In Search of Self: Tips for Your Self-Discovery Journey

You never fully know yourself, hence the need for perpetual self-discovery.

Self-discovery is simply discerning your own individuality―your distinct personality. It’s realising and developing your personal identity―what distinguishes you―as a persisting entity.

Beyond all the fancy words, self-discovery is finding and becoming yourself. I probably sound like a low-budget motivational speaker at this point but stay with me. It gets interesting.

Why go on a self-discovery journey?

I know you’re probably thinking: why do I need to find myself. And that’d be a good
question. It’s not like you’re lost after all. The simple answer is there’s nothing more
fulfilling than the self-discovery journey.

Self-discovery is basically what life is about. Life is a long journey of finding out who we are, a journey that ends only when we breathe our last. You keep discovering yourself day in day out.

Why else should you make attempts to know yourself better? To relish the thrill of
curiosity is why. You never what you could find in search of your unique self. And that’s
the fun part.

No matter how old you are or how many skills you have, you can always find out new things about yourself. It’s what keeps you alive, the curiosity of discovery. The feeling that you could do more and be more.

Once a person loses that curiosity, they are as good as merely existing and not living. The reward of self-discovery is the journey itself. And of course, the new discoveries you make about yourself.

What’s more fun than finding out you can learn a new skill? Or discovering a talent you didn’t know you have? The progressive discovery of your unique self brings happiness through new, exciting experiences.

There’s more. With new discoveries, especially about your capabilities and potentials, you can take on more problems and solve them. And you know what they say, solve problems, be happy.

The ultimate route to self-discovery

The way to find is to search in multiple places. Are you truly searching if you’re not looking in many places? Highly unlikely.

Bear in mind that you’re not seeking to find what is lost. Rather, you’re looking to unearth what is hidden. Both pursuits are different. Significantly different. And this difference manifests in the approach. The journey of self-discovery is an exciting adventure into different interests, activities, and fields.

The key is to keep trying new things. This does not mean you should pursue every flashy thing that catches your fancy.

If you run after every new interest, you might not do well enough in any to find fulfillment. And you don’t want that. What you want is to explore each interest to see if it resonates with you, which is only possible if you invest in it long enough to discern.

Once you have explored an interest long enough to master it, you can move on to another one. Fortunately for you, the future of work demands that we become serial masters as against shallow generalists.

An active pursuit of self-discovery is a win-win for you, whichever way you look at it. Self-discovery is meant to be fun. If it’s not, you’re probably doing it wrong. Know this: you’re not looking for the one thing. You’re not seeking the singular all-fulfilling interest. No.

Rather, you’re looking for bit and pieces, trying to piece them into the jigsaw puzzle of your amazing self. Thus, you’re not frustrated when particular stuff is not fitting in. You just move on to another.

I like how Billy Mills puts it, “The ultimate is not to win but to reach within the depths of your capabilities and to compete against yourself.”

One more thing…

You can always do more and be more. To not explore your range of capabilities and potentials is to do yourself a huge disservice. It’s to do the world an unfair wrong.

As far as we know, we live once. And I bet you want to make that one-time count.

You want to live fully such that your tombstone may read beautifully: Here lies a human who died empty. Empty, because you gave life your all and became all you could, having expended all your potentials, passions, and talents.

My friend, wouldn’t you rather pursue active self-discovery? You have so much to discover about yourself―so many hidden gems. We are waiting for you.

About the author

With a mission to help individuals and organisations find and amplify their voice, Williams Oladele is passionate about creating value and driving positive change with the written word. Williams is a freelance writer, published poet, occasional blogger, and digital strategist. For more about him, visit his website (https://olaidozen.com.ng) or reach him via email on williams[at]olaidozen.com.ng.