10 Things You Might Discover on a Self-Discovery Journey

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Everyone’s journey of self-discovery will be different because everyone has unique things to uncover about who they are. And everyone will have different ways of uncovering them. But there are some things that anyone who goes on a self journey might find. While you may not encounter all the items on this list, here are ten things you might discover on such a journey.

On a self-discovery journey, you might find…

1. Some answers.

   This is the main point of going on a journey of self-discovery. You’re trying to uncover who you are, which means you’re looking for answers to questions you’re asking about yourself.
   
   These questions could be about what you really want to do for a living, what hobbies you enjoy, what you believe when it comes to things like philosophy and spirituality, and what really makes you happy. As you go on your journey, learning and trying new things, that should help you find some of the answers you’re looking for.

2. Some questions.

   Ironically, though, a self journey will probably cause some questions to come up, too. As you discover things about who you are, you might find yourself wondering how you became that way.
   
   For instance, you might have thought that your current career makes you happy, only to find out that it’s not what you really want to do for a living. Or maybe it’s not what you want to do anymore. In that case, you might ask yourself, “What do I really want to do?”
   
   Or you might find that you have some limiting beliefs about your abilities. You might then ask yourself, “Where did those beliefs come from? And why do I believe them?” These are just examples of the kinds of questions that might surface when you go on this journey.

3. Some confusion.

   The questions you encounter on your journey will likely cause you some confusion. If, for instance, you discover that you’ve been living in a way that doesn’t align with your values or priorities, you may be confused about why you allowed yourself to live that way for so long. (If you’re unclear about what your values are, this post might help.)
   
   You may also be confused about your next step or how to start living in a way that’s more aligned. To sort through your confusion, you might have to ask yourself even more questions, some hard and deep ones that you may prefer not to answer. But answering them can help you gain the clarity you’re looking for.

4. Some discomfort.

   Going on a journey of self-discovery will require you to make yourself uncomfortable at times. Some of that discomfort will come from trying new things. New means unfamiliar, and the unfamiliar is almost always a little uncomfortable. But trying new things can help you discover new things about yourself.
   
   Discomfort can also come from asking yourself the hard questions I mentioned in the previous point. And you might also encounter discomfort when you try to implement changes into your life after discovering things about yourself that you want to change. But I’ll talk more about making those changes in the next point.

5. A desire to change.

   It’s possible that, on this journey, you’ll discover things about yourself that don’t please you (more on this in #9). When you discover these things, you might want to change some of them. And if you’re serious about making those changes, it means you’re going to have to do some things that make you uncomfortable.
   
   You’re comfortable with the way things are now, at least on some level — although wanting to go on a self-discovery journey says that you’ve become uncomfortable with that comfort. The idea behind this journey is to learn more about who you are so you can start living in a way that’s aligned with your true self. And that’s going to involve change.
   
   If you really do want to live a more authentic life, though, you’ll find yourself more than willing to make those changes.

6. Resistance to change.

   At the same time, just because you’re willing to make those changes, that doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to make.
   
   If you’ve been living a certain way for a while, you’ll probably encounter resistance to adopting the new habits that will allow you to change because you’re so accustomed to the old way of doing things. You also might find it hard to change deeply ingrained ways of thinking.
   
   When making these kinds of changes, you might want to start small. Just try to implement one or two changes at a time to avoid overwhelming yourself.

7. Things you never knew about yourself.

   As you expose yourself to new things on this journey in addition to asking and answering deep questions, you might uncover things about yourself that you never knew.
   
   You might be ambivalent about some of those things, but you might also find things that you love about yourself (see #8) and things you’re not so thrilled to learn about yourself (see #9). But learning all of these things will provide helpful information for you as you strive to live more authentically.

8. Things you love about yourself.

   This is one of the most wonderful parts of this kind of journey. When you discover what you love about yourself, it allows you to fall more in love with yourself.
   
   Learning these things might also encourage you to make some of the changes necessary to bring out more of the parts you love and make sure they’re showing up in your life.
   
   For instance, if you find that you enjoy riding a bike but you haven’t done that in a while, you might be encouraged to do it more often. Or if you find that you love to paint but haven’t been making time for it, you might try to incorporate painting into your life more.

9. Things you don’t like about yourself.

   Learning these kinds of things is one of the less pleasant parts of this journey. It can also be a source of discomfort (see #4).
   
   But at the same time, by learning these kinds of things you can develop a clearer idea of things you might want to stop doing or find ways to do differently. You might also want to replace old ways of thinking that are no longer serving you with new ones that do.
   
   And you might also eventually learn to love and embrace the sides of you that you’ve kept hidden or been suppressing for one reason or another.
   
   I know that before I started discovering myself more actively, when I was still deeply religious, I suppressed my sensuality to a degree. I talk about that more here. But now that I’m spiritual not religious, I’m free to love, embrace, and explore my sensual side.

10. The journey to be ongoing.

    A journey of self-discovery is a lifelong journey. You don’t go on it for a few days or weeks and then you’re done. Now you know everything there is to know about yourself. As you move forward in your life, there will always be new things for you to discover about yourself.
    
    A self journey can be something you do deliberately for a few weeks, but then you stop because you get busy. Or maybe you discover some things that you really want to change, so you focus on changing them for a while and you don’t actively engage in trying new things.
    
    Or maybe you find that now isn’t the right time to implement the changes you would like to make, but a few months later you find yourself in a much better position to do so.
    
    Your journey will likely not be straight or even nonstop. But if you commit to it you’ll understand that, like with most journeys, this one isn’t about the destination but the journey itself.

Final Thoughts

Going on a self-discovery journey can be a wonderful experience. It’s exciting to find out who you really are so you can start living more in alignment with your authentic self. And while you may learn some things that don’t please you or that make you uncomfortable, remember that all of it serves to make up the beautiful tapestry that is you.

~ Ashley C.