The End of a Journey — Reflections and Closing Thoughts
I’m sharing the final post in this series, bringing this journey to a close. The whole series you can find here: How to know yourself – bahadirhancicek
My initial reason for starting this series was to ask myself these questions, reflect on what they really mean, how I should approach them — and honestly, just to write something. I was unsure whether I would continue or turn it into a full series.
I never expected much interest, but after the very first post received far more attention than I anticipated, I decided to continue.
Along the way, I discovered many things about myself and found ways out during my most difficult moments.
At the same time, I received occasional messages from readers on Instagram, which showed me that these posts were also helpful to others — and that became my motivation to complete the series.
What didn’t I achieve?
I never quite established a clear writing style or consistently produced polished, high-quality content.
But because I didn’t overthink this, I don’t feel too bad about it. I didn’t edit these posts much, so there were plenty of typos — I hope your eyes survived!
What did I achieve?
Writing at length about personal development — a topic I’ve never liked — is itself a big accomplishment for me.
Even though I enjoy psychology, “self-help” has always seemed too simplistic and cliché.
But I’ve realized that even within this simplicity lies great complexity.
Even self-help writing that seems redundant can still trigger motivation; sometimes, all it takes is hearing exactly what we want to hear to spark transformation.
Today’s final questions:
- What does this self-discovery journey mean to you?
- Has it strengthened your spiritual/inner world?
- Have you gained important insights about yourself?
- Do you now have clearer ideas about happiness, purpose, and motivation?
- What steps do you plan to take next?
- What are the biggest obstacles ahead?
- What are you willing to give up, and are you ready to let go?
- Are you willing to pay the price for happiness — to accept that sometimes you’ll feel bad, stressed, or miss out on things, but still commit to working on yourself?
- What’s stopping you from being where you want to be? Why not start today?
- What will motivate you to take healthy steps forward?
- Over the past year, what are you proud of? What motivates you? What are you grateful for? And how do these things shape your future accomplishments?
Throughout this series, I chose to translate “spiritual” as “inner world” deliberately — because this topic can easily drift into religion, karma, or various belief systems.
That’s not my perspective, but I do recognize that people look for different motivations and try to give meaning to them.
So, strengthening one’s inner world could mean achieving peace through faith and spirituality for some, while for others it could mean building rational self-confidence and personal integrity.
The choice is yours.
But at its core, the question is about whether these reflections have led to a desire for change — to evolve into a better version of yourself, and to find more motivation for life.
The aim of this entire series was never to solve every problem and lead you to a perfectly happy life — because that’s simply impossible.
But learning how not to collapse when life gets hard, how to motivate ourselves in difficult times, and how to take back control of our own lives and destiny — that’s the point.
This takes time, of course.
But revisit these questions often:
- What’s changed?
- What was useful?
- What seemed silly?
If you want to share, don’t hesitate to reach out on Instagram: @bahadrhancicek.
Are you ready to take action?
Are you ready for a fresh start?
Are you prepared for the obstacles ahead, for the struggles, and to sacrifice your comfort?
This process won’t be easy.
It will require intense effort.
You may have to withdraw for a while — stop going out, stop trying to please everyone, stop wasting time on social media or Netflix.
You might need to stay at a job you dislike, or take financial risks for radical change.
But it’s all up to you.
The real question is: Are you ready?
Thanks to this series, maybe you now have a clearer sense of what lies ahead, and maybe you’ve found the strength to leave your comfort zone.
Maybe you understand the price and opportunity cost of happiness a little better.
Think about where you want to be.
Think about how you’ll get there — and why you haven’t already.
And as I’ve said before: you don’t need a special day to take action.
Make your plan.
Start immediately.
Stick to it.
Instead of adding more days of regret, increase the number of days you won’t regret — and soon you’ll reap the rewards of your effort and smile at yourself.
One key message repeated throughout this series: Focus on the things that genuinely make you happy and motivate you.
This doesn’t mean ignoring negativity or pretending everything’s fine or only seeing the glass half full.
That approach can quickly destroy your motivation.
Instead, recognize your situation honestly.
Accept the negative aspects and ask yourself “How can I improve them?”
Hold onto and nurture the positive, motivating things in your life.
Imagine a soldier staring at a picture of a loved one — aware that the worst outcome could be betrayal or heartbreak, but still filled with hope because that picture keeps them going.
They’re living in the moment as best as they can, drawing strength from it.
Final thoughts:
Modern life, despite its many advantages, has also brought serious downsides.
Humans have changed — physically and mentally.
While we now live longer, have better healthcare, and easier access to food, education, housing, and civil rights, we’ve also seen an increase in social and psychological challenges:
Stress, anxiety, depression, social inequality, loneliness, fear of missing out, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
Information technology connects the world but also increases isolation.
Industrialization makes things easier but harms the environment.
We read and learn but often just become better cogs in the machine.
Freedom itself has become something we rent out to employers and corporations.
We’re overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and distractions — and this noise distances us from ourselves.
So it’s completely normal to feel stuck, stressed, discontent, or lost in this fast-moving world.
This is why we must reconnect with ourselves and with nature.
The more we reflect on ourselves, the better we can maintain work-life balance, financial stability, mental health, and relationships.
Through better choices — eating well, living well, being environmentally conscious, filtering out junk information, focusing on what we can control, taking action, seeking help when needed, and sharing openly — we can live a happier, more balanced, and more successful life.
Self-realization helps us:
- Develop personally
- Cultivate happiness
- Solve problems
- Resolve conflicts
- Find purpose
- Accept ourselves and others as they are
- Make better decisions
- Reduce stress
- Improve our relationships
- Take control of our lives
And finally:
Remember that happiness is not a goal or an object.
If it were, no one would ever truly be happy.
Happiness is a complex process:
Some people aren’t happy even when they have everything, while others can be happy with almost nothing.
The standard for everything we’ve talked about depends on you.
So maybe the first and most important thing you can do is to stop comparing yourself to others.
This series is now complete.
I hope it has helped you.
If you have questions or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out.
I’m thinking of making my next series about psychological manipulation — but I’ll keep writing about different topics as well. :)
bahadirhancicek 
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