Living an Authentic Life
What does it mean to live an authentic life?
I talk so much about living in your authenticity and as your most authentic self, but what does that really mean? Living an authentic life means living a life that reflects the truest version of who you are, is aligned with your goals, and one in which you embrace your most honest self. You choose to show up in the world without any filters and simply bring the purest version of you to everything that you do.
When you are living in the most authentic version of yourself it means you show up everyday as you and not as someone you want to be, someone you think the world wants you to be, or a smaller version of yourself. Bring the good, the bad, and the ugly to everyday.
The thing with that too is as you embrace your authentic self more you will see there is no bad or ugly. You start to identify the different parts of you all as pieces that make you whole. We all have traits that we want to evolve or that we don’t love about ourselves, things that we want to work on, and that is always ok. Instead of seeing that as a bad part of yourself see it as simply a part of you that you want to work on. Noticing the opportunities for growth in your life and of yourself is beautiful.
For example, I am very stubborn. I tend to like things my way or the way I think they should be, and I have a really hard time adjusting my expectations. I know my stubbornness can be a problem in some situations but it is a part of me. The part of me that I love, call passion, and the part of me that I need to work on is stubbornness over little things. It is a part of me and my most authentic self and I am proud of how I show myself to the world. I continue to embrace the part that shows up as passion and work with what shows up as stubbornness.
We all have some weird social agreement in certain situations to behave a certain way and in some cases it may seem necessary to put on a certain face, but in the majority of circumstances you need to show up in the world as who you truly are. Being “fake” is exhausting, it is a lie, and it does nothing to help you. Let the world see you for who you are. It is so easy to pick out when someone is being fake so you are fooling no one and you are letting yourself down. You will start attracting the right community, job, support, etc. when you show your real self.
Think of the goals you have and if your life, choices, and habits do not reflect those goals then you are not living your most authentic life. When you are living your authentic life you are making choices that bring you closer to your goals everyday. No matter how little the movement is you are moving in the right direction.
Showing up as your authentic self first starts by getting real with yourself and reflecting on who you are and what your truest desires are. Spend the time getting to know yourself so that you move forward with a life of authenticity.
