Being true to yourself is an essential part of living a happy and fulfilling life.
It simply means being honest with yourself about your values, beliefs, and desires, and acting in line with them. The thing is, when you are true to yourself, you can experience a sense of inner peace and confidence that comes from being unapologetically you.
However, being true to yourself in a world that exalts sameness is not always easy.
It requires courage to stand up for what you believe in, even when others may not agree with you. It can also mean making difficult choices that may not be popular with the masses. But ultimately, living a life that is true to who you are is what we should all strive for.
- Why Being True to Yourself Matters
- How to Discover Your True Self
- Overcoming Obstacles to Being True to Yourself
- Benefits of Being True to Yourself
- Embrace Who You Are!
- Questions You May Have
Why Being True to Yourself Matters
If you’re not living life for yourself, who are you truly living for?
I remember when Rihanna released her album, “Good Girl Gone Bad” and I heard the song “Question Existing” for the first time, it really resonated with me. It helped me to realize the importance of staying true to myself and not following blindly what others may want for my life.
It brought to my attention that if I just go along with what other people want me to do in my life, ultimately I’ll just be another people pleaser, and the thought of living life for everyone besides myself never sat right with me.
Being true to yourself is one of the most important things you can do in life. When you are true to yourself, you live with authenticity, integrity, and purpose.
Living a life that is not true to who you are can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and even depression. Those types of feelings can be hard to escape, but the simple truth is by being true to yourself, you can gain the courage and strength to make changes in your life.
It is really easy to fall into the trap of trying to please others and conform to what society deems acceptable, but this often comes at the expense of your own happiness and well-being.
When you are true to yourself, you make decisions that align with your own goals and aspirations, your vision and desires, not someone else’s.
You are more likely to pursue a career or life that you are passionate about, rather than one that is simply expected of you. You form relationships with people who share a similar view of life, rather than trying to fit in with a group that feels alien to you.
How to Discover Your True Self
Reflect on Your Values
What do you value? What are your non-negotiable? What does your mind constantly tells you to do?
Your values are the compasses that guide your decision-making and the way you behave.
Take some time to think about what matters to you most.
What activities make you feel like your natural self?
Who is the real you when no one is watching?
Take some time to answer these questions in your journal. You may be subconsciously acting in contrast with your beliefs.
Recommended Article: Why Self Reflection Is Beneficial To Your Personal Growth
Identify Your Passions
What makes you happy? What activities do you enjoy doing the most? What makes sense to you and no one else?
Identifying your passions can help you discover your true self and what matters to you most. It’s important to note that your passions don’t have to turn into professions. They just serve as an identification and appreciation tool to help you become who you truly are and do the things that make you unique more often.
Make a list of activities that you enjoy and try to incorporate them into your life as much as possible.
Recommended Article: Find Your Passion in 5 Simple Steps!
Explore Your Strengths and Weaknesses
To live authentically, you must know what you’re good at and what you absolutely suck at.
People often think they know what their strengths and weaknesses are, but they usually underestimate or overestimate them.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential, when you know what they are you’ll begin to optimize your life and experience ease more often.
As an example, I despise manual labor, if you ask me to run some errands by picking up groceries at the store and other light chores I’ll gladly do them. However, if you ask me to shovel some snow or manually wash a vehicle, that’s where you’ll literally poke the monster.
I know this about myself so when it comes to manual things that need to get done, I’ll honestly rather hire someone on task rabbit, who is an expert, to get it done.
As you can see, I identified my weakness a long time ago by observing my mood. I’d rather be in a good mood even if that means spending a little money to get help rather than be stuck in a bad mood because of manual labor.
Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses and be honest with yourself.
If you need more clarity, your strengths are the things that you excel at while your weaknesses are areas that you need to improve or avoid.
Focus on developing and playing to your strengths while finding ways to work on or around your weaknesses.
You do NOT need to do everything yourself and once you admit this internally, you’ll subconsciously give yourself permission to become the best version of yourself.
Recommended Article: The importance of identifying Your strengths and weaknesses
Practice Self-Awareness
Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions, they are your ultimate guide.
When you feel out of it and nothing like yourself, ask yourself what happened that triggered those emotions.
Reflect on your actions and your thoughts and how they align with your values.
When you know yourself you will not easily fall prey to another person whose intentions are to manipulate and use you.
Overcoming Obstacles to Being True to Yourself
Fear of Judgement
One of the biggest obstacles everyone faces is the fear of judgment from others.
Yes everyone falls victim to this because ultimately we all want to fit in and be accepted.
However, it is important to remember that you are the only one who knows what is best for you.
You are the only one who has to live your life.
Focus on what you would do, not what your parents, partner, or boss would do. Your personal choice is what makes you different and you only have this one life to live now so why not choose a life true to you and only you?
Forget about what anyone else will think of you, they’ll call you crazy until they eventually see your brilliance. If they don’t see your brilliance, then that’s their problem, not yours.
Societal Pressures
Societal norms make it challenging to be true to yourself.
We are constantly bombarded with messages about what we should look like, how we should act, and what we should value.
It’s easy to get caught up in these messages and lose sight of your unique identity.
As an example look at everyone on your Instagram feed, what are they doing that’s vastly different from the next person?
They all look the same, wear the same things and even sound the same, where is the individuality? Where is the uniqueness? What makes people think that they’re being different while being exactly the same as the other person they are trying to look different from?
To overcome this obstacle, try to surround yourself with people who encourage, accept and support you for exactly who you are.
Negative Self-Talk
Entertaining negative self-talk creates a major barrier between your true self and who you project to others.
When you constantly criticize and judge yourself, self-confidence feels eons away, not to mention showing your quirks in public.
To overcome this obstacle, try practicing self-compassion and choose to focus on your strengths and positive qualities.
Remember nobody is perfect, and it is okay to make mistakes that’s how you learn and grow.
Recommended Article: 5 Tips on How Positive Self-Talk Can Change Your Life
Lack of Self-Acceptance
Finally, a lack of self-acceptance is also a major hindrance.
If you don’t fully accept and love yourself, it will be hard to express your true thoughts, feelings, and desires.
To overcome this obstacle, try to practice self-love, and self-care, and accept yourself for being exactly who you are.
If you don’t like something about yourself, instead of talking negatively to yourself about it, choose to do something about it and change it.
Honestly, the first step is changing the way you view what you dislike. Try to see the benefits of it instead of the drawbacks.
Focus on your unique qualities and what makes you special. Remember that you are worthy of all the love and respect, just as you are.
Benefits of Being True to Yourself
Being true to yourself has numerous benefits that can positively impact your life. Here are some of the top benefits:
- Improved mental health: When you are true to yourself, you are more likely to experience better mental health. You are calmer, less conflicted, and generally happier.
- Stronger relationships: Being true to yourself means being honest with yourself and others. This honesty will help you to build stronger, more authentic relationships with the people in your life and also attract the type of people you want in your life.
- Less stress: When you are true to yourself, you don’t have to worry about pretending to be someone you’re not. This can help you feel more relaxed and less stressed.
Embrace Who You Are!
Your life is simply that, YOUR LIFE.
Don’t allow others who don’t appreciate and understand your growth to dictate the direction you must go.
It can and will be challenging, especially when you face external pressures to conform from your family but remember that you’re on this earth to live your life, not theirs.
Some may never understand the choices you’ve made, will make, and continue to make that prioritize your happiness but their lack of understanding is none of your concern. Your job is to live authentically in your happiness.
They may never understand it but they will respect it.
You have the power to be true to yourself, no matter what.
How have you been living true to yourself? Let me know in the comments below.
Questions You May Have
How do I know if I’m being true to myself?
Being true to yourself means thinking and acting in ways that align with your own values and feelings, rather than the values of others. It means being honest with yourself about who you are and what you want in life.
What if being true to myself means going against the expectations of others?
It may be hard to go against the expectations of others, especially if those expectations are coming from people you care about. However, it’s important to remember that you are the only one who knows what is truly best for you. If being true to yourself means going against the expectations of others, then it’s important to have the courage to stand up for yourself and your values.
What if I don’t know who I am?
Discovering who you are and what you want in life is a journey that takes time, patience, and self-reflection. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers right now, we’re all just guessing what’s the right thing to do. Start by asking yourself some of the questions we’ve listed in this article, and take some time to reflect on your own values and goals. Remember that it’s okay to make mistakes and change your mind as you learn and grow.
What if being true to myself means hurting someone else?
It is important to be honest and truthful to yourself. It’s also important to be considerate of others. If being true to yourself means hurting someone else, then it’s important to approach the situation with empathy and compassion. Try to find a way to communicate your needs and desires in a way that is respectful and considerate of the other person’s feelings.
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What a great article, it’s so important for mental health and self esteem also to be true to you…we can’t live around what others expect of us…be respectful of others and accept nothing less for yourself…that is how I live my life… thank you for this
Love this post! Great insight into finding who you are and being true to yourself. I love the questions included to really make you think about who you are and what you want. I look forward to reading more articles!
Great post! Thanks for sharing!