It’s a dangerous time to be human.
Everyone is converging.
The Internet trends are making everyone say the same things, do the same things, and even get plastic surgery to look the same.
You can’t afford to become just like everyone else.
Why?
Because you’ll create a life you never even wanted chasing arbitrary goals.
The world will have one less inspiration, one less person to light the way for the children.
It’s time to stop ignoring the “cliché” advice and start understanding why you must be authentically, and unapologetically yourself.
Here are 3 reasons you can’t afford to be someone else — and the best way to be yourself.
Reason 1 — When you’re not being yourself, your brain is distracted
"If you spend your life trying to be someone else, you will lose yourself and miss the life you were meant to live."
— Roy T Bennett
You have a finite amount of brainpower.
Spending your time worrying about what you should do, or what people will like, takes up valuable memory.
You spend half of your brain trying to act how you think you should, leaving only half of your brain to execute tasks.
You try to tell jokes that are trending right now, or bring up current affairs that people will be able to relate to — and you don’t have the energy to be yourself.
You don’t have the energy to be clever or thoughtful, because you’re too busy trying to be something you’re not.
Flip the script.
Instead of using 50% of your available brain, use it all.
Reserve your brainpower for the real parts of life — being compassionate, thoughtful and serving the world.
Forget trying to behave a certain way.
Reason 2 — When you’re not being yourself, you don’t create the relationships and life that you want
“The right people will love the real you."
When you’re acting like someone else, you’ll build the life that they want — not the life that you want.
If you spend every day trying to be good at tennis, when what you love is basketball, you’re going to end up bloody good at tennis — but not happy.
And that’s what happens to too many people.
This is why old people look back and wish they would’ve cared less about what people thought of them.
Because they did what everyone told them to do, and at the end, got something they never wanted in the first place.
I see it in young men trying to impress women all the time — hell, I used to do it too.
She likes volleyball? Let me go find out all about volleyball to try and relate.
But that’s totally back-to-front.
Because now you’re just inauthentic and plain. Like we spoke about in section 1 — you can’t shine as your true self while trying too hard to talk about things you don’t care about.
Instead, you should’ve doubled down on your passion for basketball — because the fire in your soul would naturally light up.
Now your energy is bright — you’re in alignment with your soul’s desire.
And that’s what’s truly attractive.
People just love passion and energy — they don’t care what it is that you like.
Howard Thurman says:
"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Reason 3 — You are an inspiration to someone
"The most unique gift you can offer the world is the gift of being yourself."
— Bernajoy Vaal
You’ve seen a YouTube video, or read a book, where the person’s voice and opinions just seems to ring true and align with you.
You might’ve had a teacher whose way of explaining just perfectly made sense.
It hits just right and makes a connection you’ve never made before.
When this happens, your Venn diagrams overlap.
You are compatible.
And that’s the power of individuality.
There’s a child out there somewhere who needs YOUR voice to ring true for them — do not take that responsibility lightly.
If you’re trying to be someone else, that’s one less inspiration for a child whose Venn diagram overlaps with your own.
They might see your inauthentic self and think you’re nothing like them.
When in reality, you might be the only person they can truly relate to.
You might be the person who changes everything for them — who shows them what’s possible in life.
This idea is really the kickstarter to creating a Utopian world.
It branches further and further out until we have a society of unique perspectives and ideas all contributing to the race.
Don’t let the world down by giving it one less unique inspiration.
So with all that said — what does it mean to be yourself? And how do you do it?
"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."
— Rumi
When you’re trying to be something, you’re torturing your soul.
Your soul wants what it wants — simple as that.
You’re interested in things because that’s just who you are.
There’s a reason some people play drums, while others play guitar. There’s a reason some people play water polo, and others do long jump.
You are not anyone other than yourself — and your soul yearns for a unique combination of things.
And that yearning is called curiosity, and interest.
Curiosity is what creates your personality.
It’s your guiding light — it shows you what you should be doing in your life.
If you’ve always been interested in electric guitar, it’s because the sounds pull on your heartstrings. Your future self is begging you to pick up the electric guitar.
Curiosity and interest are the roadmap to your unique personality.
To be yourself — to find yourself — don’t focus on what others like, what the future may hold or what people tell you to do.
Focus on what you’re curious about today.
And express that openly and truthfully.
That’s being yourself.
Following what you’re interested in, and passionate about, is how you build the life you want.
Thank you for reading!
I’m Eren and I use stories from experiences in my life to explain self-improvement — and how you can change your life but just changing your thoughts.
PS. If you subscribe to the free weekly newsletter, you’ll get my 8 spell-like reminders to say to yourself to snap out of frustration, anxiety and stress, in the welcome email.
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