to live up to others expectations?
92. What quality do you admire most in others?
93. What drains your energy?
94. Who do you trust most in your life?
95. What is something you avoid like the plague?
96. How do you handle change?
97. What do you need to let go of?
98. How connected to your friends, family, community do you feel?
99. How balanced do you consider your work/home life?
100. Overall, do you consider yourself happy?

Want to dive a little deeper? Try our 30 Day Self Care Challenge to really level up your self love game!

100 Questions to Ask Yourself for Self Growth

Feel free to screenshot or print these self discovery questions for your growth journey.

Deep Self Discovery Questions

Are you paying attention to how you FEEL?

One of my biggest goals in life is to create a life that feels good vs looks good. It’s often where we get derailed in trying to live up to others expectations instead of our own. If you find yourself feeling lost or stuck, try asking yourself some of these deep self discovery questions.

1. When was the last time you felt truly alive?
2. When was the last time you said to yourself, “I really need to do ___ more often.”
3. When was the last time you felt like your heart could burst with happiness?
4. When was the last time you said to yourself, “I am never doing that again.”
5. When was the last time you felt extremely uncomfortable? Why?
6. When was the last time you were very embarrassed? Why?
7. When was the last time you were proud of yourself? Why?
8. When was the last time you cried?
9. When was the last time you did something alone?
10. When was the last time you told someone how much they mean to you?
11. When was the last time you did something totally outside your comfort zone?
12. When was the last time you felt 100% content?
13. When was the last time you failed miserably?
14. When was the last time you said to yourself, “Why didn’t I do that sooner?”
15. When was the last time you celebrated an accomplishment?

Don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy journal. You can use a plain notebook or grab a simple journal like this off Amazon!

Defining Your Values

Another great self discovery exercise is defining your values. The first time someone said this to me, I froze. I didn’t have a clue where to start. Think of values as general terms for what you prioritize in life.

For a huge list of values and step by step instructions on what to do with them, simply enter your name and email below.

Self-Reflection Questions

Have you ever heard of a life audit?

A life audit is a great self-discovery exercise where you evaluate where you are currently and then deciding what you want to do differently.

It’s a great tool to help identify what areas of life you’re feeling good about and where you can improve. It can be as simple or as complex as you wish, but if you find yourself struggling with finding time to journal about self discovery, this may be a good alternative to get started.

Rate each area of your life on a scale of 1-10. Set realistic and specific goals in areas you want to improve on. Revisit and revise as needed.

1. Work life
2. Home life
3. Physical health
4. Mental health
5. Relationships
6. Fun
7. Rest
8. Finances
9. Creativity
10. Community
11. Confrontation
12. Boundaries
13. Self care
14. Self love
15. Goals
16. Living according to your values
17. Spiritual life
18. Social life
19. Gratitude
20. Mindset

Your Personal Growth Journey

My own personal growth journey has been challenging and rewarding and eye opening all at the same time! If you’re walking a similar path, continue learning with any of these posts:

• Mindfulness for Beginners
• Self Care Sunday
• A Morning Routine that Actually Works
• Journaling for Self Love
• Savoring the Simple Pleasures in Each Day
• Challenging Negative Self Talk
• Cultivating a Grateful Heart
• Brene Brown Quotes on Vulnerability, Courage, and Shame
• 125+ Best Affirmations for Self Worth
• 125 Monday Affirmations to Start the Week off Right!
• Positive Affirmations for Self Care
• Affirmations for Inner Peace