Be Okay with the Authentic You!
Most of us would like to embrace ourselves as we are. However, there are always critics that tell us that our authentic selves are not good enough. People who, quite honestly, have no real impact or say in how we live our day to day lives… yet we let them dictate how we perceive and change ourselves. But, by being authentically yourself, it allows better conversation and relatability for anyone you come across. Studies have shown that more people look for truth and authenticity when deciding their friends or even partners for the long haul. Plus, by being yourself your stress decreases as you don’t have to hide behind another mask to impress someone that probably wanted the mask off in the first place.
What are some ways that can help you fully embrace who you are in the best way you know how?
Lifestyle Management Counseling has 5 alternate strategies for you to embrace yourself at full loving capacity!
1. Value the things you do!
You are not perfect, nobody is perfect. Everyone has a checklist that they need to do, that they want to do, but you have to generate patience and give yourself room to breathe. You won’t be able to get everything done in the day like you planned, and that’s okay! Life happens, and sometimes you just can’t. Instead of looking at what you didn’t do, value what you DID do. Whether that is, you cleaned your room, or you made yourself a healthy lunch. That is something YOU did, something YOU accomplished. Celebrate that.
2. Advocate for your Success!
Only you truly know yourself the best, and you know what you need to do to be successful. Take moments where you feel like you need more time, or you want something, to speak up. No one is a mind reader, and if you effectively ask for things and advocate to put yourself in a healthier environment, it will breed positivity and a space for you to truly be happy to be in your own skin.
3. Invest time into Hobbies!
Life isn’t just go to work and go home, even though it might seem like that. If you find yourself lost between a career and home life and feel like you’re not truly doing something you’re passionate about, change it! Set aside an hour or two and write that song you have always wanted to write; plan that event you’ve always wanted to go to. Whatever it is that sparks your interest, do it! You could even find that expressing yourself creatively can bring out a part of your authentic self that even you didn’t know existed!
4. Relax
The world is ever changing, and that can be stressful to think about. You have to go go go and go at an uncomfortable pace to just keep up. What I’m asking for you to do is just to stop and take a second for yourself every now and then, and check in. You might find that if you take this time to breathe, and relax, you start to find things about yourself. You learn new coping habits that can bring you to an almost euphoric sense of self, that can be empowering. You just have to give yourself a moment and hit the brakes.
5. Surround yourself with Good People
“Good people” is subjective, but what I mean by this is to surround yourself with people who consistently bring out the best qualities in you. There’s not a specific quality that you can search for in these people, but a general feeling of happiness, of feeling euphoric, these feelings will generate better authenticity when interacting with people who already love you at your most basic form.