10 ways to live a fiercely authentic life
The reason I am so incredibly passionate about living a fiercely authentic life is because for too many years I didn’t.One day I woke up and realized I was miserable. I ended up taking drastic measures - quit my job, walked away from life as I knew it and bought a one-way ticket to Bali.My time in Bali created the space for me to reconnect with me. The noise of societies "shoulds" and "supposed to's" faded away and among the rice paddies, I found myself.
The more I dove into deep self-discovery, the more happiness I found. Not some f-ing woo woo happiness, but an unshakable grounded happiness from within.
I now know that my deep discontentment and unhappiness that plagued me for years was rooted in not living life aligned with my true self or desires.
And as it turns out it's not just me.The Vedic traditions of ancient India believe the main cause of suffering which leads to unhappiness is not knowing your true identity. The Buddhist call this a case of the mistaken identity.It’s not surprising that there’s a generation of seekers living mistaken and false identities.Everywhere we look there’s someone telling us how to live our lives. We’re influenced by our parents, peers, social media, television, etc.We think the shoulds of society are more important than our own desires. We dim down who we truly are to “fit in” with the masses.We settle for the mundane rat race and conform to societies white picket fence fallacy.
We’re chasing the American Dream. The problem is it’s not our dream, but the larger problem is we’ve lost touch with who we really are and what WE truly want.
Once we begin to hide a part of ourselves, hiding becomes a habit. We begin to settle. We dim down who we are and our dreams. Eventually life becomes mediocre instead of amazing.BUT life is meant to be AHHHHHHHMAZING...so...
No more hiding.
No more playing small.
No more dimming your light.
No more settling.
And no more fucking unhappiness… life is too damn short!!!!
It’s time for the real you to come out and play!
Without further ado, here are 10 ways to step into your truth and live from a place of fierce authenticity:
#1: Begin a daily journaling practice
Journaling is a powerful way to reconnect to the real-raw-unfiltered you. Just you, the pages, and your thoughts with no outside influences. Here's a free guide to help you kickstart your journaling practice.
#2: Know what YOU value
Our personal values are the foundation for creating and living our most authentic lives. They are who we are, not who we want to be, or think we should be, but who we are. This blog post will help you identify your personal values.
#3: Learn to love the REAL you
Learn to love everything about yourself including the parts of yourself that you hide - the flaws, the demons, etc. This 10 day adventure will help you kickstart your self-love practice.
#4: Dress authentic
Our authentic essence (who we really are) is expressed in many ways, including the way we dress. Do the clothes you wear express who you are, or who you think you should be? How do they make you feel? How can the clothes you wear be more aligned with who you are?
#5: Speak authentic
Are the words you speak aligned with who you are? Or do you dim down and shy away from saying what you want to say in fear of being shamed or judged? Speech is such a powerful way to express ourselves and our authentic essence. Begin to notice if there's a difference between the words you speak and the words you want to speak.
#6: Connect with your intuition
Our intuition is one our biggest assets when it comes to living a true authentic life. She's always there listening and giving guidance. This blog post will help you to reconnect to your intuition.
#7: Befriend you gremlins
Our gremlins, also known as demons, saboteurs, and inner critic, are a part of ourselves we often hide. It's the voice within that tells us we can't, that our ideas are dumb, and where fear lies. If we wish to live truly authentic lives, we must learn to love all parts of ourselves. This blog post will help you to love your gremlins.
#8: Spend time alone
To reconnect with who we are, we must spend time along away from influences of anyone and anything else. It's so easy to get caught up in the shoulds. Spending time alone is crucial to reconnect with what matters most to you and who you are. One way I suggest doing this is through dates with yourself. Take yourself on a date and get to know the real you.
#9: Honor your feelings
When doing something check in with how it feels. Does it feel exciting, energizing and light, or heavy and like a weight weighing you down? Our feelings are a great way to monitor how our true self is feeling.
#10: Say NO to what doesn't serve you
Learn to say NO to things that don't feel good, to things that you think you have to do, to things that drain your energy and dim your light. This may mean saying NO to hanging out with certain people, or participating in certain activities. And of course, say no to anything and everything that is not aligned with your true self.
Now it's your turn... go take action and begin living from a place of fierce authenticity. I'd love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below.Until next time, remember that you've got this sister!
XO, Em