A beginner's guide to: Self-guided enquiry

self-reflection, self-directed enquiry, personal enquiry

Self-guided enquiry is a way to reflect on personal questions and thoughts, helping you understand yourself better and gain clarity. It allows you to develop personal insights that can guide your decisions and actions.

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Want to get into self-guided enquiry?

  • • Open our free app for step-by-step support. You’ll get guides that help you start and stick with it. You don’t need to be a pro, just jump in and give it a go.
  • • You’ll also find other activities, with suggestions that match what’s most useful to you right now. Less thinking, more doing.
  • • Track what you do, make gains, and adjust as you go.

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What is self-guided enquiry?

Imagine having the ability to navigate your thoughts, beliefs and experiences with intention, leading to profound insights and personal growth. Self-guided enquiry is a powerful tool that allows you to do just that. Unlike passive reflection, this practice involves a deliberate, structured approach to exploring your emotional landscape. By posing specific questions and critically analysing your responses, you can uncover hidden patterns, resolve internal conflicts and gain clarity on issues that matter most to you. Whether you're seeking to understand a particular behaviour, challenge a belief or explore a recurring thought, self-guided enquiry empowers you to become your own guide in achieving greater self-awareness and personal development. Ready to dive deep into your own mind? Let's explore how to start your self-guided enquiry practice today.

Why self-guided enquiry is good for you

Self-guided inquiry clarifies emotions and builds self-belief. Thoughtful questioning enhances sense of purpose and improves emotional insight.

Stronger sense of meaning

Focus area: Purpose (Impact rating: High)

Sharper emotion recognition

Focus area: Emotional awareness (Impact rating: High)

Clearer, more positive self-view

Focus area: Identity & worth (Impact rating: High)

Stronger bounce-back capacity

Focus area: Resilience (Impact rating: High)

Boost in positive mood

Focus area: Lightheartedness (Impact rating: Medium)

People who love self-guided enquiry

Socrates

Person

Trevor Noah

Person

Richie McCaw

Sports

The Alchemist (Novel)

Book

Want a closer look at self-guided enquiry?

Ways to try it, what to expect, and how to stay safe. Read on!

Before you dive in, take a moment to slow down and focus. Self-guided enquiry is a thoughtful process that requires patience and honesty. The following sections will guide you through key aspects of this practice, helping you approach it with the right mindset for meaningful insights.

Common styles

There are several approaches to this practice, and it's worth exploring them to find which one suits you best.

Reflective enquiry

Critical enquiry

Creative enquiry

Metacognitive enquiry

Safety

⚠️

Set clear boundaries for your enquiry to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

⚠️

Ensure you have a support system in place, such as friends, family or a therapist, to discuss any difficult emotions that may arise.

What you might experience

🤔

"I’m feeling stuck, but where do I even begin?"

📝

"What patterns keep coming up?"

😬

"Am I getting anywhere with this?"

😌

"I’m starting to see things more clearly."

😊

"I have new ideas to try."

Start today
  • • Open our free app for step-by-step support. You’ll get guides that help you start and stick with it. You don’t need to be a pro, just jump in and give it a go.
  • • You’ll also find other activities, with suggestions that match what’s most useful to you right now. Less thinking, more doing.
  • • Track what you do, make gains, and adjust as you go.

Explore your options

Whether you go it alone, join a group, or work 1:1 with a teacher, we’ve laid out what each path can look like.

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Recommendation for first-timer

Availability

Average cost per session

Special equipment required

Potential for socialisation & community

Safety & skill building

Space or privacy required

Ease of scheduling

Setup time

Active practice time

Unexpected advantages

Ancestry, history, facts and other trivia

John Dewey championed inquiry-based learning as a way to develop critical thinking skills.

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” - Isaac Asimov

Self-guided inquiry is popular in modern video games that encourage exploration and problem-solving, like "Minecraft.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” - Albert Einstein

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4 facts

Popular memes

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6 memes

Academic research we rate

Association of Self-reflection With Cognition and Brain Health in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults

Demnitz-King, H., Gonneaud, J., Klimecki, O. M., Chocat, A., Collette, F., Dautricourt, S., Jessen, F., Krolak-Salmon, P., Lutz, A., Morse, R. M., Molinuevo, J. L., Poisnel, G., Touron, E., Wirth, M., Walker, Z., Chételat, G., & Marchant, N. L. (2022). Association of Self-reflection With Cognition and Brain Health in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults. Neurology, 99(13). https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000200951

Efficacy of Self-guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms

Karyotaki, E., Riper, H., Twisk, J., Hoogendoorn, A., Kleiboer, A., Mira, A., Mackinnon, A., Meyer, B., Botella, C., Littlewood, E., Andersson, G., Christensen, H., Klein, J. P., Schröder, J., Bretón-López, J., Scheider, J., Griffiths, K., Farrer, L., Huibers, M. J. H., … Cuijpers, P. (2017). Efficacy of Self-guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(4), 351. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0044

Strengthening resilience in over 50’s: a nested clustered-randomized controlled trial of adaptive systematic self-reflection

Crane, M. F., Kho, M., Kangas, M., Griffin, B., Karin, E., Earl, J. K., & Harris, C. B. (2020). Strengthening resilience in over 50’s: a nested clustered-randomized controlled trial of adaptive systematic self-reflection. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 33(6), 623–641. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1768375

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7 research pieces

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