Last week we had a chat about how to re-discover your authentic self. Today I want to talk a bit about how to stay in your authenticity! Life and societal programming can draw us away from who we are. One way to measure how often you’re stepping into your authenticity is how often you feel joy. Joy is something we can feel even when our life is chaotic or we are suffering. Joy comes from moments when we feel a connection with our values. For example, one of my values is travel and exploration. Despite not being able to travel right now, I find joy when meditating and visualizing past trips, looking at old photographs, and planning and budgeting for future vacations.

1. List out your values.

   • Put this list somewhere where you can see it everyday and be reminded to take steps towards embodying them.

2. Be more mindful.

   • When was the last time you were totally present while showering or doing your bathroom routine? Taking care of ourselves has the potential to bring us so much joy.

3. Acknowledge the negative, but dwell on the positive.

   • Aim to be a realistic optimist. While it doesn’t hurt to daydream, spending your time taking actionable steps towards your goals will get you there faster than just thinking positive. 😉 That being said, only seeing the negative raises cortisol levels and keeps the body in fight or flight, making it hard to concentrate and setting the body up for disease and low immunity.

4. Set boundaries

   • Sometimes our authentic selves don’t align with the world around us and we worry about becoming the black sheep in our family and/or friend groups. Instead of repressing parts of ourselves to make others comfortable, set healthy boundaries and do your thing!

5. Try to seek out joy at least once a day.

   • You can do this by starting a gratitude journal, helping someone, talking to a friend, working out, doing a hobby, etc..

Take some time for yourself and make it a habit to check in with yourself and make sure you’re showing up authentically in life. I like to go through my to do list once a month and take inventory of what is serving me and what isn’t to make sure I’m staying in alignment. I find that the faster we grow, the faster we shed what we think is important to us and step into our higher selves. What worked for you last month might not be serving you this month if you’re growing and changing! Sending lots of love and light!