5 Ways to Live Authentically

Recently, I stumbled across a hashtag on Instagram that made me stop: #liveauthentic. Putting the obvious grammar problem with that statement aside, I had to think about that for awhile.

Something about the idea was appealing.

We (I’m talking about myself here) go around trying to accomplish good things and be a good person, but can so easily lose ourselves in the process. My theory is that it’s because social media shows us the best personalities and characteristics of everyone else, we want to mimic them. As I’m mimicking the lovely fashion sense of one person, someone else starts to mimic me and we all just become copy cats. We’ve lost what it means to be a single person doing their own thing as we are so overexposed to everyone else.

Despite that, don’t we all want to be perceived as authentic? As the real thing? It’s a compliment when people say, “she is comfortable with herself and never changes to please others”, right? We all probably want to be that type of person, but, if you are like me, you feel some disconnect from how you behave and what you envision the #liveauthentic persona really is.

So, I sat down and got my thoughts together one how to live authentically. I’m done being a copycat and I’m ready to become the genuine one out of a million. Are you with me? Here are 5 ways to live authentically:

Stop comparing

Since comparing your real life with everyone’s highlight reel on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. is kind of a subconscious thing, I propose we battle it by bringing it into the light. When you see yourself longing for the things of others, consciously say, “That is there life, not mine. I’m my own person with my own charms” (or something to that effect).

Be present

We all need to make a serious effort to realize there is the real world where authenticity happens and then there is the virtual world…which is not physical or “real” and therefore cannot produce authenticity. You can “like”, “share”, and “retweet” other people’s authenticity, but unless you are living in the real world yourself, you are just another copycat. Being present means putting down your phone, getting off the laptop, and start doing some actual things in the real world.

Be yourself

I really didn’t want to say that because it’s so cliche, but for lack of a better heading, just “be yourself”. Now, the connotation of that statement usually implies that you shouldn’t be afraid to be weird or a nerd or whatever, but, to me, those are more often just copied personalities because the original ones got a lot of attention for it.

Be yourself regardless of whether you think it will look good to others and give you extra hearts, likes, and shares. You probably think your original personality is a total bore, but it’s better to be boring than to always be striving to be something you’re not. That’s what it means to live authentically. Be that genuine human God made you to be.

I’m trying to think of practical ways to accomplish this and, really, it all just boils down to not trying to be someone else and purposefully living in the real world.

Embrace Imperfection

Unless you were dropped here yesterday by aliens or something, you’ve probably heard the phrase: “no one is perfect”. Well, it’s true! No one keeps their house clean all the time or does their hair and makeup beautifully every morning or lives in a perfectly organized routine. We all make mistakes and mess things up from time to time. The sooner you see those imperfections and regard them all as just a part of what makes you charming, the sooner you will be living a more authentic life.

Read more about embracing imperfections here.

Realize Your Place in this World

This probably won’t be a popular point for those that don’t share my beliefs, but if I’m going to be honest and share what I think it really means to be authentic I have to include it.

Whether you believe it or not, you were created and put on this earth for one purpose: to glorify God. Now, since He made you and obviously knew what He was doing being God and all, wouldn’t it defeat that purpose if you were trying to be anything but the person He intended for you to be. And, if you are resisting your God given purpose in life, how can you truly be authentic when the very core of you is turned off? Does that make any sense?

Put basically, my point is this. Your place in this world is to be the person God made you to be and nothing else. I don’t know about you, but the thought that the Omnipotent Creator doesn’t expect you to be different from what you are is very freeing. And, if He doesn’t put those expectations on you, then who cares what anyone else thinks?

Having that kind of perspective really makes it easy to “live authentically” doesn’t it?

We can all probably agree that there are too many fakers in the world and we’re all craving a little more authenticity. That can be something that’s hard to grasp, but we know and like it when we see it. Who doesn’t want to be perceived as an authentic person, right?

Some simple things you can do to be more authentic are to stop comparing to others and break the copycat cycle, be present in the real world and put the phone down for a change, be yourself, embrace your imperfections (we all make mistakes), and finally, realize your place in this world and live for your ultimate purpose. Who knows, you may just make the world a better place. One thing is for sure, great joy will certainly come from living authentically.