understand life
Self-reflection: 15 questions everyone should ask themselves (at least) once in their life
Self-reflection can help us better understand ourselves and our environment — and take control of our lives.
© Ridofranz / Getty Images
Our personality is constantly changing. Sometimes it is all the more difficult for us to understand our actions and thoughts. Self-reflection is a real game changer.
What do I really want? A question we have all asked ourselves. Finding an answer to this question is anything but easy. On the one hand, this is because we are constantly changing over the course of our lives – and with it what we want from life. And then, thanks to the constant effort of daily work, internet and leisure stress, we often find it difficult to really question ourselves.
Regular self-reflection can demonstrably enrich our lives. Those who regularly question themselves, their thoughts and feelings, and their actions not only make better decisions, but are also able to communicate more clearly and clarify their values, boundaries and needs and pursue their goals and dreams more purposefully – because they know them.
Self-reflection can increase our productivity
“You have to invest in yourself first and foremost. It’s the only investment that pays off a thousand times over,” billionaire Warren Buffett said a few years ago. At the time, he spoke mainly of an investment in success. An effect of self-reflection that has now even been scientifically proven.
Researchers Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano of Harvard University were able to demonstrate with a study that daily reflection on professional and personal success can increase our productivity. Frequently questioning ourselves can lead us to change our behavior – and for the better.
Self-reflection needs one thing above all: time
A similar effect is also possible with negative feelings: if we are used to reflecting ourselves, we do not accept fears and worries so easily and we can deal with them better. In the long run, self-reflection allows us to better control our impulses and actually learn from our mistakes rather than repeating them over and over.
However, for self-reflection it is important to ask yourself the right questions and really take the time to think about it intensively. And there are questions that each of us should ask ourselves in order to get to know ourselves better. The next 15 pieces are definitely one of them.
15 questions each of us should ask ourselves
- Who am I when no one is watching?
- What kind of person do I want to have been?
- Which people are really important to me in life?
- What do I get up for every morning?
- What does success mean to me?
- what is my biggest dream
- What’s stopping me from fulfilling it?
- Which values are important to me – and why?
- What am I good at and what am I not?
- Am I a good friend?
- How do I actually find myself?
- Am I afraid of death?
- How important are money, love and friendship in my life?
- What was the best moment of my life?
- If I could start over, what would I do differently?
Forget the ideal personality image
Of course, this is just an inspiration for questions we can ask ourselves to understand ourselves a little better. It is important to approach self-reflection with an open mind and try to be honest with yourself. We often answer the relevant questions as we would like to be, rather than how we really think.
So try to put your ideal personality aside and embrace who you really are. Only then will you find out what is really good for you and what you want from life. For it is as the great philosopher Seneca once said: “If you do not know the harbor to which you wish to sail, there is no wind for you.”