Even the most curious and deeply soul-searching individual can hit a wall along their journey of self-discovery. At these times a couple of good self-discovery techniques can kick-start and rejuvenate the process.

Self-Discovery Is A Winding Journey

Self-discovery is about increasing your exposure to new things to gain insights into yourself and your character.

In addition, people often liken it to a  journey or path because it unfolds over time and can entail many twists and turns. Sometimes, the journey is active and awe-inspiring. However, at other times, it can be slow and confusing.

In these less productive times, impatience bubbles up and obscures the true path, which can lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-recrimination. In this case, it helps to have a few simple self-discovery techniques in hand to help reinvigorate the journey.

So, if you’d like to invigorate your journey, try these three simple techniques. Use them on the fly and in the moment. With practice, you’ll build your self-discovery muscles and see that every moment is an opportunity for personal growth and discovery.

3 Essential Self-Discovery Techniques

Each of the three essential self-discovery techniques discussed here is simple, quick, and easy to master with a little practice and clear intention. The touchstone of the invigoration process is your active intention.

Always keep in mind that every moment can be an opportunity for self-discovery IF: 1) you maintain your awareness of this intention, either at the center of your focus or at the periphery, and 2) you use whatever catches your attention for validation and/or further exploration.

1. Practice Curiosity

Practicing curiosity is the first self-discovery technique. It’s truly the best starting point. Simply, cultivate the habit of being inquisitive.

It’s obvious that curiosity and discovery go hand in hand. Here, curiosity is taken to mean your internally motivated drive for new knowledge and understanding. In other words, a drive for discovery. On the other hand, the discovery of something new can catalyze your curiosity, especially if it points to something you find interesting, important, or essential.

What’s critical to the self-discovery journey, specifically, is internally generated curiosity and discovery that’s oriented toward the self.

Use Curiosity To Broaden Your Perception And See Something New

As a curious person, your mind is active, observant, and receptive. Because the focus is open, as opposed to narrow or restricted, you’ll be prone to look at a problem or situation from more than one angle and within a wider context. As a result, you’ll see more alternatives and opportunities.

In addition, aspects of the scenario appear less monolithic. As such, you’ll be more likely to question the inflexibility of constraints. The mere acts of wondering and imagining spark creativity and instill positive feelings of awe.

And, let’s not underestimate the presence of an internal driver. This gives meaning to your pursuit, which acts as a strong motivator. Therefore, you’ll have more enthusiasm and go the extra mile when something is meaningful to you.

Why Curiosity Invigorates Self-Discovery

Humans are hardwired to be curious. Thus, it’s a natural fuel for self-discovery. But, let’s take a look at how humans biochemically experience curiosity to see how this is true.

A critical behavior for all animals (humans included) is sensing and seeking information about their environment and others who share their space and resources. It’s a matter of survival and a method to thrive.

According to an Encyclopedia Britannica study, the initial experience of curiosity is uncomfortable because the existence of unknowns implies a degree of vulnerability. But, once the animal closes the information gap and thus satisfies its curiosity, it’s rewarded with a shot of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that invokes pleasure and is a great motivator. In this way, curiosity rewards (i.e., dopamine) can propel you forward along your self-discovery journey. The expectations of a dopamine high can sweeten the achievement of small steps and successes when the going gets tough.

2. Embrace Alternatives

The second self-discovery technique is to embrace alternatives. Simply imagining different ideas, actions, or solutions can create ample fodder for self-reflection, personal growth, and discovery.

Just try it out. You don’t need to commit to an option. Just explore it.

Be inquisitive about the alternative. How would the choice affect you or how would you experience it? How would you implement it? Is there something that it could offer you that you didn’t realize before?

What did you learn about yourself through this little experiment? Did it stretch you at all? Have you decided to take a step or change something as a result? Did it pique your curiosity?

3. Tap Into Your Embodied Awareness

The third and last self-discovery technique is tapping into your embodied self. Typically, when people self-reflect, they rely on their cognition or their thinking mind. Maybe they ruminate about their likes, dislikes, aspirations, etc. Alternatively, they could question a choice or way their opinions and beliefs.

However, rarely do people tap into their internal terrain or embodied selves. In other words, they don’t avail themselves to the valuable insights contained within sensations and felt senses experienced if they were to turn their attention to inside the body. Yet, this embodied information combined with cognition constitutes their full intelligence.

Fortunately, you can learn and practice tapping into your embodied awareness. It requires only that you slow down, sense inside your body, notice what comes up, and listen patiently and compassionately. In addition, this constitutes a powerful innate capacity for much greater self-discovery as well as access to your authentic self.

While the process may at first seem unfamiliar and awkward and require a bit of time to settle in, with practice you’ll be able to do it with ease on the fly and in the moment.

Using What You Get From Your Self-Discovery Techniques

To fully exploit the potential of these techniques, use and further explore whatever gets your attention during your practice of being curious, embracing alternatives, and embodied self-reflection. Consider even something that seems a bit off-topic, because this diversion (or lateral drift) may in the end offer a significant on-point gem.

Choose your preferred method(s) for further reflection. For example, journal, meditate, journey, or sketch. Reading about what you discovered or what made you curious is another way to deepen your learning.

If Looking For Help Identifying and Practicing Self-Discovery Techniques, see:

My resources and assistance:

• Try my FREE best-guided meditation for Getting In Touch With the Inside for assistance with sensing inside yourself.
• See my related blogs
  • Gain the Power of Self Discovery With the Solar-Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
  • What to Do If You’re Stuck on Your Journey of Self-Discovery
• Or, check out my related mind-body-spirit blog posts using this “Transform Yourself” category link, or use the blog dropdown in the main navigation menu.