Do you know who you are? Yes, I’m sure you know your name, age, and many other things. But do you know your inner identity?
Knowing who you are and where you’re from is one thing, but understanding your identity apart from anyone else can be difficult. You may not realize this, but everyone you meet can leave impressions that, if you’re not careful, change certain parts of your basic character.
Later, you may hold onto these bits and pieces of influence and let them become a part of you. When this happens, you aren’t necessarily being true to yourself.
How do you know who you really are?
How can you tell if you really like the color red? You know, it’s possible that you’ve adapted someone else’s preference as your own without even know this. You could be watching sports when you really hate them or going to social events when you’d rather be fishing.
How can you tell if you’re being true the real you? Well, there are a couple of ways.
1. Living someone else’s life
The first indication is obvious. When you’re not being true to yourself, you’re being true to someone else’s goals, dreams, and desires. You’ve adapted the role that a parent outlined for you, or you’re doing the social things your spouse wants you to do, although you secretly detest these things.
Either way, the blueprint you’re following is not the one you created for yourself, and it doesn’t feel natural. Maybe you never really noticed that their ideas weren’t your own. You’re a copy of someone else or even multiple people.
2. You’re a people pleaser
Are you trying to make all people happy all the time? If so, then you’re what’s called a people pleaser. And honestly, it’s impossible to please everybody all the time like this. You will wear yourself down and damage your health trying to get approval from everyone.
One thing is for certain, you’re not being your true self, the one who has dreams. These dreams are not being fulfilled because you’re too busy saying yes and not learning how to say no. Being this way leads to a dead-end eventually and turns you into a shell of a person.
3. Worrying about what others say
You’re not being true to yourself if you are constantly worrying about what others say or think about you. Yes, to some degree, we should represent ourselves well, but not as far as sacrificing our basic beliefs or standards.
There comes a time when we must ignore what other people think altogether and follow our dreams.
4. You’re allowing too much pressure
When you’re being pulled in all directions and taking on too much work at one time, you’re not taking care of yourself. And there’s a reason many of us take on all those responsibilities. We try to display strength in quantity, not quality.
To others, we may seem like powerhouses, but we are secretly stressed from too much pressure. To be true to ourselves, we must pick and choose carefully the projects we work on and decide which ones aren’t worth our time.
5. Surrounded by toxic people
One major sign that you’re not being true to who you really are is that you’re always hanging around people who aren’t good for you. These are toxic people who drain your life energy and help mold you into a form of themselves.
This is the other side of living someone else’s life. If you are surrounded by the wrong people, there is a much higher chance of losing yourself and blending into the crowd.
Do you really know who you are?
Are you being true to yourself? Are you doing the things that make you happy and leave you fulfilled in life? Listen, if you’re living someone else’s life and supporting them all the time, you are nothing more than someone’s fan club.
If this is you, it’s time you took back your life and rediscovered your dreams and goals. And I know you can do this.
