Follow This to Lead an Authentic Life
How to know if someone has to lead an authentic life? Most of us have a sense of authenticity in life when our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are all in harmony. There is a sense of internal distress when our opinions and beliefs conflict with the actions in the world. This sense of dissonance is not pleasant; it can be resolved by changing the way we think or behave. When the internal and external “world’s” are in harmony, peace will be restored within.
When we take time to identify our true values and then direct our behaviour to be in accordance with our values, the result will be the inner sense of peace, contentment, and meaning. Identifying values not only means what we are doing or thinking but instead focusing on what we really wish to do in our life. Initially, identifying the values can be difficult, especially if you are overwhelmed by thoughts like “will it even matter to the other person?”. However, Practicing Meditation and calming ourselves allows us to take a step back from all the negative thoughts, emotions and observe our own feelings, and accept what is happening around us.
Characteristics of Leading an Authentic Life:
Consider the characteristics mentioned below to lead an authentic life and notice the characteristics that you identify or wish to experience in your life:
1. Adopt a creative approach to life. And Say Yes to psychological flexibility and Big No to rigidity and closed-mindedness.
2. Trust yourself and have faith in your intuition and self-direct your own course in life.
3. Feel open to your moment-to-moment experience without denial or self-invalidation.
4. Feel the freedom and ability to RESPOND and do not just REACT. So, Be mindful.
5. Live in the present moment, allow yourself to feel fluid and dynamic.
How to Begin Living Authentically?
Following are some suggestions to move towards living an authentic life.
(1) Doing things Consciously:
It is important to be mindful of your ability and responsibly choose your behaviours. Being deliberate implies to slow down and take the time to mindfully choose how you wish to respond to others and how you are making choices in life.
(2) Take time to Relax:
People are different, their needs vary. Spend some time alone to relax and recharge as it has numerous benefits. When you are bombarded by repeated or intense interactions with other people, take the time to check back in with yourself by staying alone. It will help you to tap back to your inner sense of authenticity and purpose.
(3) Be willing to lose:
Changing the way, we think of mistakes and failure helps. Failure is inevitable but it results in a wonderful opportunity which allows us to grow and improve.
When you indulge in work and do things with a full heart and an open mind, you allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes as you recognize that these are opportunities to learn important lessons.
(4) Do not be too deliberate:
Too much of something is dangerous, you can learn to be deliberate in the interactions without becoming mindless. The main idea is to choose things that are in line with your true values, this is being authentic!
(5) Meditate:
Mindfulness meditation helps one to accept things; be a curious, and non-judgmental observer of each moment and learn from the experience. When you are connected to the present moment, there is less attachment to the outcomes and you will not try to control the way things are. Meditation leads to developing a sense of authenticity by presenting things in a larger perspective. Eventually, increasing connection to truly living our life.
(6) Play hard:
Use the present moment experiences as opportunities to truly involve yourself in the task that is at hand. Developing a deep sense of authenticity and allowing yourself to experience the moments surely help. Allow the leisure and playful activities to be an authentic expression of your true self.
(7) Read novels:
Take a step outside your own experience and become more observant. Develop empathy for the experiences and emotions of other people, it will help you to increase your ability to make connections with other people. The development of accurate empathy will help you understand what other people are feeling, and it will help you to develop deeper compassion and understanding of your own experience.
(8) Stay connected:
The main idea is to find a balance between solitude and healthy connection with others. You can learn a lot about yourself, your strengths, and your areas for improvement through examining your interactions and relationships with other people. Notice the way that you are being perceived by others and use that information to build on your sense of an authentic self.
Author’s note:
Spend time with yourself now and try to identify your true values and reflect on whether or not you are truly living in accordance with those values. We often feel a sense of inauthenticity, it is normal. Try to resolve the inner struggle and become mindful of what truly matters to you. Examine the opportunities that you have to live a more authentic life. Lead an Authentic Life. Find peace within yourself.
