Self-reflection is the core of self-awareness. Through introspection and asking yourself "why" questions, you can gain a better understanding of your actions and behavior.
If you regularly reflect on your life, you may notice that you're unhappy in some areas such as your friendships, career, or self-care.
Asking these questions will help you identify changes you can make to improve your mental and physical well-being.
What Are The Self Reflection Questions?
There are countless topics to reflect on, but we’ll focus on the ones that enable the most personal growth. We’ll also look at topics pertaining to civil discourse to see why it’s an important part of a balanced life.
Self reflection questions help you to get to know yourself better by tapping into your thoughts and emotions.
They allow you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, your core beliefs and values, so that you can grow.
Introspection, the process of reviewing thoughts, feelings and behaviors, is one powerful way to make positive changes in your life.
Research shows that we think more than 6,000 thoughts per day, of which more than half are negative and more than 90% are just repeats from the day before.
These self reflection questions can help you become aware of your thought patterns.
Questions about Childhood Memories
Childhood is a significant time in our lives that can help us become the people we are meant to be. Taking a retrospect to your childhood memories can help explain why you make the decisions you do today with the help of self reflection questions.
Here are some questions to ask yourself about your childhood:
- What was it like growing up?
- Did you have any experiences that felt traumatizing or overwhelming?
- Were your needs being met as a child?
- What is your favorite childhood memory?
Questions about Mental Health
The way we prioritize our mental health can have a huge impact on our lives. These questions can help you determine how you care for your mental health.
- How do you de-stress?
- Do you have a support network? Who is at the top of it?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how is your mental health right now?
- Are you too hard on yourself?
Questions about Physical Health
You can neglect your physical health in many ways. Consider the ways in which you care for your body and how you can improve to live a healthier life.
- Do you have any habits that are bad for your health?
- What activities may you feel physically well?
- Is exercise a part of your life? How so?
- What is your relationship like with food?
- How do you deal with burnout?
Questions about Routines and Daily Life
The best way to get an objective view of our lives is to look at our daily routines. These self-reflection questions can help us see what works and what doesn’t.
- Do you have a morning routine? Does it leave you feeling excited and energized for the day?
- What is your nighttime routine like? Do you fall asleep easily?
- Do you leave yourself enough free time during the day? How do you fill it?
- Name one thing you’d like to make time to do every day.
Questions about Work
It can be challenging to integrate work into our lives in a healthy way. Ask yourself these questions for introspection on whether or not you have a healthy work-life balance.
- When you’re not at work, are you able to leave work thoughts behind?
- Does your workplace encourage civil discourse on tough discussions?
- How do you feel about your job? If it’s not fulfilling, are there ways to find fulfillment?
- If you could have any career without having to worry about money, what would you choose?
Questions about Family Relationships
Regardless of how close you are to your family, family relationships have a huge effect on our sense of security and stability. Here are some self-reflection questions to help you learn how you define family.
- Are you close with your biological family? If not, do you have close friends who you would consider family?
- Does your family support your life decisions? Are you able to have respectful conversations when you disagree?
- Do you spend quality time with your family?
- How important is the concept of family in your life?
Questions about Friendships
No two friendships are alike. Ask yourself these self reflection questions to determine how the friends in your life uplift or hinder you.
- Who would you call if you needed help?
- Do you make an effort to be there for your friends in their time of need?
- How do you handle disagreements with friends? Are you able to forgive easily?
- What is most important to you in a friendship?
Questions about Romantic Relationships
Romantic relationships can be incredibly fulfilling. They can also illuminate many things about ourselves that we may not be aware of or want to admit.
- What do you want from a relationship?
- Describe your dream partner.
- What is your love language?
- How do you maintain boundaries and independence when in a relationship?
Questions about Self-Care
Many of the things we consider to be self-care are actually self-destructive acts in disguise. These questions for self reflection will help you identify and change destructive habits.
- What do you consider self-care?
- Do any of your self-care practices hurt you in any way?
- Do you make time for self-care even when pursuing a personal or professional goal?
- Do you focus on caring for others and neglect yourself?
Questions about Dreams/Goals
Our dreams motivate us through periods of doubt. These self reflection questions will help you identify what motivates you to overcome obstacles.
- What is a dream you have that you’re embarrassed to admit?
- Name 5 short term and 5 long term goals.
- Do you feel like you’re living your dreams?
- What are you willing to do to go after your dreams?
Questions about Past Trauma
As human beings, we’re often tempted to gloss over or ignore past trauma to protect ourselves. By facing these incidents head-on, we can heal from the pain and emerge stronger than before.
- Is there any past trauma that you haven’t dealt with?
- How do you feel about pursuing professional help? Are you willing to ask for help if needed?
- Have you healed from your past traumas?
- What do you do when you feel triggered or retraumatized?
Questions about Bad Habits
Many of us have bad habits that we don’t even realize we’re doing.
Here are a few questions that will help you identify and eliminate bad habits due to several questions for self reflection.
- What are your bad habits and what are their consequences?
- Are you willing to practice contrary action?
- What good habits can you replace your bad habits with?
- Have you ever been in addiction? If so, how did you deal with it?
Questions about Interests
Our interests help sustain us and offer us a sense of excitement outside of our work lives.
These self reflection questions will examine the ways in which your interests uplift your life.
- Name 10 interests outside of work.
- Now name 5 interests you’d like to pursue that you haven’t.
- How can you make more time for the things that interest you?
- Is there a group you can join to meet up with people with similar interests?
Questions about Personal Wellness and Happiness
While there’s no fool-proof path to happiness, we can take steps towards a happy and contented life when we identify what brings us joy through questions for self reflection.
- Are you happy overall?
- How do you define happiness?
- What’s something you can do right now to bring more joy into your life?
- What steps can you take to improve your emotional well being?
Self-reflection is a valuable tool for all of us, no matter our circumstance. Whether you’re a CEO, a student, or an entrepreneur, self-reflection can help you better understand people around your and, definitely yourself.
The more you understand what makes you tick, the easier it will be to find ways to improve your life.
As you go through life, you will undergo major changes that will alter who you are.
These self-reflection questions will help you get a better sense of who you are right now and what changes you can make for the better.
