Exploring Your Depths: A Journey of Self-Exploration

Oct 9

“I’m one of one. I’m number one. I’m the only one.”

— Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter

The Fun of Personality Quizzes

Do you remember those personality quizzes from the teen magazines back in the day? You know, the ones where you answer a few seemingly random questions, and the results provide you with this deeper knowledge about yourself, leaving you wondering, “How could they possibly know this about me?”

I’ve always loved using personality-type quizzes as a tool for exploration and understanding of the self. As a kid, I used to love taking all the magazine quizzes. Then, when the internet became a “thing” (shoutout to everyone who grew up in the ’90s & 2000s), my access to quizzes expanded exponentially. I love going deep, so any tool that helps me to understand myself better, I’m all up in there. And when used properly and with integrity, they are great tools for self-reflection, and they help you practice being honest with yourself about yourself.

Sparkling sea under the sunlight, symbolizing clarity and depth in the journey of self-exploration and personal growth.

Quizzes, Healing, and Reflection in the Present

When you have a lot of idle time, you tend to find ways to keep yourself occupied and entertained. Lately, this has been in the form of quizzes. Due to my recent spinal injury, which left me incapacitated and pretty much bound to my bed, I found myself gravitating toward my childhood love of taking personality quizzes. And thanks to that ever-tracking phenomenon called the algorithm, once you click one, your feed will flood you with 53,748 more. Most of the ones I’ve been taking recently have been related to business archetypes, coaching styles, astrology, and human design. But, it got me thinking about the concept of these personality-type quizzes, how they can be a beneficial tool on your journey, and the mindset I once adopted in how I approached them and why.

When Insecurities Take Over

As I grew into my teens and early adulthood, my love for quizzes didn’t falter, but my relationship with them changed. And instead of being this fun activity I used to learn about myself, they became yet another way for my insecurities to take precedence over my life. In reflection, I realized this pattern of behavior was a type of self-sabotage, which I’ve come to realize can take MANY forms. In this case, self-sabotage looked like skewing my results by answering questions based on how I desired to be perceived by others and not based on who I truly was.

For example, I wanted to be perceived as outgoing and extroverted, not analytical and deep, because I felt those were better-liked qualities and attributes and, therefore, more desirable. But the truth is, I think deeply af, and while I do have extroverted qualities, I really am very introverted and enjoy spending A LOT of time disconnected and alone — like, a lot. I spent many years denying these parts of myself because I feared I wouldn’t be liked as much or seen as “fun.” So because of this, I tended to respond to the quiz questions from this place of insecurity, which skewed my results and provided me with a false interpretation of myself that wasn’t entirely authentic.

Overcoming Insecurities and Accepting Your True Self

When you struggle with insecurities, feelings of inadequacy and thoughts of comparison tend to take up a lot of space in your internal world. If I’d been charging rent for how much they lived in my mind, I’d probably own a house or two by now. But what I had to realize and accept as truth was that no one trait or attribute or talent or skill is better than the other. Each offers its own unique contribution to the world, and each comes with its own gifts and shadows. Once I started being more honest with myself about who I was and not how I wanted to be perceived, these quizzes became a very supportive tool and learning practice in gaining more profound knowledge about myself.

Quizzes as a Tool, Not a Label

The most important thing to note and be mindful of is not to let the results bring you to a place of rigidity where you are ONLY this and, therefore, incapable of being anything else. We are such multi-faceted beings; therefore, more than one thing about ourselves can be true. You can be introverted and extroverted. Analytical and creative. Strategic and impulsive. I’m totally describing myself here, lol. But the key is to use these quizzes as a way to explore the depth and breadth of the many layers of you so you can integrate these findings to see how your unique qualities and attributes show up in your life and learn to embrace both the gifts and the shadows of your being.

Key Takeaways for Your Journey of Self-Exploration

If you take nothing else from what I’ve said here today, it is my hope you receive these key nuggets:

𖦹 Self-exploration & introspection can be fun

While some aspects of the journey can be challenging (hello shadow work 🙃), you can still learn about yourself in light and playful ways. In fact, I think it’s crucial to incorporate as much fun into this process as possible to avoid healing burnout.

𖦹 Embrace the multifacetedness of your being

Your uniqueness is not one size fits all. Nothing about you is just like anyone else, and that is the gift you offer the world. You are not “this or that” but rather an encompassing of ever-evolving “ands.” And through this combination of pairings, you create the one-of-a-kind formula that is you.

𖦹 Being honest with yourself is an act of self-love

At the root of dishonesty, oftentimes shame and fear reside. We’re dishonest with ourselves about who we are and what we want because, in actuality, we feel shame around who we are and what we want and fear we will not be accepted for this truth. I don’t need to know anything about you for me to confidently say that anyone who does not and cannot accept you for who you truly are is not meant to have access to you. If you’re for everyone, you’re for no one.