Self-knowledge is an experiential practice: a conversation with ourselves that is continuous and never-ending.

The never-ending nature of self-knowledge as a practice is true, to me, because our understandings of who we are, what we require, what our souls clamor for, and why are all subject to move, shift, and change over time.

In that way, self-knowledge is a verb, not a noun — even if, by dictionary definition, it really is a noun or a “thing”.

(This Instagram post of me saying so earlier this week went viral and picked up over 5,000 likes in 24 hours!)

Since we are moving, shifting, and changing beings, we can safely expect our callings, dreams, and passions to change with us.

But that’s not all that we can expect to change over time.

The very tools and practices that we rely upon in our “self-knowledge toolboxes” to help us track, understand, and reveal the truth of who we are will change with us as we change, too.

What Tools are in Your Self-Knowledge Toolbox?

Today, I’d like to invite you to reflect on what you consider to be the most helpful, essential, or illuminating tools in your so-called “self-knowledge toolbox.”

I’ve crafted a new, small writing prompt set for you below.

I’ll share my answers afterward, and I’ll also explain how Claim Your Calling℠, my coaching collective and thought leadership incubator, is designed to surround you with plentiful tools, every month, to help you stay in that ever-crucial conversation of self-knowledge.

Don’t forget, CYC is now open to new clients! I’ve made (up to) 8 client spaces available for a May 4 start date. You not only become my personal coaching client but also become a part of a cozy, familial collective of like-minded peers from diverse backgrounds and points of view.

Apply before April 30th and we’ll have a no-pressure, exploratory chat together to discuss your goals, where you’re struggling, and if I and CYC might be able to support your calling from here!

5 Writing Prompts to Establish Your Self-Knowledge Toolbox

Ready to explore your self-knowledge toolbox?

Let’s dive in.

1. What practices do you engage in already that help you stay in tune with your inner world, emotions, feelings, desires, and needs?

What’s already present? What’s already helping? What do you instinctively tap into to help you know yourself, day by day?

Consider the personal practices, creative outlets, daily (or almost daily) rituals, routines, or experiences that help you feel “you,” whole, integrated, aligned — especially about how you’re feeling, what’s going on in your head, and so on.

2. What supports do you fall back on when you need to return to yourself, get grounded or centered, or replenish yourself when you feel empty?

Some self-knowledge practices are proactive and others are “reactive” or used in response to moments when we’re feeling disoriented, off-kilter, out of sorts, tired, over-stimulated, or a bit disembodied from ourselves.

In those cases, what supports do you fall back on to help you return to your inner world, understand your emotions, honor your needs, or prioritize your desires?

3. Who are the individual people (or whole communities) upon whom you can rely to hold space for you, listen, witness, and reflect what they hear back to you, without judgment or expectation?

What relationships help you be yourself, stay in your truth, and become more aware of things like unconscious habits, self-limiting beliefs, and fears and worries?

Do you have a community where you can feel more of your whole and true self, especially for a shared hobby, shared passion, shared interests, and overlapping values or beliefs — especially so you can feel like you don’t have to defend yourself or explain yourself, but just be you?

4. What self-knowledge practices, rituals, or supports have helped you to know yourself in the past?

What happened to your old practices or supports? Did they stop serving you? Did you just forget about them? Did you outgrow them? Did they need to change or evolve into something new? Did you change, growth, healing, or evolution outlast their relevance?

There’s nothing wrong with changing your self-knowledge practices. They are like any ritual, deed, goal, or intention: they are only valid if they continue to serve you over time.

Reflect upon what’s worked for you in the past — just for the sake of awareness.

5. Do your self-knowledge tools, supports, practices, or relationships need changing or evolving these days? If so, which do, and why?

Consider if, perhaps, your current practices, supports, relationships need evolving, shifting, tweaking, or letting go.

Do you feel like you require a new tool for your self-knowledge toolbox? A new support, practice, relationship, or set of relationships?

If so, what are you looking for? What are you suspecting could be helpful, supportive, or illuminating?

If you can’t quite land on exactly what “it” is — or, in other words, what you want to “do” next — start by considering what is here and now:

What need are you looking to fulfill? What desire do you want to prioritize? What practice, support, relationship, or outlet could possibly, maybe, potentially, help that?

My Self-Knowledge Practices are… Plentiful!

Because my work as a writer, storyteller, coach, creative guide, and mentor so heavily depends upon my own self-knowledge, my list of personal self-knowledge practices is long and varied.

These days, the tools in my self-knowledge toolbox include:

— Breathwork practice (Wim Hof Method)
Tapping meditation (or EFT)
— Long-hand journaling (similar to Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages)
— Personal narrative storytelling (these newsletters!)
— Working with a qualified therapist
— Being a member of a Mastermind Group
— Being a coaching client, myself
— Visits and relationships with family
— Conversations and connection time with friends
— Distance running
— Functional strength training
— Gardening, cooking, and hiking
— And so on!

This is not a list of daily habits or things that I “must” hold myself to, every day, out of a feeling of forced-upon necessity.

These are tools from which I can pull from this toolbox whenever I need them.

Some I engage with proactively, every day, or most days. Others I look to, or fall back upon, for added support when I need it.

Some help me in my creative work or my professional life.

But all of them help me to illuminate how I’m feeling, what my needs are, what desires are calling to me, or otherwise uncover what’s going on in my inner world.

How Claim Your Calling℠ Can Help You

I consider my professional presence as a leadership coach and creative guide to help clients illuminate their self-knowledge, deepen into their stories and self-limiting beliefs, and feel altogether more clear, determined, and confident about the paths they are walking.

That’s why I’ve deliberately built Claim Your Calling℠ to provide you with an entire suite of self-knowledge tools and experiences.

Every month, you receive:

— A private, 1-hour, 1-on-1 coaching session with me: This is the space to dig into what’s going on offline, in your world, and in your own head and heart. I become an invested partner in your story, experiences, and dreams.

This is the protected, sacred space that no one else but us shares — it is the place where we work it out together.

— A private, non-Facebook Members Portal: This is where you’ll engage in light but meaningful discussions, dialogue out some momentary goals and objectives, process and reflect “out loud” among a supportive community of peers who will witness you, engage with you, and lean on your own kind ideas and consideration for their support, too.

Our members portal is where you can “type it out” and, like one member recently told me, “I’m always excited when I see a new notification for the Members Portal; I know it’s always going to be juicy and relevant.”

— Two, monthly, 90-minute group coaching experiences designed to encourage your active use of your voice, deep listening, and the creative power of seeing and receiving.

You’ll connect in reflective conversations; check in with me, yourself, and one another; share your goals; workshop and brainstorm solutions to struggles or questions; listen, speak, and leave feeling replenished, resourced, and prepared for what’s next!

Psst: I’m offering a free sample of one of these monthly calls next week! Sign up for our free Community Roundtable now.

— Weekly Voxer “Office Hours,” every Friday, where you can voice-note all of your questions, concerns, struggles, accountability updates, creative hiccups or fresh plans and ideas over to me, in real-time, for almost-instantaneous replies, voice-to-voice

This is a designated, weekly space that you can utilize without limitation to “voice it out” with yourself, and with me, out loud, every Friday!

— A new weekly Writing & Reflection Prompt posted in our Members Portal every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM Eastern US Time.

This new feature allows you to introspect, uncover, reveal, and write out your self-awareness, meaning you’ll never not have a new question or prompt to embrace to deepen your self-knowledge, every week.

Is CYC For You? Apply, or Reach Out, to Learn More

Claim Your Calling℠ provides clients with high-touch support, my 12 years of creative entrepreneurship, and my experience in decoding the toughest struggles and expressions of resistance after working with over 300 clients from more than a dozen countries since 2012.

This suite of supports exists to help you continually, sustainably, and effectively tap what’s here, what’s now, and what’s showing up for you, month by month.

In so doing? Your self-knowledge will be sharp, on-point, and ever-illuminating where you are feeling called next.

Self-knowledge practices can be plentiful. But you don’t have to guess your way into those that are most effective for you.

You can reflect on what is already supporting you, and what’s worked for you in the past.

You can reconsider, evolve, refine, or let go of those that are no longer serving you.

I’ve designed Claim Your Calling℠ to give you a whole new set of self-knowledge experiences that eliminate the guess-work and side-step the lag time so that you don’t have to feel alone on your journey, or stuck in your head, or overwhelmed by which path to take from here.

Let’s claim your calling, together.

Click here to learn more, here to apply before April 30th, or to set up a no-pressure exploratory chat about your goals, struggles, and if CYC may be right for you.