Your goal is to live a fuller life and be true to yourself. If you constantly try to mold yourself into the person others want, you will be someone you’re not proud of who never makes progress. How can you be happy if you’re living according to everyone else’s standards for your life?
When you were born, your parents taught you morals and principles to help you become the person they envisioned. However, when you reached adulthood, you felt lost as you tried to rediscover yourself. So many teens become rebellious at eighteen, trying to take what they were taught and mingle it with their beliefs and freedom.
Let Go of The Opinions of Others to Have a Fuller Life
As a toddler, your parents told you how you were to talk to others, how to sit correctly, and how to behave. Want an example that you’re still doing some of the things you learned in your younger years? Well, how often do you say “I’m fine” when people ask you how you’re doing, but you know that inside, you’re nothing of the sort.
You don’t mean you’re good, but you try to hide your truths because you want to be a different person who doesn’t have all the burdens. One of the ways that you lose your true self is by not being honest with yourself and those around you.
Have you ever considered what your life would be like if you could be who you are without hesitation? What would happen if you took off the mask and spoke your truths without reservations? Would others celebrate and respect you, or would you lose some friends?
In a perfect world, others would accept you regardless of all your flaws and imperfections, and you wouldn’t need to hide from others.
Acknowledge and Accept Your Feelings for a Fuller Life
The world around you is infused with negativity, and it’s hard to remain positive when there’s so much chaos. When someone asks you how you’re doing, giving the standard response of “I’m good” can cause harm to your emotional and mental well-being. It’s called false positivity, which inhibits you from living a fuller life and being confident.
It’s challenging to acknowledge your feelings and accept that you’re not perfect. Conversely, when you admit that there’s a problem, you can take steps to fix it. When you go out of your way to hide these emotions, you will suffer from feelings of sadness rather than acceptance.
Do you have courage, or do you think you tower when people want to talk about emotions and feelings? It takes courage to stand up and speak the truth, but you can do it. When you accept that you have faults and things aren’t perfect, you can become more confident and assertive.
You’re a unique individual who isn’t perfect, so it’s high time you stop pretending. While you need to be respectful of others and always be polite, you don’t have to live by what others think is suitable for your life. You get to call the shots in your life, as it’s yours alone.
Are You Being Honest with Yourself?
When you consider dishonesty, you probably think of someone lying to another person. However, you can be just as dishonest with yourself and cause distress. To live a fuller life, you must have self-discipline and value honesty above all else.
The chances are that you lie to yourself every day and don’t even realize it. Here are some classic ways that you’re dishonest:
- You fake a smile because you don’t want anyone to see your true feelings.
- You live your life seeking the approval of others.
- You’re unhappy when others don’t like your choices, so you conform.
- Your emotional state is not good, and you find your days sad than happy.
- It’s common for you to feel cornered and like you have no other choices.
- You don’t feel that people listen to you or value your opinions.
- Gaining the approval of others is one of the most important things to you.
- The things that once made you happy don’t bring any joy anymore.
- You’re grumpy, moody, and often feel exhausted.
How does life look if you’re true to yourself and living according to your desires? Here are a few things that will occur when you have the self-discipline to live in truth:
- You set goals, crush them easily, and believe in yourself.
- Negativity doesn’t bother you anymore, as you’ve learned to be flexible and keep an open mind.
- You no longer let fear dominate your life, and you’ve learned to embrace the unknown.
- Taking risks isn’t as scary, and you trust your inner voice and gut feelings.
- You embrace mindful living and find joy in the smallest of things.
- Rather than pushing your problems under the rug, you face them head-on.
- Expressing yourself has become much more manageable.
- You like yourself and enjoy the person you’ve become.
- You’re able to have deep and meaningful conversations and enjoy them.
- You don’t care about the opinions of others as you know that your opinion is the only one that counts.
- You’re grounded and secure and love sitting outside, hearing the birds sing, and being in nature.
Five Ways You Can Be True to Yourself as You Pursue a Fuller Life
Perhaps you want to set goals and start the journey to be more true to yourself to live a fuller life, but you don’t know how to start. That’s okay. The key is to take baby steps in this new journey. There’s no rush to get anything done, as slow and steady always wins the race.
1. Understand It’s Okay to Feel the Way You Do
To start your journey to being more faithful to yourself, you must learn to accept the things you can’t change. While you can change your clothes, hairstyle, weight, and other physical characteristics, other things take much work. Your emotions are part of you, and you need to learn that it’s okay to have the feelings you experience.
You must be authentic and have confidence in yourself that’s unbreakable. When someone asks you how you’re doing, you must be honest and courageous and speak the truth.
2. You Must Take Charge of Your Attitude to Have a Fuller Life
If you want to progress and live a fuller life, you need to know that you can’t always be in charge. Life is constantly changing, and you must learn to roll with the punches. Changing your attitude can alter everything.
It’s easy to develop a bad attitude when things don’t go your way, but this is where you need to focus on the positive aspects more than the negative ones. Stop being so caught up in the “should” and “what ifs” and focus on there here and now. Don’t keep turning around and looking at the past but look to a brighter future.
3. Do What You Want Without Fear of Judgement
Everyone has an opinion about your life and how you should live it, but you must realize that the only person who truly matters is you. Sure, you can consider the thoughts and feelings of your spouse, children, and parents, but you can’t let them dictate your choices. To live a fuller life, you need to realize you’re enough and that your opinions are essential.
4. Learn To Forgive Yourself as Well as Others
According to Dr. Helen Brown from Positive Psychology, you must practice self-compassion exercises to ensure you forgive yourself. You’re your worst critic, and you blame yourself every time you fail. Stop crying over spilled milk, pick yourself up, and keep going.
When you do fall, and you will, you need to learn not to blame others. Accept that you made a mistake and find a way to learn from it. Dr. Brown further states that you must balance taking responsibility for your actions and keeping a positive sense of self.
5. Know Your Limits
Learn why you should set boundaries with other people–and for yourself. Do you often take on more than you can handle?
It’s a common problem when people don’t know how to say no. The boundaries you set for your life can be multifaceted, and they can include these types:
- Emotional
- Intimacy
- Financial
- Physical
- Digital
If you always find yourself exhausted, you must evaluate your boundaries. Examine the times you’ve said “yes” when you should have said “no.” When it comes to living a fuller life and the boundaries of others, never be afraid to stand up for yourself.
Final Thoughts on How to Live Life by Staying True to Yourself
Things change for the better when you begin becoming more faithful to yourself. You will start to recognize your genuine emotions and become stronger. You will learn that the opinion of others matters very little, as you’re living your life for yourself.
Taking off the mask of the fake version of you is freeing. It’s hard to live behind the shadows of what others expect and your failures but cut yourself some slack. Today can be a new day and a fresh start. When you’re true to yourself, you live a fuller life with sweet contentment.
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