Are you making it hard for yourself? I remember those times when I made it so damn hard, actually completely impossible to be me.
Times when I was twisting and turning. Bending over backwards, trying to fit in. Being who I thought I should be or how I thought others wanted me to be. All so I was eligible for their acceptance, love and attention.
I used to hang around people that were not for me. Be in a job that I didn’t like. Bury my true feelings, hide my interests or even small things like mind what I ate in company. All so I could fit in and please everyone but myself. Uphold this image of who I thought I was supposed to be. And it started to show. I started to show up as a discounted version of myself, because I wasn’t being myself. I found myself waking up to a life and a version of myself that wasn’t making me experience life the way I actually wanted to. Once I had that awareness, I realized I had to change.
When you know better you want better for yourself and you want to do better. As every season has its reason, the season to change and let go of all that was standing between me being truly myself came. The season where I actually made it easy to be me, unapologetically. I had to intentionally shift and stop doing certain things to actually make it possible and easy to be myself.
Some tips on how you too can make that shift and stop making it hard for yourself to be you:
– Unnecessary apologizing: Get clear on why you are apologizing and what for.
– Stop looking outside of yourself for validation and gratification: To be you, you really have to focus on you.
– Prioritize yourself first: You are your biggest priority. You can only meet others as deep as you are willing to meet yourself.
– Don’t take yourself too seriously. Nobody is getting out alive. This human lifetime is just a small part of the Greatness that is truly you.
– Stay playful. It is not a race, there is no deadline to catch.
– Regularly check up and check in with yourself and ask yourself: “what do I need now, how do I want to respond now, what will best serve me moving forward”.
So let me ask you again, are you making it hard to be yourself?