Many things can hold us back from engaging in a deep personal enquiry about ourselves but they can be overcome.

Perhaps you currently believe that any kind of personal enquiry is a waste of time, an indulgence, a scary prospect or something else. Maybe you think life’s OK and unlikely to get better by finding out more about yourself. But what if there was more for you? Would you want to be held back or is it worth taking a risk to find out?

Probably my greatest motivation to begin such a journey was hearing the testimony of other people whose lives had dramatically and joyfully changed by examining and challenging things they’d believed about themselves and/or what was possible for them. People who were doing things I thought I wasn’t good enough or courageous enough to do. Realising that many of them had once felt like me, gave me a push in the right direction.

Personal enquiries are for anyone at any stage of life. It might seem an obvious thing to begin if things haven’t been going well in life, but apparent or real success can sometimes hold us back too. Have your successes delivered the joy and satisfaction you’d imagined or are you left feeling disappointed? Is there more to life than the things you’ve been focused on?

Our emotions are, at the same time, a key to unlocking what’s going on for us, as well as the very thing that can hold us back from examining ourselves. Fear of what we might find out about ourselves can be a major hurdle. I’ve certainly discovered some things about myself that were getting in the way of what was important to me. This wasn’t always comfortable, but those things were already impacting my life and my relationships, whether or not I was aware of them. So, there’s really not much to lose and once we see something, at least we have the opportunity to choose whether or not we do something about it! Another thing you may experience is some uncertainty or confusion about what you notice. This can cause you to experience being vulnerable - but stick with it - there is no courage without vulnerability.

‘Not knowing how’ can seem like a very good reason not to begin an enquiry but it’s likely you engage in all sorts of enquiries already, just not necessarily ones about yourself. We’ll be looking in more detail at some of the ways you could tackle this in our next blog.

Some people are propelled into a transformation journey when they’re confronted with challenges in life that leave them desperate and prepared to try anything. Or they recognise (if they take the time to consider it) that something has to change because their physical or emotional health is suffering. Or maybe they’ve lost control over areas of life, or their family or friends are suffering. Whatever your circumstances, putting an ongoing enquiry at the centre of your life can bring so many benefits.