Do you want to learn more about who you are? This is a list of ten important questions you can ask yourself to find out who you are now, who you have been, and who you want to be. Take note of your answers and go back every couple of years to reassess your answers and make changes in your life if needed.

1| How are you different from the person you were five years ago? Ten?

The only person you should compare yourself to is the person you were in the past. Measure your achievements and how far you have come. Are you proud of yourself? What do you want to achieve in the next five or ten years? This question can help you to get some perspective on your life and to help you form goals for the future.

2| What’s your favorite characteristic about yourself?

What do you love the most about yourself? Think beyond the physical or pick one physical thing and one character trait. Why is this your favorite? What has it helped you attain or accomplish in life? 

Is there another characteristic that you wish you had that defines you as much as this one? What could you do to work on that and foster growth of other characteristics that are important to you?

3| What do you contribute to others? The world?

What is your purpose in your family, your community, or your world at large? Start small. 

What is your biggest contribution in your family or friend group? What is your contribution in the workplace?

How do you contribute to your city, state, or country? What are you doing to help improve life all over the world? 

Think about this and what you would like to add to the list. Set attainable goals and research how to start working on achieving them.

4| What do you spend too much time doing? What don’t you spend enough time doing?

What do you find yourself doing for hours on end that is unproductive or unenjoyable? How much time would you ideally be spending on that activity and what can you do to limit the time you are spending? 

Next, think about what you would like to spend a lot more time doing. Are you able to give some time from the first activity to the second? How else could you make more time for this more valuable and pleasurable activity?

5| Who do you love the most?

The people you love most in your life deserve your care and attention. List the people who mean the most to you. Why do these people matter so much? Have you told them how much they mean to you? Why not? 

Find something kind to do or say to those on your list so that they know how important they are too you. You might find that one act of kindness brings more in return and strengthens your relationship even further.

6| What is something you’d love to learn or experience?

Make a list of five to ten things that you want to learn or experience in your life. Make sure you have a couple of short-term ideas and long-term ideas. Once you have listed some goals, choose one or two and write down specific, concrete steps that will lead to achieving those goals. 

Try to get started right away to keep your motivation up and follow through. When you complete the first goal get right into the next one! It will make you feel great to accomplish these things that you have always wanted to do.

7| What do you need to heal from?

Think back into your past. What issue or trauma arises throughout life and weighs on you? How can you start to address these feelings and heal? Write down some ideas and make an action plan to rid your life of the clouds that you have let follow you for too long. Sometimes these things need to be addressed by a professional to fully confront them and heal yourself.

8| What is the biggest challenge you have overcome in life?

What challenge are you most proud of overcoming? What specific actions did you take to succeed? Take note of what worked for you and apply those strategies to future challenges. Analyze why this was such a big challenge for you to overcome. Maybe there is some work you can do to make dealing with similar issues somewhat easier for you in the future.

9| What are your best memories? 

Think back throughout your entire life and remember about what made you feel the most joy. Who was involved? Are there certain people and places that stand out? Those memories can help you discover what you really love and what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. It’s probably impossible to recreate memories but you can try to bring similar joyful moments into your current life using those things that made you so happy in the past.

10| How do you want to be remembered?

We all want to leave this world having contributed something or being remembered by someone. Think about how you want to be remembered. Are you living up to those ideals? 

Maybe there is someone who you should be spending more time with or goals and dreams you should start working towards. Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Time to get started on making sure your life reflects what you stand for and leaves a lasting impression.

Final Thoughts

These ten questions should help you learn more about who you really are and where to make some changes if you feel like your current self doesn’t align with the life you want to live. Focusing on introspection and learning more about yourself can help if you feel like you’re in a rut or just need some answers. There are many other questions you can ask yourself if these go well for you and you want to dig deeper!