What IF:
I was to ask you to take a look in the mirror right now, what would you see in your reflection? Answer honestly. Do you like what you see? Do you wish you were someone different? Are you immediately pointing out all those flaws? We all have been there, trust me. I used to catch myself scoping out any object that would bounce off my reflection and sometimes, I couldn’t look at myself without doing just that…
BUT, a while back, I was introduced to a friend who helped pave the way so that I could live the life I’m LOVING right about now. AUTHENTIC. (Yep, you’re reading this right.)
Authentic is a magical word! A word that we don’t hear a lot about, but need it in our everyday lives. We tend to see it more in tangible things, but what about the intangible…YOU?
Here are 5 suggested tips on how you can live a NO ORDINARY authentic life.
1. Fall in LOVE with yourself, flaws and all – If you’re wondering why things in your life are not filling that void that you may be having, or relationships are not working out as they should, I think I know why… You need to be in love with who you are. (I know this sounds crazy. Love yourself?) That means accepted who you are as an individual, flaws and all. Learn what your flaws are and accept that no one is PERFECT. If you don’t love yourself, how can you expect anyone to love you the way you want them to. Your flaws make you unique just like fingerprints. When you do this, you will be brushed with so much confidence that you will be able to accept all the joys that life sends your way.
2. Release the past, BE present and live for the future – Sometimes we all get stuck on something that occurred in our past that prevents us from living the life that we want. Come join us in the moment. Learn to accept the cards that were dealt to you and look for ways that you could make the greatest impact. Today. Use your past as a stepping stone for the present and discover what your purpose is and set out to achieving it! Moments are what life is all about. Don’t spend too much time there.
3. Choose happiness – In life, we have an abundant amount of choices and views on how you see yourself and the world. When we start to think about those things, we may change our mindset to think in a negative way. If you choose to do this, you may see a pattern in your life that forms in a negative manner. My solution to all of this: choose happiness over all. No one can give you happiness. It has to come from within, just like the quote, “Don’t ever let anyone dull your sparkle” once you switch that on, your outlook on life will be so much brighter. Leave a trail wherever you go!
4. Develop yourself – This is one area where we tend to brush away as life takes us full speed. In order to achieve the most authentic life, you need to take the time to find out what drives you and chase it! If it requires further development, go get the tools to achieve it. Know that it’s OK to express yourself, trust yourself, teach yourself and above all else, surround yourself with the things that make you happy! I strongly encourage you to do one thing each day that scares you and stretches you outside your comfort zone. You may be surprised at the things you discover!
5. Form new relationships – They say the key to a successful life is to surround yourself with good people. Maya Angelou says it best, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Life is about connecting your personal and professional dots. Find people who are like-minded as yourself both personally and professionally. They will be instrumental in your self-development and vice versa. Building and maintaining relationships is so crucial in discovering who you really are as a person. Go find your people!
(photo courtesy of Google)
**All opinions in this post are my own.**
I can confidently say… My life is EXTRAORDINARY!! 🙂
That’s amazing to hear!! Truly no other way to live life! Love your blog!!!
Well stated Liz! This is a beautiful article!
Thank you Erin 🙂
Releasing the past and learning to love myself are two of the hardest things to do. I’ll have to try harder to create the life I want.
Thank you for your comment! Don’t have to try harder, just appreciate who YOU are as an individual. Once you do that, everything else will fall into place!!
I LOVE that you mentioned to release the past. Holding on to the past only drags you down.
Absolutely Ben! Thanks for your comment!
I love all of these tips, especially choose happiness. It reminds me of a story I was told about a lady that lived in a nursing home. She was happy all the time even in her surroundings and she said it was because she chose to be.
I love this post. I definitely have a hard time loving myself with the flaws I have. I do my best everyday to fix my flaws and leave things in the past. Thank you for this uplifting post.
Thank you Jessica! You should always learn to put yourself first. Realize how important of an individual you are and the rest will follow! Take time to check in with YOU everyone once in awhile!
“I’ve got to be me, I’ve got to be me”….thinking of this old Anthony Newley song as I read this post 🙂
I’ve never heard of that song. You have me going to check it out!
You had a good advice! I agreed with Ben, holding past may drag you down, thanks for sharing this.
Thank you!! If you want to move forward in life, sometimes you have to let go of things that are pulling you down!
I love all these tips. It important for people to realize their happiness and flaws. xx
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Thank you and absolutely!!
Awwwww love it!!! If you focus on your dreams and goals and forget about all the negative you will always win in life 🙂
Thank you!! Well stated!!!
These are all great tips to living a no ordinary authentic life. I really love this post and the quote by Maya Angelou. We all really need to love our self flaws and all. Thanks for sharing the tips.
Thank you for your comment! Yes, we do need to appreciate our flaws and all. It’s hard at times to do that, but we can!!
Choosing to be your authentic self is always the way to go. It’s all about being real
Absolutely! It’s hard at times to try and be someone you’re not, but in the end, being your authentic self always wins!
Authentic is very important. These are all great reminders. It’s really up to us on how we want to live our life. I love number 1.
Thank you for your comment! We all need a reminder every now and again!!
I love your post! Great tips as well. Loving myself and accepting myself as I am is something I struggle with everyday.
Thank you!! That is one trait we seem to forget to do! Always, put yourself FIRST!
I used to hold on to what happened in my child hood and then I decided to stop and my life changed for the better. Holding on to that pain was dragging me down.
You are so right. It’s never easy to let go, but once you do, life is more appreciative! Thanks for sharing the feedback.
I love all your tips especially ‘Release the past’! These are great reminders and I need to stick with.
Thank you!!
Very great article… I think we can make a choice, bad or good. I chose to be happy and enjoy life
Thank you!! Yes, you are so right. Choose the happy route everyday!
Loved this post! So inspiring and motivating!