I am sure you must have read a lot of articles where authors tell or write about being yourself. But there are very few articles where someone is talking about what stops us from being ourselves.
This newsletter will focus on the 3 main reasons that are stopping you from being yourself.
1. Comparison
Comparison is the biggest killer of authenticity. When we compare ourselves, we don’t try to know ourselves. We believe or live the way others live their life.
For example, when we were children, our parents (not intentionally) killed our authenticity by comparing us to other children, whether it was marks, intelligence, or grades.
We didn’t get the time to understand ourselves. Instead, we live with a heart full of jealousy for that other person.
Now, when we have become older, we still don’t try to understand ourselves. Instead, we compare our lives with someone who has done everything to live that life.
2. Lack of obsession
Recently, I heard a podcast of Naval Ravikant in which he was hosting Kapil Gupta. In that podcast, they discuss prescription and what makes a great athlete or an artist great.
Kapil says, “Prescriptions are the how-to’s.”
And what I took away from that Podcast is that even great athletes don’t know how they do great things. It’s the obsession they have that makes them great.
Someone can tell you how to get somewhere, but you won’t be as great as them just by copying. It would help if you had that authenticity and obsession which will make all the difference.
3. Not understanding yourself
You have to give enough time to yourself to become self-aware. And by understanding yourself, I meant to be aware of yourself. Don’t be afraid of being alone.
There is a thin line difference between being alone and loneliness. When you spend time alone, you understand your thoughts and who you are from within. Loneliness is something where you find it hard to spend time with yourself.
And until you don’t know who you are and not aware of yourself, it will be difficult for you to be yourself.
What did I miss?