I like nonfiction.
I like self-improvement podcasts.
Heck, I like all things personal growth related.
But, sometimes…
I like blasting good music, thumb drumming, air guitaring, and forgetting about all of that.
It’s called balance.
Authenticity is about congruence between our deeper values and beliefs (i.e., a “true self”) and our actions.
via Chris Do, Twitter
Being authentic is hard when:
Because we live in a world that is constantly pushing its influence on us from every angle, it can be hard to figure out what it is that we actually think.
And without that clarity of thought, of course our actions are going to be misaligned.
Being authentic is easier when:
Until we choose to put up boundaries to block outside influences, we will continue to get pushed around and act in ways that are misaligned, unnatural, and confusing even to ourselves.
Boundaries to the outside world are precisely what’s needed to process, organize, and remix. It’s precisely how we settle our mudded minds. It’s precisely how we quiet the ego so we can hear the whisper of our Self.
In short: being authentic is hard when you let the world tell you who you are. Being authentic is easier when you listen to your Self, decide who you want to be, and tell the world who you are.
And while the latter can challenging in its own respect, it will always be exponentially easier than living an inauthentic life.
The problems of our lives are the very material with which we get to sculpt our legacies.
The harder the problems, the harder the material.
And the harder the material, the longer our legacies have the potential to last.
When you only have to face “soft” problems and you don’t put much effort into shaping them—your life legacy is a wad of Play-Doh.
At the other end of the spectrum, if you opt to face “harder” problems and you work hard to shape them into something remarkable—your life legacy results in something more along the lines of a chiseled statue from marble.
Worth noting: this is not a call to make life as “hard” as possible.
Because without the proper tools, a huge block of marble is unsculptable—and that’s not a legacy worth aiming for either.
The goal is to stop complaining about the material we’ve been given and to start finding ways we can sculpt what we have into something we’re proud of.
Unfortunately, we can’t always change the material we’ve been given: life is wildly unfair in that sense.
Fortunately (especially if you’re reading this), we do have the ability to upgrade our tools and materials to make even harder, more exquisitely detailed sculptures.
Wisdom is the ultimate means for upgrading those tools and materials.
And your life’s legacy is worth an investment into the finest.
The answers to your problems are out there.
You just haven’t looked in the right places.
Looking in the same places and expecting different answers is the strategy of the insane.
One I certainly would not recommend.
Here’s what I’ve learned: looking in the “right” places looks a lot like learning.
Most people open up the same apps, talk with the same people, and buy into the same strategies (that are merely packaged differently) over and over again and expect things to suddenly start going “right.”
The reality is, if what you’re investing your time/ energy/ and attention into isn’t leading you to grow: how can you outgrow your current set of problems?
For what is solving the problems of our lives, but the act of growing?
You don’t start acting like a black belt when you get a black belt.
It’s only after you’ve acted like a black belt long enough that you finally receive one.
The same is true for any other identity you want to embody in life.
You become it by acting like it long enough.
The “becoming” doesn’t happen first.
Too busy for kindness?
Too rushed for manners?
Too inactive for exercise?
Too distracted for deep work?
Too preoccupied for listening?
Too stimulated for meditating?
Too overwhelmed for self-care?
Wait… what are our priorities again?
When exercising: dropping weight to improve form isn’t regressing.
When dieting: eating more calories to improve nutrition isn’t regressing.
When learning: slowing reading speed to improve comprehension isn’t regressing.
In a world that’s hyper focused on vanity metrics (e.g. 1RMs, calorie counting, reading x books / year)—doing something in the opposite direction might feel like backsliding.
When in reality, it’s being hyper focused on vanity metrics that’s causing us to backslide.
Don’t get it twisted.