How Does One Become Fully Authentic?

Christine Carter, Ph.D. and Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Center, offers some insight into how we can stay true to ourselves without letting others down.

• Don't Lie
  • ​Most of us were not raised to be truth tellers - we were raised to people please
  • Pretending--even if it is relatively meaningless, even if it is meant to protect someone else--is a form of lying.  
• But Don't Always Speak the Truth
  • In many instances, it is not necessary, or even a good idea, to speak your truth.
  • If you choose to speak your truth, be sure that you are speaking your truth instead of your judgment.
• Let Your Body Point You Towards What is True for You
  • Our bodies already know what we are feeling, even when we aren't conscious of it.
  • What is true for us tends to make us feel stronger and more free.  Lies tend to feel like constraint and constriction.
• Stay in Your Own Truth -- And Out of Other People's Business
  • Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our own business.
  • Authenticity is always about being ourselves, rather than about helping other people be something other than they actually are:  THAT IS THEIR BUSINESS
• Accept the Ugly Bits of Yourself, Including the Difficult Emotions
  • Being authentic is massively different from being perfect
  • We are all human, and by definition that means we are often messy and raw and wrong.

Read the full article HERE

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