12 Questions to Ask Yourself for Self-Reflection

When you self-reflect, you look inward at yourself. You consider your own thoughts, 
feelings, opinions, and beliefs, and practice a lot of self-awareness.

It is a very cathartic experience when you can do self-reflection in the right way. This is 
what many people try to accomplish while journaling, but it doesn’t always work out how 
they planned. 

To help with better self-reflection, here are 12 questions to ask yourself. Some are deep, 
thought-provoking questions, while others are simply things that are good to think about 
and write down.

1. Who are you? 

This is a simple, but thought-provoking question that can reveal more than just about 
any other question. Who are you really? Who do you feel like? What traits do you have?


2. Who do you want to be?

Now that you know who you are, write a little about who you want to be. This can help 
when you eventually change your mindset and decide what changes to make in your 
life.


3. What are your biggest passions in life?

List all of your passions, big and small. This can help you create goals and discover 
what you really want out of life.


4. If you could start the last year over, what would you do differently?

You could use any length of time you want for this question, but really think about if you 
could do something over again, how would you do it differently? This not only helps you 
discover a little more about events you regret or how you handled situations, but also 
more about who you are as a person.


5. What is something you hide about yourself, from others?

Is there anything about yourself that you don’t share much with other people? What it is 
and why don’t you tell anyone.


6. What do you love about yourself?

Now is the time to express how grateful you are for who you are! It is such a huge mood 
and confidence boost to write down everything you absolutely love about yourself.


7. What do you wish others knew about you?

This can be something you don’t tell people often, but wish you did, or something you 
feel like most people don’t see in you that you want them to. It can be anything from a 
personality trait or talent, to something about your physical appearance.


8. How well do you handle stressful situations?

Do you feel like you stay calm when you experience unexpected events? Does it 
completely overwhelm and burden you? What are your stress coping skills?


9. What is the most difficult thing you have overcome?

Celebrate yourself and everything you have gone through by thinking about the biggest, 
worst, or most difficult thing you have endured in your life, and how you overcame it. 
Then be grateful you have come through the other side!


10. What has impacted your life the most?

Was it something challenging that impacted you, or something amazing? Was it an 
event or a person? 


11. Are you a confident person?

How often do you feel confident and sure of yourself? Do you have a low or high self-
esteem? What is your self-worth if you were completely honest?


12. Why are you a capable person?

Describe all the reasons you know you can handle anything that is sent your way, no 
matter how difficult or challenging it might be.



