Interview Yourself with these Journal Prompts for Self Discovery

Sometimes we’re not even sure who we are aside from our roles as wife and mother. Dig deep with these free journal prompts for self discovery.

WHAT IS SELF AWARENESS?

Remember those quizzes from Cosmo and Seventeen magazines growing up? There was always the sassy girl, the sexy girl, the shy girl, the friends-with-everyone girl, the trouble maker…

It seems like every quiz or personality test I’ve ever taken in my life has landed me in the “middle” category. At first it’s great, because you learn you are easily adaptable, people generally like you, and you go with the flow.

I wanted to be different, but not too different. When all the other girls were choosing the flute in middle school, I chose the trombone. When everyone took Spanish, I took German. All of my friends went to school in-state, I grabbed the first out of state option.

I didn’t want to be boxed in by anyone else’s expectations of me, but I also didn’t want to upset the flow.

(Side note: now here I am 20 years not having any use for trombone or German…)

The point is, I had no self-awareness. I wasn’t sure of who I was or who I wanted to be.

THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF

Fast forward to getting married and having kids, it’s harder and harder to have your own individuality. You have to consider everyone else’s needs in your family, and often as mothers and wives, we forget who we are or wanted to be.

Last year I took yet another personality quiz—the enneagram and found myself once again identifying with pretty much every number on the list. I felt like it was the boring number. The number that said, you’re not special, your opinions don’t matter.

I wanted to be the bold, outgoing 7 or the performer number 3. My sister felt I was the individualist number 4 (because she saw this side of me trying to be different), but then I didn’t want to be that one because she told me I was!

What I realized was that I didn’t know enough about myself—I was going to everyone else and trying to get their opinion. It felt that their opinions were more important than my own. It wasn’t until I owned my own opinion, that I came to the conclusion that I was a 9. Ironically, that type is the peacemaker–even though I was fighting against it the entire time.

“Generally, Nines are patient, steady, easygoing, receptive, relaxed, unselfconscious, agreeable, uncomplicated, contented, comforting, sensual and idealizing.

Nines get into conflicts by being emotionally unavailable, complacent, inattentive, unaware of their own anger, ineffectual, passive-aggressive, unrealistic, resigned and stubborn. 

At their best, Nines are self-aware, dynamic, inclusive, steadfast, healing, proactive, contemplative, natural, imaginative, serene, and exuberant, engaged and passionate."

-From my results of The Enneagram Institute Test

Now that I can be open to seeing what my strengths and weaknesses are, I can own them—and change those bad habits in my life.

So back to those quizzes and lists of favorite things? I’m obsessed with them now because I am defining who I am and what I love. I’m learning that it’s a strength to know yourself—to be self aware.

When we dig in and learn what we’re passionate about, what we love to do, and understand the way things in our past have shaped us, we can grow and become more confident with who we are. The more confident you feel, the less insecurity can have a say in your life.

PRINT THIS FREE “INTERVIEW WITH MYSELF” PACKET

You are not just a wife or a mother. You are a woman. A person with her own passions and dreams and goals!

Take this time to be reminded that we cannot help ourselves if we don’t understand who we are.

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