You know what the buzzword has been over the last couple of years? Authentic. Everywhere you turn someone is encouraging you to be your authentic self. Being real is definitely good advice. With so much to compare ourselves to it can be easy to lose yourself in it all just a little. If someone has reached the level of success that you want, maybe you emulate them a bit. It seems harmless, but too much of that takes away from your uniqueness. And word on the street is – we need your uniqueness!
The thing is, everyone will tell you to be authentic. What they won’t always tell you is how. Well, that’s probably because it can be um, interesting to tell someone how to just be themselves. I’m gonna take a stab at it though. Haha! I like to think of it more as some ideas to fall even more in love with yourself, so you don’t have room to think about being anyone other than you.Being Real, Not Perfect
- Have a talk with the person that knows you best – YOU. Write down what you love about you. Go ahead, find all the things that make you awesome and write them down! Then write down the things that you need to work on. The “need to work on” list could go either way. Sometimes we’re too hard on ourselves and only see our flaws. Make sure you cut yourself some slack with this list.
On the other hand, this list shouldn’t be empty. Ha! We all have some things we need to work on. You don’t need to beat yourself up. There’s plenty of people in the world to help you with that. There’s no need for you to help them. Be honest with yourself, but fair. I like to think of this list as a work in progress. It’s where your growth lives. The things you need to work on should change over time as you make progress.
- What are you passionate about? Think about that one for a bit. I meet so many moms who don’t have an answer to this question outside of their families. What else are you passionate about? Are you doing anything about that passion?
- Who do you like to spend time with? Pssst… spend more time with them.
- Decide to feel comfy in your own skin. That means no more comparing and negative self talk. Knowing your flaws and working on them is different than dogging yourself for those flaws.
- Let it go. Let go of all the thoughts that tell you what you are not. While you’re at it, take a break from the people that tell you what you are not and what you can’t do. Stop dwelling on the past. You can’t redo it. So leave it there and be better going forward. Deal?
- Ignore the naysayers. Everybody doesn’t respond well to change. You may get some pushback about being more fully your authentic self. Find a way to ignore it and keep moving.
This is it
When you really realize you only get one go at this it will change the way you think and live. Be intentional (another buzzword, I know). Focus on who and what really matters. This one really speaks to me. I was burning myself out trying to do all the things. Then I realized that I wasn’t making the progress I wanted because I was trying to do too much and I didn’t have time for all I was trying to do. Once I decided to focus on who and what mattered and made my priorities based on those things. My to do list got shorter but made more of an impact.
I wanna know, what would you add to this checklist?
