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Many people live their lives at lightning speed. Working, studying, caring for the kids, taking care of the house, socializing, running errands… the list goes on! When life is this busy, you may feel like you’re stuck in an endless cycle where there are always things you need to do and places you need to be. Living your life at this pace can leave very little time left over to spend by yourself. In fact, many people find that they have few opportunities to simply chill out, check-in with themselves and reconnect. It may not be top of your to-do list, but enjoying some downtime and dedicating some time to yourself so that you can reconnect can be incredibly powerful.
Hitting the pause button every now and then is a really valuable exercise. Spending time by yourself without distractions is the perfect way to get to know yourself better and reconnect with yourself. But you may be wondering why reconnecting with yourself important and how it will benefit you. Keep reading to find out why getting to know yourself better can be life changing and to discover some of the ways that you can reconnect with yourself:
The Benefits of Getting to Know Yourself Better
Everyone knows themselves on the surface level, from your favorite color to how you like your eggs cooked. However, few people stop to think about themselves on a deeper level. But taking the time to reconnect with yourself and think about what really matters to you can be incredibly powerful. Here are some of the benefits that you can gain from getting to know yourself better:
- You can connect with your values and what really matters to you, so you can let them guide you to live authentically.
- You can set stronger boundaries to help you maintain healthier relationships.
- You can decide what you really want from life, what matters to you, and start living in a way that brings more of the things you love into your life.
- You can better understand your own behavior and how you react in certain situations.
- You can identify any underlying issues that you may have been masking.
How to Get to Know Yourself Better
As you can see there are certainly many benefits to be gained from getting to know yourself better and reconnecting with yourself. However, knowing how to connect with yourself can be challenging. Here are some tips to inspire you on your journey of self discovery:
Hit the Pause Button
If you find yourself constantly making plans and trying to fill every moment of your spare time, the chances are you may be trying to avoid spending time alone. Deliberately trying to stay busy at all times can often be a sign that you are trying to distract yourself from your feelings. But hitting the pause button and maybe spending an evening a week at home focusing on yourself can really help you to reconnect. This gives you the opportunity to stop and to really start noticing your feelings.
Some people find it helpful to introduce meditation practice into their lives as a way of encouraging stillness and reducing distractions. This can be a powerful way to reduce your stress and focus on yourself.
Don’t be Afraid to Daydream
Daydreaming is something that everyone does whether they’re aware of it or not. For many people, daydreaming can feel like a waste of time. However, allowing yourself to spend a little time daydreaming can actually be really powerful. Daydreaming allows you to let your imagination run free and can be a useful way to increase awareness of your hopes and desires. Daydreaming about what your ideal life would be like, how it would feel to be living in a way that’s truly meaningful to you, and how you would spend your time can open your mind to hopes and dreams that you never even knew mattered to you.
Being able to visualize your hopes and the way you would ideally like to live can be a powerful first step towards making it a reality.
Understand Your Challenges
Many people face challenges in life. You may find that you struggle in certain situations, or that you avoid doing some activities as they leave you feeling uncomfortable. Maybe you find it hard to maintain relationships, or struggle with your mood. These challenges are ones that many people face, but it can be easy to push them aside and try to ignore them. However, there is no shame in reaching out for help to better understand the challenges you may be facing.
Understanding your challenges, your strengths, and your qualities, and then attempting to better understand them can be truly liberating. Autism is an example of this, as many adults find it challenging to get evaluated, even if they are pretty sure that they are autistic, as autism is widely underdiagnosed. Prosper Health offers autism diagnosis as well as ongoing therapy to support you after your diagnosis.
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Start Journaling
Expressing yourself on paper can also be a powerful way to better understand yourself. While our thoughts and feelings may pass through our minds so fast that we barely notice them, writing things down can allow you to truly observe them.
Journaling can be a really helpful way to connect with yourself and can also deliver some surprises. Words can flow out of your pen and onto paper before you even really acknowledge them. Letting your subconscious take over and writing whatever comes to your mind without thinking about it can clear thoughts and feelings that have been occupying your mind for a long time. Moving these thoughts out of your mind and onto paper can help you to the start exploring what these feelings mean and what they are trying to tell you.
You can also use journaling as a way of recording the positive things that have happened each day and the things you are grateful for. Writing down a few positives about your day each evening can help you to understand what’s really important to you and what you value most in life. You can then start focusing on bringing more of what you love into your life.
Try Something New
Trying new things can be scary. However, it’s a great way to bring more excitement into your life and to get to know yourself, your likes and dislikes in more detail. Maybe there’s an activity that you have always wanted to try but have always found an excuse not to do. Or, maybe there’s a hobby you like the look of but have never gotten around to trying. Either way, trying something new can be a great opportunity to learn more about yourself.
If you’re not sure where to start, try thinking about something you always wanted to do in the past. Maybe something you dreamt of doing as a kid, but forgot about as an adult. Revisiting these dreams and acting on them is a great place to begin.
Final Thoughts
Reconnecting to yourself and getting to know yourself better can be a really powerful way to transform your life. Investing time in yourself and moving away from being constantly busy can open up a whole new world of possibilities you wouldn’t previously consider. There are so many opportunities to explore and discover when you begin this exciting journey. All you need to do is to get started, keep listening to yourself, and you should start to see some really positive changes start emerging.
