An Honest Measure of Yourself

For a lot of people, understanding themselves often stops once they have made a list of likes and dislikes. This list of preferences can be handy, but it lacks depth.

What I would encourage you to do is to go beyond just identifying preference and explore your capabilities and capacity. Try starting with these basic questions for the five core areas of your life:

Physical 

1. How much can I carry and for how long?
2. How much can I bench press, squat, and deadlift?
3. How many push ups can I do?
4. How far can I run?
5. Do my muscles and joints hurt?
6. Am I over/under weight?
7. Do I get enough quality sleep?

Mental

1. Am I learning or studying something new?
2. What was the last book I read for personal or professional growth?
3. What was the last book I read for fun?
4. What do I create?

Emotional

1. How do I handle stress?
2. What do I do when someone is rude to me?
3. How do I react to change?
4. How do I regulate my strong emotions?
5. How do I approach negative emotions?
6. How do I approach positive emotions?

Spiritual

1. Am I part of something bigger than myself?
2. How do I seek to find connection and meaning outside of myself?
3. Do I have a Faith practice or Tradition that guides me?

Social

1. Who would I call if I needed help right now?
2. Who are my mentors?
3. Who are my “goof off” friends?
4. Who would I trust with a secret?

This is just a place to get started. There are probably hundreds of questions you can ask for each of these categories. If you like these questions, awesome! Get out a journal and start writing down your answers. I think you will be surprised by what you find.

Once you have your answers written down it’s time to start contemplating what you want to do. Are you satisfied with where you are? Would you like to be stronger? Maybe you have a new desire to learn and explore something new? This exercise might have opened up your perception of how you react to negative emotions. There might be some felt need to connect with your spiritual traditions. Or maybe you thought of a friend or mentor you haven’t talked to in a long time that you want to call. 

I’m always interested in the questions people ask themselves and would love to hear what you think.