The Power of Self-Inquiry
Public domain image of Gwyneth Paltrow
Self-inquiry is one of the most powerful ways to know yourself and live in alignment with what matters most to you.
Self-inquiry is a personal growth method centered around regularly asking yourself the right questions to help achieve awareness, clarity, and focus. It's a tool that can help you better navigate the mental and emotional ups and downs of life.
As a human, you have to consume and process an incredible amount of information with the hopes of interpreting it in a way that leads you to make the right decisions. There is a lot of noise — internal and external influences — that you must traverse so you ultimately get to where you want to be.
Self-inquiry will help you discern the information that’s most relevant, the influences most useful, and the decisions most impactful to you. It’ll lead you back to the essence of what matters most and empower you to ignore or discard anything that’s not essential.
In both good and challenging times, I’ve always relied on a set of meaningful questions to help me stay connected to my life vision. Here's a list that has been particularly useful in steering me in the right direction.
What is your purpose?
What matters most to you and why? Is this desire ever-present and clearly reflected in what you do and how you go about doing it? Take some time to reflect on your personal mission and consider, at the core, what it stands for.
What do you want to accomplish and why? More specifically, why is this important to you? Think back to when you came up with this desire. What pushed you to realize it? What was so special about it that you decided to turn it into a tangible thing?
How do you add value?
What core need are you meeting? What problem are you solving or desire are you fulfilling? How does creating this value help you generate abundance for yourself?
What are you uniquely qualified to do? What’s special about your approach that has the potential to stand out, even if there are many others doing what you do?
What should you start, stop or sustain?
Evaluate your activities, habits, processes, beliefs, etc. Which seem incongruent or inconsistent with your mission? What shift is required so you can stay true to yourself?
Also, consider what needs to be organized, cleared, and decluttered (literally or figuratively) to make space for more efficient and effective activities. Now, which critical task can you take inspired action on because you believe it will move your life forward?
What are you grateful for?
Momentarily shift your thoughts to the areas in your life that are going well and where you feel positive, thankful, hopeful, and abundant. Acknowledge your accomplishments as well as any situations that appear to have been failures or goals that you've not yet achieved.
What have you learned from the big wins and setbacks? How have they (or will they) moved you forward? Lastly, identify any signs showing up in your life that indicate pending success — now anticipate it with pre-joy.
What don’t you know?
Write down challenges within your life that you don't know how to solve right now. Now imagine, what might be possible if you release control and be ok with not knowing. Just for one day, welcome any interruptions or distractions to your routine or normal way of doing things.
Does the difference stir up new thinking or ideas that weren’t there before? Finally, think about who you can ask for help on something you are stuck with. Who might be in the position to support you so you don't have to go at it alone?
