There are a lot of unpleasant things you can do when you feel lost in life such as impulsively ending a relationship, getting stuck in a place where you don’t belong, or struggling to make changes in your life for you to be the best version of yourself. When you get to the point where you just feel helpless and unmotivated to keep going in life, the solution is to find yourself.
In an article from PsychAlive, the author described “finding ourselves” as “a process that involves breaking down – shedding layers that do not serve us in our lives and don’t reflect who we really are”.
To find yourself is to reconnect with your true self. Your true self knows exactly what you need to light up the fire in your heart again.
Pin this for later!
Journaling to Find Yourself
Journal is a very useful tool for self-discovery. By simply writing down your thoughts, you get to notice and understand how you react in a certain situation, the way you talk to yourself, and the stories you believe about yourself.
It serves as a mirror. When you understand who you are — your patterns, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, desires, and how you are in the world, it will help you to build a healthy relationship with yourself and with other people.
Self-discovery ends the cycle of constantly feeling stuck, lacking motivation, or aimless. You’ll learn to view this experience as an opportunity to explore the wild world within you.
Read Next:
- Why Do I Feel Lost and Empty: 15 Reasons Why We Feel Lost in Life
- 13 Reasons Why Knowing Yourself is Important
- Starting a Journey into Self-discovery – Knowing Yourself Series
If you want to find yourself again, check out the Exploration Digital Guided Journal! With 365 journal prompts for self-discovery, you’ll learn to create a deeper connection with yourself step by step each day. Click here to learn more.
How to Journal to Find Yourself - 5 Tips
Journaling changed my life in a way I didn’t expect.
I’ve been keeping a diary ever since I was a kid, but I really didn’t take it seriously.
I guess we all have kept a diary at any point when we were a kid just to express what was in our minds during those naive times.
Entering college made me experience an existential crisis. I felt lost in life, unloved, and incapable of anything.
During those trying times, I started taking journaling seriously.
I turned my simple dear-diary type journal into expressive writing which gave me a path to find myself, helped me heal from my emotional wounds, and love myself.
That being said, here are the lessons I learned on how to journal to find yourself which I believe will help you get unstuck and change your life for the better, as well.
1. If keeping a journal feels right, do it
I always recommend people I know to start keeping a journal if they haven’t tried it yet, but I would never suggest forcing yourself to do it.
If you don’t see the point of writing your thoughts down on paper and it just constantly makes you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to force yourself.
Kira Newman wrote this in her article for Greater Good Magazine, “If you don’t feel like you’re ready, or writing feels ruminative, or if it’s keeping you from making important changes in your life, then it might not be doing you any good”.
There’s no right or wrong way to keep a journal but you’ll get the most out of it if keeping a journal feels right for you.
2. Carve out quiet time
Setting aside time to journal is the best way to help you explore your current situation and how it has affected you.
If you’re intentional in using your journal to find yourself, really carve out quiet time to sit down and write your thoughts.
Make it a goal to gain insights and open up new learnings about yourself every time you write in your journal in order to find yourself.
3. Be truly honest, don’t hold back
The most important key in journaling to find yourself is honesty.
In terms of romantic relationships, Toni Gonzalves wrote “honesty is the foundation for trust in a relationship, and trust is necessary for a relationship to function and thrive.”
It’s the same with your relationship with yourself.
Building trust in yourself requires honesty.
Trusting yourself in the process of finding yourself will help you uncover a lot of insights and pick up lessons that will help you grow.
4. Be curious, not judgmental
Being self-critical when journaling to find yourself will never be helpful.
Having curiosity when you’re in the process of finding yourself means having the desire to learn and understand yourself. It is being open and widening your mind to see new perspectives.
On the other hand, being judgmental to yourself means assessing your experiences with a critical attitude. In some cases, being judgmental might look like condemning or blaming yourself.
So when you’re writing in your journal, instead of beating yourself up for what you feel, try to be curious and ask questions that will help you gain insights.
5. End your journaling by synthesizing what you’ve learned
When you’re starting to build a journaling habit to find yourself, the goal is to not just vent but to learn about yourself.
Before ending your journaling session, it is a great opportunity to assess what you’ve learned from your experience. You might want to re-read your journal entries and list down what you learned.
Those lessons will help you understand and get to know yourself better.
If you’re struggling to find what you’ve learned, you can end your journaling by simply listing down what you’re grateful for. It can help you ease your anxiety and stress.
How do you find yourself or figure out who you are?
I hope you found this blog post helpful! Keep in mind that finding yourself is a process and a journal is just a tool to help you get there. You always have what it takes to be the best version of yourself, so keep going! If you need a tool that will guide you to find your true self, don’t forget to check out the Exploration Digital Guided Journal!
Do you keep a journal? How do you find yourself or figure out who you are? What is the best advice you can give to someone struggling to find themselves? Let me know in the comments below!
Don't forget to pin it!
Jocelyn is a coffee lover who believes that a bad day with coffee is better than a good day without it. You can find her obsessing over stationery, hanging out with her cat, or singing her favorite Taylor Swift songs.