5 Tips For Being Yourself
Woof. This one is a doozy right? I mean, at first glance you’d think that being yourself is the easiest thing in the world. But somewhere along the way we learn that things can be “weird” or “annoying” or that for some reason, whatever it may be, people don’t like us. Do you know what I learned so many years ago that I’ve always kept with me? It’s the phrase “You could be the ripest peach in the bunch, but there’s still going to be somebody that doesn’t like peaches.”
Furthermore, so much of the anxiety or insecurity we feel is entirely made up in our own minds. If you’ve read my book “To Kale And Back: Ditch The Rules And Learn To Thrive In Food, Fitness, And Life” you know all about the ego. The ego is the subconscious mind that is created by all of the limiting beliefs we pick up as we grow from a child to an adult. For example, when you’re being your really cool and funny self, and then all of the sudden you get a feeling that people don’t think you’re funny, or even worse, they think you’re annoying, that’s what we like to call the ego stepping in.
Today I wanted to dive in to a few ways to remain true to yourself and overcome insecurity.
This post is near and dear to my heart for a special reason. As a military family, we move quite frequently. With that comes making new friends, meeting new groups of people, and constantly having your community change. Maybe you just recently moved and you’re having trouble caring what other people think. Maybe you’re in the dating scene and you’re feeling like you just can’t find that special person. Or maybe you’re in a military or medical student family too, and you struggle every time you have to make that move. I want you to know that you are sooo not alone. There are SO many people going through this too, and whether they admit it or not, everyone has moments of self doubt. The more work you put into it, the easier being confident and happy showing up as your most authentic self will be. Promise ;)
Faith.
Who did God create you to be? If you aren’t religious, do you believe in the Universe? Do you believe you were put on this earth for a specific reason? Because I do. You’re unique, you’re special, and the most authentic version of you is who you were created to be in this world. Not the watered down version, or the version that even everybody likes. You were born to be you.
What would you tell your daughter or best friend?
When you’re feeling the need to suppress yourself, or not show up at all, what would you tell your best friend who’s asking for your advice? Or your daughter? Would you tell them to change x, y, and z about themselves in order to be sure she fits in or to not ruffle any feathers? No, of course not! What advice would you give her? Now take your own advice.
Who really are you?
Often times, especially in our 20s, we don’t actually really know who the real version of ourselves actually is. When is the last time you took even 10 minutes to ask yourself who the best version of you is? My favorite way to do this type of inner work is to read plenty of books to guide you, or even podcasts as well. Most of them provide exercises you can do to discover who the most authentic version of you really is. Have you done this in a different way before? I’d love to hear what that is!
What are your values?
I wrote a blog post which you can click here and read that is all about the plethora of values we may hold, and how we can live our every day lives according to these values. Generally who you are as a personal is heavily correlated with what you most value in life. For example, some core values may be health, happiness, spirituality, family, adventure, loyalty, experience, and so on. I highly recommend clicking here and reading through that post to discover at an even deeper level who the most authentic version of you is.
How would the best version of you show up?
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I absolutely love this question. But truly, how would the best version of you show up in the particular instance when you’re worried about being yourself? How would he or she show up today? What might happen for you if you commit to fully being yourself, embracing all of your flaws and strengths, and just being you every day? From experience, I know that when I put more faith in the fact the God made me uniquely and for a special purpose, it’s almost easy to just be myself. Why be a watered down version of somebody else when you can be a vibrant and magnetic whole version of you?
Guys, again, this is also advice from myself to myself. But, I love talking about it so much because I have personally felt the benefits and weight lifted when you decide to just be confident in YOU. You trust that you are doing exactly what you're meant to, you trust that your perfect path is unfolding before you, and you have faith that everything is working out to be the best and happiest version of you.