“How hurtful it can be to deny one’s true self and live a life of lies just to appease others.” – June Ahern
#beyourself – #bepowerful – #happylife – #selflove
We’ve seen these hashtags a gazillion times. We use them on a daily basis. I do too.
But do you feel like being yourself? Or powerful? Do you live a happy life?
Majority of my clients come in with a certain question on their lips:
We all want to live a vital, purposeful and fulfilling life. We all want to be confident and content with what we have and who we are.
But only few of us live that life. What’s the secret?
How can we live as our true self in today’s society where “staged happiness” is a merit for success?
How can we show our own face when we are programmed to use filters on every single picture?
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not against ‘filters’. But if it makes you unrecognizable, you are telling yourself and the world – “I’m not good enough”
So how can we be ourselves?
By living our inner truth.
Please allow me to share 3 simple steps that helped me to embrace and love myself and find my inner truth.
But first – what is inner truth?
What is inner truth?
“Inner truth is not a confession you make to yourself or to another. It is not the policy of honest speech”, say Preethaji and Krishnaji in their book “ The Four Sacred Secrets”
Inner truth is like a flashlight in the dark, revealing your inner truth and releasing you from your suffering and fearful state.
We do not need to have gone through a traumatic experience to live in fear. We train ourselves to live in fear.
What is that one thing you keep telling to yourself? Fill in the blank.
I’m NOT ……….. Enough.
No matter what it is that you think you are not enough – you can free yourself of those beliefs and memories and live your inner truth.
Finding your inner truth never happens when you’re stuck in fear or doubt, and it certainly doesn’t happen when you’re numb and disconnected from yourself.
Say “NO” to certain people and opportunities
In today’s society we are taught to be a “Yes Man” or a “Yes Woman” in order to be successful, happy and wealthy. It means that too many times we say “yes”, when we should have said “no”. By saying ‘yes’ to something you don’t want – you are giving away your power.
At some point, almost everyone has given someone else power over the way they think, feel, or behave.
Please don’t get me wrong, it is important to be a team player and grab an amazing opportunity when it presents itself — but too often we don’t know where to draw the line, we say ‘yes’ to everything out of fear. And soon we find that our own health and well-being has been compromised. Not much self love there, is it?
My golden ‘rule’ is:
If something doesn’t serve or help you in living, or working towards the life you want – SAY NO.
I struggled with this one. A lot! I grew up with very little money, so having some money was my main goal almost my whole adult life. I was lucky enough to get an office job with a pretty good salary.
But it was soul-crushing for me.
Every day I suffered at work.
I kept telling myself “But the money is good” so I stayed in that job for 5 long years. When I got to work, I wasn’t filled with a sense of purpose or creativity, no.
I judged every single day as ‘I shouldn’t not have been here…’ I didnt like my job and I didnt like myself.
I silenced my inner truth because I was scared of possible disappointment if I’d leave my job. I justified every reason why I should stay.
But I did leave. I switched careers thanks to an ‘unfortunate situation’. And I’ve never been happier.
I understand your fear more than you think. Any change is scary. You doubt your own strength and abilities. Are you good enough/strong enough/persevering enough/ brave enough to live your inner truth? To show who you are? To take the power and control back?
YES, YOU ARE! Any time you start to doubt again, I’ll be there to show you your strength!
Embrace your failures
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.“
–Michael Jordan
Let’s be honest. We hate failure. It shows us that we don’t have what it takes to win. And with every failure we are more and more impaired by the challenge of disappointment.
Please don’t get me wrong, failing sucks! Big time! Experiencing defeat and despair can make it very challenging to keep going on. Self-doubt sets in.
My mentor and teacher Tony Robbins says: “When you experience failure, change the path, not your goal.”
Maybe this was a sign that you shouldn’t have been going in this direction, to begin with. Embrace it!
Your failures do not define you. Your failures do not take away your power. Your failures do not silence your inner truth. You do that by dwelling in it.
You got yourself into that space and you can get yourself out of it as well.
Be willing to stand out from the crowd
When you are trying to fit in with the crowd by following so-called ‘society standards’, you are trying to hide and disguise who you really are.
If your self-worth/self-love/self-care depends on what others think of you – you will try to please everybody. This state of being typically causes us to lose our sense of self, personal goals, and our inner truth.
It’s time you let your inner truth guide you. It’s time to regain your power over your life.
I know YOU CAN! Do you?
