How to Discover Yourself, Perhaps for the Very First Time!

How to Discover Yourself, Perhaps for the Very First Time!

Have you ever spent the time to discover who you really are? The interviewees for The Invisible Mentor Blog tell me that they appreciate going through the process of answering the questions because it's a process of self-discovery. One interviewee told me that I took her into places that she wanted to forget, but that she was happy that she went there. I think that it's important for you to understand yourself before you choose your invisible mentors because you want those who can take you where you want to go.

Here are the questions that I ask in The Invisible Mentor Toolkit. Set aside about three hours of focused time to answer the questions. It may seem like a lot of time, but going through a process such as this one is extremely important if you expect to live a fulfilled life.

Questions to Discover Yourself!

1. What's your mission in life?
2. What's your philosophy in life?
3. In the next three years, where would you like to be in your personal and professional life? Please frame your responses in the form of goals for the following five life areas: Economic/Financial, Social, Health/Wellness, Business/Career, Personal.
4. Are you committed to achieving the goals you listed above in the next three years?
5. In the past, what has prevented you from achieving your personal and professional goals? Please describe in detail.
6. What roadblocks are you likely to encounter in achieving your goals? Please describe in detail.
7. What actions can you take to minimize or remove roadblocks to achieving your personal and professional goals? Please list the actions in terms of their importance.
8. Think about your professional goals, what gaps exist between where you are now, to where you would like to be in the next three years?
9. What actions do you have to take to fill those gaps? Please describe in detail and list
10. your actions in order of priority.
11. What knowledge do you have to acquire to fill those gaps? Please describe in detail.
12. Who are the experts that you can learn from, and what are their areas of expertise?
13. Have any of these experts given important speeches and produced information products such as books, ebooks and audio programs that you could use to expand your body of knowledge in the area(s) you identified above? Please list the titles of the speeches and the names of the products.
14. Shifting gears now, think back to when you were much younger, do any adults stick out in your mind as being memorable? If yes, make a list of them below.
15. Why were these individuals so memorable? Please explain.
16. What traits or behaviours did they have in common? Please explain.
17. What lessons did you learn from them? Please explain.
18. Coming back to the present, are there any adults who stick out in your mind? If yes, make a list of them below.
19. Why are these individuals so memorable? Please explain.
20. What traits or behaviours do they have in common? Please explain.
21. What lessons are you learning from them? Please explain.
22. Are there any similarities between your answers to 9c and 10c? If yes, please list the similarities?
23. If you could have any five mentors you wanted, who would you choose, and why? Mentors could be living or dead.
24. What is it about them that you are attracted to?
25. What is/was their philosophy?
26. How do their philosophies align with yours?
27. Which books influenced their thinking, and why? Three books per invisible mentor.
28. Are there biographies about them? If yes, list the names of both authorized and nonauthorized biographies?
29. Are there any other books about them that are not biographies?
30. Are there any interviews that they conducted, or interviews about them? Please list
31. titles and where they can be found.
32. How have your invisible mentors made a major difference in the world? Please explain.
33. Who influenced your invisible mentors? Please list their names.
34. Who mentored your invisible mentors? Please list their names.
35. Which books influenced your invisible mentors' mentors? Please list the titles of the books.
36. What critical lessons did your invisible mentors learn from their mentors that you can apply to your life? Please describe.

What have you discovered about yourself? Is a process of self-discovery an important one?  Why? Why not? Please keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me.

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