Introduction
In this hyperactive, hyperlinked world that we inhabit, we’re all caught up in other people’s fabricated routines that aren’t necessarily who we are. Social media, our profession, and what the world expects of us generally steer us toward another individual’s definition of success. But if we’re true to ourselves, what most of us really want is a life that is real, true, and grounded in our most deeply held values.
The question is: How do I live more authentically and get on purpose with my values?
Being authentic does not equal being perfect or alone—it equals being conscious action in alignment with who you are. In the following guide, we are going to take a look at practical tips, real examples, and shifts in your mind that will help you live more authentically and stay in integrity with what matters most to you.
What Is Living Authentically?
Living authentically is:
Staying true to your values, principles, and beliefs even when things get difficult.
Placing things most important to you, not doing something because others think you should.
Building a lifestyle where what you say, do, and intend is consistent with your inner principles.
Authenticity is not selfishness or stubbornness—it is living a real and meaningful life by being truthful to yourself.
Why Living Your Values Matters
When you live your life based on your values:
You feel more clarity and less tension.
You make decisions with more confidence.
You develop self-respect and confidence in yourself.
You draw relationships and opportunities into your life that are true to who you are.
But if you’re not living your values, chances are you’ll likely experience burnout, nervousness, and unhappiness.
Step 1: Discover Your Core Values
If you wish to live authentically, then you need to understand your core values first. They are the principles that order your life.
Examples of some common values:
Integrity
Family
Development
Liberty
Health
Imagination
Sympathy
How to find your values:
Create a list 10 times when you were happiest or most proud.
Do there appear to be themes—did they include family, learning, or assisting others?
Cull your list down to the top five values.
From that day forward, you’ll have your own guide for decisions.
Step 2: Look at Your Current Life
Ask yourself the following questions:
Am I living a life consistent with my values?
Are my work, relationships, and daily routines genuinely a reflection of who I am?
Where am I giving away too much?
Example:
If one of your values is health but you consistently trade sleep for work, you are not living with integrity.
Step 3: Setting Work Boundaries With Personal Values in Mind
Authentically living requires saying no to whatever does not and will not resonate with your core values.
Use boundaries to overcommit work if freedom is important.
Should family be core, block evenings and weekends to be with family.
In case your core values include honesty, remove yourself from relationships that pressure you to hold back your true emotions.
Boundaries are not selfish – they are imperative to your authentic self.
Step 4: Self Awareness Exercises
Authentic living is a work in progress. Adhere to routines that can tactically improve your self awareness:
Journaling: Each day evaluate if your day’s activities reflected your values based on your daily diary.
Mindfulness: Engage in breathing exercises and focus on your breath.
Check ins: Hold yourself to the question.
“You are true to yourself?”
More mindful you are, the easier it is to live your values and believe them.
Step 5: Value Work and Career Integration
Unhappiness can stem from a breach between one’s values and what is executed in day to day living.
Idea’s to counter:
Look for opportunities to be creative, if it is important to you.
Seek service-oriented employment opportunities, if it matters to you.
Look for employment in companies that promote work-life harmony, should balance be one of your values.
The activities that can most help you start moving toward your true self in your career may seem to you like small shifts. These may be freelancing, volunteering, or selecting certain appearing major shifts in your career.
Step 6: Cultivating Relationships That Affirm One’s Autheticity.
The friends and peers you associate wtih can play a major role in determining how true to yourself you will be.
Make friends with people who support your principles.
Avoid those relationships where you are forced to be continuously fake.
Be honest, and trust people more than needed. Honest, open, and clear relationships are built on trust.
Note: Both sides of a relationship should be able to be true to themselves and their lives without worrying about being judged. That should be the minimum.
Step 7: Embrace Flaws.
Fulfilling life does not mean there won’t be any mistakes. You will violate your principles, and there will be times where 100\% of you is not possible.
The important thing is to notice the inbalance, and then, within self-compassion, softly steer yourself back on course.
Step 8: Form your daily behaviors around your principles.
Carefully molding your life and behaviors, there will come a time when absence of happiness will define their joint status over a threshold of several years.
If self-preservation is a principle, you will not spend a day without nourishing meals and exercise.
If education is a principle, you will be a daily reader or take a course, or several courses on the internet.
If altruism is a principle, you will, without fail, every day, suffer an act of self-gratification in the course and payment of service or several works.
These changes, primal in their shifts, like positive nourishing and exercise, contribute toward growth a life of deep meaning.
Step 9: Live With Courage
To live authentically oneself is indeed a challenge because it could mean going against the custom way of life.
Your truth could silence some.
Your family could be baffled when you choose the profession of your interest.
You may need to take some risks to live your life.
However, courage is the bridge between having the knowledge of your values and living them.
Some of the Challenges in Living Authentically
Judgment: Fearing what is the opinion of the public.
Conformity: Having the need to accept the traditions of a society.
Ambiguity: Lacking clarity on what your values are.
Over-Commitment: Having the default tendency to agree which leads to having no time set aside to what matters.
The perfor mance of clarity, the no strategy, and the self-reminder about the essence of happiness which is in authenticity solves the problem.
Benefits of Living Authentically
Lower levels of stress and anxiety
Greater self worth
More positive interpersonal connections
Improved life choices
A life rich in purpose and meaning
Conclusion
The challenge that remains is how can one live authentically and be in line with their values .
Living one’s truh is an act which stems from a set of choices with integrity. It is rational lifestyle audit, value set cultivation and simplification of choices.
One must have courage to set the boundaries of self and freedom. It is this fulfillment that gives back the essence of authenticity.
“Coming home to yourself is not an overnight thing, it’s a process.” But the more steps you take away from pursuing that vision and toward living according to your values, the less frustration, angst and dread you’ll have.
FAQs on Living Authentically
Q1: HOW CAN I FEEL LIKE MY AUTHENTIC SELF?
Start by finding your guiding principles, thinking about what gives you joy and paying attention to when you feel most “yourself.”
Q2: Is it possible for me to be my true self and still be normal?
In theory, yes — but how to square the pursuit of boundaries with deciding which expectations matter, and which don’t, to you?
Q3: What if my work doesn’t align with my values?
You don’t have to leave right away — but look for ways to pursue your values in your current role, while making long-term plans to pivot if you have to.
Q4: Is living authentically selfish?
No. You feel much more comfortable in your own skin and that allows you to be a better partner, friend, and citizen of the world when you’re doing life genuinely.
Q5: How to be consistent in atauhentic living?
Frequent self-evaluation, journaling, and checking to make sure each little daily habit conforms to who you want to be will keep you headed in the right direction.