Authenticity & Finding Yourself

Every couple weeks we talk about a topic that's going to push us at the gym, and this week it's authenticity and finding yourself. I find it ironic because a lot of us use societal norms and rules to help us find ourselves, but they're the very rules that broke us. conformed us, put us in a box, and made people pleasers.

It doesn’t even make sense, honestly. Real authenticity is showing up even when you're not the most confident, even when you don't have it figured out. It’s being okay with failure, and being okay with not being perceived the way you thought you would. It’s still showing up, making decisions that feel right to you, that align with your values.

Accept that there's no wrong decision and only one's that are right to you.

 Real authenticity begins with peeling back the layers of who you've been told to be, examining your thoughts and your habits with compassion, and understanding that this might've been what I've been conditioned to do. Understanding it didn't really feel right to me and being okay with that. Not shaming yourself into evolving, but doing it because it feels right to you.

The process of authenticity is just that, a process. There's not a finish line. There's no end goal. And the sooner you realize there's no perfect outcomes in life, there's no right way to do this thing, the sooner you'll start making decisions that allow you to be your best self. One where you feel aligned, not because it's what you've been told you should be doing.

 Now, in my world, there is a bit of nuance to that. If you don't sleep well, eat well, and move, you're not gonna know what feels right. How could you? You don't feel right. You have symptoms that are clouding your judgment, and clouding how you feel that are a result of not taking care of your most basic needs.

Part of finding yourself and knowing who you are is taking care of your most basic needs and you can't get past that. Even if it's uncomfortable, you're gonna have to face that first. So part of unpeeling is gonna be finding out, why don't I take care of myself? And that shit is hard. But it's a part of the process.

It's apart of finding yourself. And if you want to have a sense of self and break free of the rules and the norms, you have to take care of your most basic fundamental needs.

Eat well, sleep well, move well, and connect with others, of course, because people are your friends.