The main idea behind Search Inside Yourself is that mindfulness and self awareness are essentially the same thing. They are both about paying attention in a particular calm, and 'objective' way to your body and surroundings. If you are great at mindfulness you will be able to look at your own strengths, weaknesses and emotions without judgement, and hopefully get a more accurate picture of yourself than if you were blinded by distractions or feelings.
I gave journalling a go this week. I already keep an art journal, but that takes a bit more time and energy than I have at the moment, because I'm not a great artist. My mum is a psychologist and she's been telling me to do more journalling for ages cos it's great for anxiety. She has a technique that's not in Search Inside Yourself, but I like because it's creative.
Basically you start the morning by making a list of ten things. You can choose anything you like, the only rules are that it's not a to do list, you do it first thing in the morning, and it's a list that makes you think, without being too difficult. For example, don't make a list of ten colors if you find it really easy, but you could make a list of ten colors in another language if that is more difficult for you. Basically the idea is to make your brain hum. I thought this was a bit dumb when I first heard it, what's the point of making random lists? But apparently it primes your brain for creativity because you build a habit of starting each morning with a simple mental workout. I'm going to give this a try this week.
I also tried journalling about my strengths and weaknesses and I think it went pretty well. I think I'm good at analytical thinking, creative problem solving, pushing myself and empathy/listening for people I care about. I'm not so good at working in big groups of people because I'm really shy. I also become uninspired by boring problems which leads me to get caught up in more exciting ideas and not execute anything (basically talking the talk without walking the walk), or go down rabbit holes that are irrelevant to the big picture. This had made me think I'm lazy in the past. I think my idea of an 'interesting problem' is too limited and a bit self serving, but I'm not lazy across the board.
The 'My Emotions Are Not Me' section was interesting, but I've thought about this idea a bit before so it didn't blow my mind. I did like the metaphor that emotions and thoughts are like clouds and you are like the sky. I'll try to remember this next time I'm frustrated!