Your mind is a fortress. It is only as strong as it is understood.

You are the product of your past experiences. Every event in your life has led up to this moment. More recent events lie accessible in your conscious mind. This could be what you ate for breakfast, the events of a TV show, or the words from the previous sentence. Beneath your conscious mind, therein lies a subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is where all your life experiences collect and define who you are today.

Some experiences are more impacting than others. For instance, you are more likely to be affected for a prolonged period of time by the passing of a family member than you are by the time you spilled milk on your pants. The experience of death has more weight on the subconscious. Now, collect all the weighted experiences in your life and you have who you are today.

If you are deeply affected by a negative experience in your life, you must not ignore it! You must face the pain head on. The pain you feel is your mind's reaction to what it believes to be danger. You must neutralize the experience by learning how to avoid it all together. The mind cannot be at peace until it knows how to avoid the pain in the future. If you do not face your pains, they will take a toll on you. In compensation of the pain, the mind’s chemistry changes, potentially leaving a lasting physical distortion of its structure.

You can conquer these pains through introspection. This is the process of looking inward, and analyzing how and why you are who you are. I believe introspection is best done through writing. The writing process provokes articulate contemplation of your thoughts. When you write, you analyze each component of a situation, better helping you understand what truly matters.

That being said, I believe the best form of writing is question driven. In posing yourself a question, you do not necessarily have an answer. You are challenged to analyze your thoughts and to uncover the truth behind the motivation of your actions.

After speaking with a handful of community members, I have found that many of us have mutual sufferings. As such, I have thought long and hard about questions to summon your inner demons, giving you a chance to face them head on. Below you will find 9 questions that are designed to guide you toward successful written introspection.

These questions are best answered without any distractions. Allocate sacrosanct time for answering them. These questions should not all be answered in one sitting. Instead, answer one question a day. By leaving the questions to simmer in your mind, you will have time to ponder the truth of your situation. For this reason, sleeping on the question is of great importance. This will allow you to write your response in greater detail. The more detail you write, the more you will gain from this exercise.

From performing this exercise, myself, I have found there to be 6 benefits if done properly:

  1. Escape from burdens of the past
  2. Understand who I am
  3. Understand how my life has defined who I currently am
  4. Understand what I want from in life so I can plan the future
  5. Become healthier both physically and mentally
  6. Improved relationships with family and friends

Collectively, as a community, our experiences are near infinite. As such, you may find there to be more benefits than those that I found.

As you write, do not merely think. You want to have images reel in your mind. Visualize your responses. For instance, question #2 asks you “Who do I want to be?”. As you respond, visualize the type of person you want to become. Imagine this person’s appearance and, from a third-person perspective, watching this person interact with the world.

For each of these questions, answer the why. For instance, the first question: ‘Who am I?’ Answer the question then explain why this is your answer. Use the sub-questions to guide your response.

I have prepared a question response template for you. You can find it here.

1. Who am I?

Motivation: Before you can change yourself, you must first know who you are.

  1. What is my purpose in life?
  2. What are my core beliefs?
  3. What are my inner truths?
  4. What are my good and bad habits?

2. Who do I want to be?

Motivation: If you live without a goal, you will be aimless. You must know who you want to be so you can make meaningful steps towards your transformation.

  1. Apply the four sub-questions from question #1.
  2. What bad habits must I eliminate to become this person?
  3. To what extent will I go to become this person?

3. What are the 5 most important events in my life?

Motivation: You are shaped by your experiences. You must thoroughly understand that which binds you to understand who you are.

  1. How have these events impacted my decision making?
  2. Why are these events important to my identity?
  3. What do these events tell about me?

4. What do I allow to influence me?

Motivation: Your thoughts are a product of your environment. You must determine what thoughts are truly your own and what are manipulating you.

  1. How does my environment influence me?

    1. Environment is:
      1. People
      2. Situations
      3. Media

  2. Are my influences contributing positivity to my life?

  3. Am I influenced more than I realize?

  4. Are my influences distracting me from performing to the best of my abilities?

5. Do I make my own decisions?

Motivation: Your decisions decide your fate. If you are not making your own decisions, your life will not be your own. It will belong to he who decides for you.

  1. Am I afraid to be me?
  2. Am I an actor in social interactions?
  3. Is something holding me back? If so, what?
  4. Do I feel inadequate?

6. Is part of me stuck in the past?

Motivation: If you had a bad experience in the past, your mind cannot be at peace until you understand how to prevent that experience from happening again.

  1. Is this experience more than a year and a half old? (If so, part of you is stuck in the past!)
  2. Have I forgiven myself for past mistakes?
  3. Have I forgiven others for their past mistakes against me? (Remember: Forgiveness helps the forgiver to move on.)
  4. What can I learn from this experience?
  5. What steps can I take to live in the present moment?

7. What are my 3 biggest failures?

Motivation: Failure is a prime source of growth. You must understand how you failed so you grow to not fail again.

  1. Who was I at the time?
  2. What thoughts controlled my mind?
  3. Who or what influenced me at the time?
  4. How did I fail?
  5. What can I learn from this experience?

8. What are my biggest fears?

Motivation: The line between success and fear is the border of growth. You must identify your fears and conquer them in order to succeed.

  1. Am I afraid of the future?
  2. Am I afraid of failure?
  3. Am I afraid of success?
  4. Do I run from my fears?
  5. What am I afraid of?
  6. What steps must I take to overcome my fears?

9. How do I want to be remembered?

Motivation: Your time on this Earth is limited. In death, your greatest possession is your legacy. Your memory will be telling of the life you led.

  1. How does this relate with fulfilling my purpose?
  2. Do I live everyday as if it were my last?
  3. How will I be remembered if I died today?

Never stop asking why.

Best,

Gandamede