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1. Don’t Worry About How Others View You.
2. Stop Being Negative About Yourself.
3. Don’t Aim to Please Others

Eva

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-don't change around different people when they come together it will be very difficult
-don't put time in people that don't deserve you
-and don't chase for friends if they like u they come and if they don't they don't

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1. Don't think about how people view you, you will not be as confident in being the real you.

2. Don't compare yourself with others.

3. Don't always try to please others.

-Margot

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1) Take a break from social media and try to live in the moment.

2) Only say things you truly mean, don't fool yourself.

3) Get to know yourself better by for example writing in a journal.

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2.Be confident with who you are.
3.Learn from your mastakes.
Lars Vanrobays

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1)  Do what you want not what others want .
2) Listen to yourself not to others .
3 ) Be kind to yourself and be proud

- Ina -

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1) Find yourself and define yourself on your terms.
2) follow your own style and stop caring about how people perceive you.
3) Accept that some days will be better than others.

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1) Don't copy other people.
2) Don't be someone your not. (you are going to hurt your self)
3) Don't worry about how others view you.
Nerys

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1. Don't drown in the sea of people that are not you ,don't search look right inside.

2. Look for pepole that now who you are and when you don't now who anymore , they can help you remember it .

3.  If you don't know who you are take you time to find out it is important to find it for yourself not for someone else.

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my 3 tips 1. sometimes ti is better to be alone and do thinks that you want not the things that the group wants  2 sometimes you just have to stop caring and stop being hard on yourself   3 self reflect on what you are insecure about  

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my 3 tips 1. sometimes ti is better to be alone and do thinks that you want not the things that the group wants  2 sometimes you just have to stop caring and stop being hard on yourself   3 self reflect on what you are insecure about  

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-tobe

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- Don't let others influence you. You are different and that is what makes it fun.
- You don't always have to be happy.
- You should never think that you can't wear something because you think that others won't like it. It really doesn't matter what you wear, the most important thing is that you like it!

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1) be yourself
2) dont compare to other people
3) treat people how you want to be treated.

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1. always believe in yourself
2. just do what you like to do
3. it's okay to make mistakes or that you change

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1. Get to know yourself better.

2. Don't change yourself to fit in.

3.Don't compare yourself with other people.

-Lars

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1. You don't always have to listen to what other people think about you.
2. Treat people how you want to be treated.
3. Avoid bad things

Tristan

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1) It is okay to be different
2) Always be yourself
3) Do not do things you do not want to do

Laure

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eat well, be yourself an do someting you like to do.
You are how you are.

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1 Don't copy someone. You have your own taste.
2 Don't worry about other poeples opnions they don't matter.
3 Do the things you like!

Norah

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This makes people think they are not good enough for anyone. I mean not really but let's say you have a big birthmark on your face. People can have insecurity's from that. What you can do is trying to deal with it. Nothing more

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My three tips                             Wonder

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My three tips                             Wonder

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my three tips are

have self-confidence you are a good person

be yourself and don't care about others

And only say things when you are sure of them.

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My top 3 tips.                                                           1. It's okay to not always be your best self.                                                              2. Don't do things you don't want to.   3. Always be yourself.

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My top 3 tips.                                                           1. It's okay to not always be your best self.                                                              2. Don't do things you don't want to.   3. Always be yourself.

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lowie

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It's about everyone being themselves and everyone being different.

Laure

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Authenticity and being who you are at your core can help you create a business climate in your life, and work that allows for real fulfillment and joy.

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This article talks about how we look at ourselves. It talks about how the internet influences how you live your live.

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With a steady stream of avocado toast, latte art and vintage Huji filters, Instagram advertises the kind of life to which almost anyone would aspire. If you take social media's word for it, the world is full of happy, healthy, thriving people taking luxury vacations, getting drinks with lifelong friends and promoting their passion projects online. Even amid a global pandemic and record levels of social isolation, many still fall prey to the glossy perfection of the feed.

But celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen and Dax Shepard have gone in a different direction, inspiring millions of users by sharing both the mundane and raw experiences of real life. Are people happier and more satisfied when they present themselves in a way that feels real or when they share a self-idealized version of their life? In our research, published in Nature Communications, we set out to tackle this question and determine how individuals' online image actually affects them.

Our starting point was a data set of more than 10,000 Facebook users who had completed a personality questionnaire and volunteered to have their Facebook profile information used for scientific purposes. This unique data set allowed us to compare the way that people see themselves (i.e., their responses to the personality questions) with how they portray themselves to their social network and the world through their posts and the pages they follow (i.e., computer-based predictions of their personality from Facebook posts and pages).

For example, "Jane" might think of herself as an introvert and describe herself as such in a questionnaire. If she posted on social media in the way introverts typically do (e.g., talking about reading, books or computers), her social media authenticity score would be high. In other words, her self-view would match the way she expressed herself to others. In contrast, if Jane were to describe herself as an introvert but post in a way that is typical of extraverts (e.g., talking about parties or weekends out), her social media authenticity score would be low.

Mapping this authenticity score to participants' level of life satisfaction (i.e., the extent to which they evaluated the overall conditions of their life as positive and desirable) showed that those who expressed themselves in a more authentic-rather than self-idealized-way reported more satisfaction with their life. A clear win for Teigen and Shepard!

Yet one of the questions that came up was: "Is this really true for everybody? Sure, if I am an emotionally stable extravert, posting authentically might be great. It's who I am but also who everybody else wants me to be. What if I am neurotic and an introvert instead? Would I benefit equally from being my authentic self?" So we went back to our data to test that. As it turns out, this worry was largely unfounded. The extent to which authentic self-expression on social media was related to participants' life satisfaction did not depend on how socially desirable their personality profiles were. In other words, both extraverts and introverts benefitted equally from being true to themselves.

But does authentic expression actually lead to higher levels of life satisfaction? Or is it the case that people who are more satisfied with their lives find it easier to post authentically? To show that posting in an authentic way was indeed driving well-being, we followed up on our initial study with an experiment to demonstrate causality.

For this experiment, we recruited social media users and randomly assigned them to either post in a way that was authentic (based on their personality) or post in a way that was popular and made them look good in the eyes of others. After a week spent following these instructions, we switched the groups: the people who had initially posted in an authentic way were then asked to post in an idealized way, and vice versa. Supporting our initial finding, we discovered that after posting in an authentic way for a week, participants reported higher levels of positive affect and mood than they did after the week in which they posted to please others.

Our findings can't speak to the question of whether using social media is better than not using it at all. Abstaining from social media altogether might yield the highest levels of life satisfaction. But our results do suggest that if you use social media regularly, you should try not to fall prey to the perfection-instead just be yourself!

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With a steady stream of avocado toast, latte art and vintage Huji filters, Instagram advertises the kind of life to which almost anyone would aspire. If you take social media's word for it, the world is full of happy, healthy, thriving people taking luxury vacations, getting drinks with lifelong friends and promoting their passion projects online.

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One man had a hard time being himself and wrote an article about it. It lists three tips that worked for him. 1: Get in touch with your inner child. 2: Become more aware of your thoughts. And the third tip: Follow your intuition.
Eva

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"Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be." ~Alan Watts
I've heard the statement "just be yourself" so much. It sounds like an amazing thing to do, and I have wished many times that I could just do that. What I've wondered, though, is what in the world does that mean?

What if someone is a jerk to other people? Is it okay for them to just be themselves and go on being a jerk to everyone? How about people who are fearful of being around others and live a hermit-like life, avoiding people?

In my quest for answers I've found that it is very much possible to just be yourself. The person who is a jerk to others and the person who is afraid of social situations are, in actuality, not being themselves. Their real self is just being covered up with conditioned, fear-based thinking.

Our true self is who we really are when we let go of all of the stories, labels, and judgments that we have placed upon ourselves. It is who we naturally are without the masks and pretentiousness.

It is who we really are when we let fall to the floor the cloak of other people's stuff that we have taken on.

Everything else that we claim to be when we say, "This is who I am!" is only a story.

Below are some steps that have helped me in uncovering my real nature, which is that being outside of the accumulated thoughts and beliefs that I have collected over a lifetime.

1. Get in touch with your inner child.

If you ever watch small children, you will notice just how free they are and how little they care about what other people think of them. They are happy and in the moment.

They are their true natures. They have not yet been socialized to "fit in" to a society that squashes that. They don't care if people think that they are silly while they dance in the front yard for all of the neighbors to see.

Children are just pure love and light. If you really want to get in touch with your inner child, become freer. Play, have fun, enjoy the moment, do cartwheels in the front yard.

My son has taught me this more than anything. He has helped me to see just how stiff and serious I can be. Thanks to him, I have tapped back into something that was forgotten.

We play roles to fit into society and we suppress our true nature out of fear of what others think. If you find yourself worrying about being judged, remember that is merely just the socialized you, not the real you.

2. Become more aware of your thoughts.

You may be shocked by the number of negative thoughts that run through your mind on any given day. After so long, our reality begins to take shape based on all of these conditioned thinking patterns.

Become more aware of the quality of your thinking. Allow yourself to sit quietly every morning before starting your day for just five to ten minutes.

Yes, thoughts will come and go, but just allow them to do that without getting attached to them. Just observe them. When you are finished, continue observing the mind throughout your day.

We have so many unconscious beliefs that we have taken on over the years that were probably handed down to us from somebody else, and that we believed to be who we are. Becoming more aware of the quality of your thoughts, letting go of the old beliefs, and becoming more present can help in revealing your true nature.

We are all so much more than those old negative thinking patterns would ever allow us to believe.

3. Follow your intuition.

This is probably one of the most important factors in being yourself. I ignored my intuition for the longest time because I felt so obligated to others. Their happiness was more important than my own.

I lived at home until I was twenty-five, ignored my urges to move to a new city, and stayed in unfulfilling jobs because I was so afraid of what other people would think of me, of failing, and of stepping out of my comfort zone. Because of this, I was incredibly unhappy.

I will tell you this, from my own personal experience: When you start following the little nudges and urges that you get, you will have hopped onto the magic carpet ride of awesomeness.

It doesn't mean that you will never have bumps in the road again, but when you are in alignment with your soul, you will always be steered in the best possible direction.

For me, it started when I followed my intuition out of a job where I was miserable, which was way out of character for me. I had nothing lined up, but thanks to my intuition, I landed back on my feet within a few months in an awesome new job.

Now, before you go quit your job, you can begin with small things, such as following through when you feel the urge to make a phone call, send an email, or take a different route to work. When you get into the habit of doing this with small things, it will make it easier to say yes to the big things, and to trust.
How do any of these things help you to just be yourself? Because they help you to be in alignment with your true nature.
Your authentic self is the real you that is beyond all of those conditioned beliefs and thinking patterns that you have accumulated throughout your life.

I was once a shy, reclusive, depressed, angry person-but I wasn't "being myself." While it is important to love and accept ourselves for where we are at the moment, looking back now, I see that I suppressed my true nature in order to please others and to fit in.

I began going within and doing spiritual study and practice in my late twenties, and have since become more aware of how much I was identified with my victim story, how I would play roles depending on who I was with, and just how much I cared about other people's perceptions of me.

I had lost touch with my natural self and stuffed it away in a box. Whenever I would notice myself getting attached to the stories and labels in my head or would catch myself playing roles with others, I would just breathe and relax into the moment without any labels or judgments.
It was a challenge because I cared so much about being accepted by others. So I would ask myself, "How would I act right now if I had no cares of what others thought of me?" I realized that who I naturally am without anything else added is perfectly okay.
When you let go of the old ways of thinking, follow your bliss, and do what you love, you begin to align with happiness and peace. These are all indicators that you are connected with your true nature. You are then allowing your real self to shine forth in all its glory.

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What It Means to Just Be Yourself and 3 Ways to Do It

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"Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be." ~Alan Watts I've heard the statement "just be yourself" so much. It sounds like an amazing thing to do, and I have wished many times that I could just do that.

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Bodyshaming
It is about people being too hard on themselves and they also say that almost all people have a natural tendency to be better, stronger and more beautiful, so actually they mean that most people are not satisfied with how they look and they stop feeling good about it.
It is especially in the media that there is a lot of body shaming.
It also happens a lot in families, friends, colleagues and many other people.

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National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders

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"We are our own worst critic" is often a phrase we use to describe when we, as individuals, are too hard on ourselves. For most people, it is a natural tendency to always be better, faster and stronger however this craze for becoming better can result in severe mental health consequences, especially when it comes time to our physical appearances. The media has commonly portrayed overweight characters as the running joke of the show, resulting in "fat jokes" and a severe manifestation of self-doubt known as body shaming. Body shaming is known as the action or practice of expressing humiliation about another individual's body shape or size; a form of bullying that can result in severe emotional trauma, especially at a young age. Body shaming is done by parents, siblings, friends, enemies, and schoolmates and is often portrayed in the media. "Why is she wearing that? It is not flattering at all." Or "I am so ugly compared to her I will never find a date" are common thoughts and phrases used that are examples of body shaming. Negatively commenting about the size or shape of anyone's body can be extremely damaging to them potentially leading to low-self esteem, anger, self-harm and even mental health disorders, specifically body dysmorphic disorder.

Body shaming manifests in many ways:

Criticizing your own appearance, through a judgment or comparison to another person.

Criticizing another's appearance in front of them

Criticizing another's appearance without their knowledge.

No matter how this manifests, it often leads to comparison and shame, and perpetuates the idea that people should be judged mainly for their physical features.

Sadly, body shaming occurs among both men and women of all different shapes and body sizes. Body shaming has included both criticisms of being "too fat", or "too skinny", often picking on flaws that completely irrelevant. Many magazines, social media platforms, and advertisements contribute to body shaming in ways that have started to normalize these damaging behaviors. Many TV shows and movies have fallen into this pattern as well, where the "fat" character is often the subject of criticism and comic relief. With the trending behaviors of celebrity fat shaming on social media, it is important to understand the potential consequences that may arise.

Why does body shaming occur?

Growing up in the United States in front of a mirror can ingrain the conventional notions of beauty and can result in deep seeded self esteem issues. Today, individuals are more accepting of being different from others however with the pressure from social media, young individuals are more prone to want to look a certain way. Negative comments and provoking images can drive young girls to engage in unhealthy behaviors in order to change their body type to conform to the norms of society. This may lead to self-injury or cutting, binging and purging behaviors or even full-fledged eating disorders. Individuals with a history of trauma, depression, self-harm, low self-esteem, or borderline personality disorder are more likely to be affected by body shaming and potentially develop an eating disorder or engage in self-harm behavior.

How to overcome body shaming

Like with any other from of bullying, body shaming will always be present unless you stick up for yourself in a positive and healthy way. It is important to practice self-love and try to not let negative comments bother you. Furthermore if you witness body shaming on social media you can report it and flag it for inappropriate content. National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has stepped up to fight against body shaming on social media and encourages individuals who witness body shaming to notify this organization through engaging with strong and positive like minded women. And, you can always find a loving, encouraging community through Media Watchdog program . Additionally you can create a petition against body shaming, write a body positive post or blog, call out the body-snarkers by taking a screenshot and tagging @Proud2BmeUS and ANAD's support groups and check out our ANAD Week Guide for body positivity programming. Keep in mind that entering a negative cycle of comments does not do any good in this situation. Take control and stay positive.

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Body Shaming. What It Is & How To Overcome It | ANAD

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"We are our own worst critic" is often a phrase we use to describe when we, as individuals, are too hard on ourselves. For most people, it is a natural tendency to always be better, faster and stronger however this craze for becoming better can result in severe mental health consequences, especially when it comes time to our physical appearances.

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https://socialpronow.com/blog/be-yourself/

This article has 15 tips to be yourself.
He talks about understanding yourself and/or getting to know yourself better.
He also talks about how to not care what others think.
He thinks it is important to not try to fit in in a group that is not made for you.
He thinks you will be happier if you are yourself.
-Lars

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Being yourself involves both knowing and showing who you are. The first step to being yourself is to learn more about yourself and get more in touch with your feelings, beliefs, and needs. The next step is to learn how to express these in both your words and your actions. The final step is to learn how to stay true to yourself without letting other people, society, or even your inner critic bully you into changing.

In this article, you will learn how to know and show your true self to others and how to get and stay connected with the real you.

Sections

Are you being yourself?

According to one researcher, being true to yourself involves three steps: developing self-awareness, living authentically, and guarding against external influence. You can use these questions as a guide to know whether you are being yourself at work, at school, or with others:

1. Do you feel like you truly know and understand yourself?

2. Do most of your actions reflect your true thoughts, feelings, and values?

3. Can you resist the urge to change yourself in order to fit in or be liked by others?

If you answered a strong 'yes' to all three of these questions, then you are probably being true to yourself. If you answered 'no' or 'it depends,' then you probably aren't being 100% real, open and honest with people.

How to be yourself

You need to know yourself in order to show yourself, but showing your true self (by being open, real, and honest) also helps you know yourself. The following steps will help you address both issues, helping you become more self-aware while also encouraging you to act in ways that demonstrate your feelings, beliefs, and values.

Because low self-esteem, anxiety, and shame are common issues that get in the way of being yourself, these steps will also provide tips on how to cope with these in a healthier way.

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1. Reflect on your history

Throughout your life, you have been shaped by your experiences. Part of getting to know yourself better means brushing up on your history and exploring the experiences and decisions that have shaped you the most.

You can get started by journaling and reflecting on these questions:

What were some key turning points in my life, and how did they change me?

What were the themes in my happiest memories (i.e., connection, success, etc.)?

In times when I felt like I wasn't true to myself, what traits, values, or beliefs did I betray (i.e., honesty, loyalty, etc.)?

Reflecting on significant events in your life can help you unravel the mystery of who you are, providing clues about the traits and qualities that are core to who you are. This is a great way to get in touch with your core values and beliefs.

2. Spend quality time with yourself

Your relationship with yourself is the single most important relationship in your life. Just like all relationships, you need to invest attention and time into yourself. Make time on a regular basis to spend time alone, and make sure this is quality time that is meaningful and enjoyable.

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Here are some ideas about how to spend quality time with yourself:

Start a journaling practice to reflect on your thoughts and feelings

Use creative outlets to express yourself (i.e., music, crafting, DIY projects, etc.)

Find self-care activities that help you release stress (i.e., exercise, meditation, etc.)

Schedule weekly activities that you enjoy and look forward to

3. Decode your emotions

Think of feelings like they are your internal messaging system, always trying to communicate with you. Even difficult emotions like sadness or fear have important messages, but you can miss these when you ignore them or distract yourself from them.

To get the important messages your emotions have for you, try using these steps:

Notice and name what you are feeling

Example: Feeling anxious before work

Identify what the feeling is in response to

Example: A meeting where you may be asked to speak

Consider what the feeling is trying to tell you

Example: That you worry you will say the wrong thing

Identify what you want, need, or care about in this situation

Example: That you want to be liked and respected at work

Research indicates that being in touch with your inner thoughts and feelings is an important part of being authentic. The more you are in touch with your emotions, the less you will need to look outside of yourself for answers about who you are or what you think or feel.

4. Stop listening and talking to your critic

While your inner critic will probably always have an opinion about things, it doesn't mean you always have to ask for it, listen to it, or follow its advice. In fact, people who are kinder and less self-critical report feeling more authentic in their interactions and also report feeling happier.

Spending a lot of time listening (and talking back) to your inner critic can be exhausting and toxic. With your critic judging and analyzing your every word or action, it's much harder to be yourself. Work on giving your critic less of your time, energy, and attention by shifting your focus to your body, breath or by using your 5 senses to become more present.

5. Speak more freely

Another way to be yourself is to speak more freely. Often, your critic causes you to overthink everything you say, especially when you feel nervous or insecure. When you overthink and filter every word, you might find that your mind goes blank or that your conversations feel forced and awkward.

Instead of thinking, editing, and rehearsing everything you say, practice just saying whatever is on your mind. Start with friends, family, and people you feel comfortable with, and slowly start to use this practice at work, at school, and with people you just met. This is a proven way to overcome anxiety and interact in ways that feel more natural.

6. Make up your own mind

Another way to be more of your true self is to make your own decisions. Instead of consulting with other people or polling your friends and family each time you make a purchase or a small decision, avoid seeking outside opinions. Instead, work on becoming more decisive by not asking for the opinions or advice of others.

Making decisions on your own is a great way to begin building more trust with yourself and becoming clearer about what you want and need, instead of relying on others to tell you. Because trusting yourself is an essential step to being true to yourself, making decisions on your own is an important step to being yourself.

7. Disconnect from social media

Being authentic is much harder to do on social media, where many people fall into the trap of presenting a false version of themselves. On social media, people struggling with low self-esteem or authenticity are more likely to fall into this trap. Even though it was designed to connect people, social media can make people feel more isolated and alone.

Being on social media can also lead you to make comparisons between yourself and others in ways that make you feel less than. This only adds more pressure to be better or different than you are and gives your inner critic more talking points. Limiting your social media use can make it easier to express yourself in ways that feel more real and honest.

8. Don't shapeshift to fit in

If you don't know how to be yourself around others, it might be because you aren't really being yourself and instead are trying to be more like the people you are with. People who feel insecure about fitting in sometimes become social shapeshifters, changing their interests, opinions, and behavior to mimic people around them.

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Pretending to be someone you are not will never lead to relationships that are real and authentic and will also come at the cost of being true to yourself. Spend less effort and energy watching what other people are doing and trying to mimic them. Instead, work on being more open about who you are, honest about what you like, and real about what you feel and believe.

9. Find like-minded people

Finding a group of like-minded people can make it easier to be yourself and can reduce some of the pressure you feel to pretend, act, or change yourself to fit in. People tend to feel more comfortable and relaxed around people they have things in common with and are also more likely to develop friendships with them.

You can find people with similar beliefs and interests by joining a group, meetup, or even volunteering for a cause you believe in. You could also search for like-minded people using friend apps that help to match you with people who have similar interests and hobbies. When you spend more time around people you have a lot in common with, you will automatically find it easier to be yourself.

10. Protect your agenda

When you don't have your own agenda, or when you do but don't protect it, you can easily fall into the agenda other people have for you.

For example, if you spend all of your time helping other people with their assignments, you might not have enough time to do your own work, or your quality of work might suffer. If you feel like people treat you like a doormat, this might be happening in your personal life, too.

Here are some simple ways to protect your agenda:

Don't respond 'yes' automatically when someone asks you for something

Ask to get back to people when they ask you to take something on

Consult your own schedule and see what you already have on your plate

Consider the pros and cons of taking on any new project or task

Prioritize self-care and make regular time for activities you enjoy

11. Face your fear of rejection head-on

Most people want to avoid rejection, but becoming too focused on the risk of rejection can paralyze you. The fear of rejection keeps you focused on what other people want and need from you, making it almost impossible to stay true to yourself. Being willing to accept the possibility of being rejected allows you to speak and act freely, instead of constantly censoring yourself.

You can face your fear of rejection head-on by:

Not scanning people's faces for rejection cues as you speak

Not feeling the need to copy or mimic what other people are saying/doing

Saying what you think or believe, even when you aren't sure others agree with you

Being looser and less uptight around people, even those you don't know well

Letting more of your quirks, sense of humor, or personality show

12. Gut-check your behavior

Another way to make sure you are being yourself is to take time to do a gut check. Think back to recent instances where you felt like you were being really true to yourself, and also times when you weren't. Acting in accordance with your values is a key step when learning how to be the best version of yourself.

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Figure out common themes during times when you felt more or less authentic. This can help you identify your core values and beliefs, which are a central part of your true self.

Here are some examples:

Did you feel guilty after lying to a friend about being sick to get out of plans? If so, honesty or loyalty might be one of your core values.

Did you feel good after standing up for a coworker who was accused of something they didn't do? If so, you might have a strong belief in justice or integrity.

Did you kick yourself after saying yes to a second date with someone who was really self-centered? If so, it might be because you want to trust yourself more or because humility is one of your values.

13. Detox from external validation

External validation is like a drug that many people rely on for self-worth, but like any drug, the 'high' is only temporary. Also, external validation can't provide you with a lasting, stable sense of self-worth. Instead, it traps you into a cycle of needing to look outside of yourself and not knowing how to be ok without it.

When you don't feel good about yourself, try going inside of yourself instead of turning to other people or social media for validation. Try to find a still, quiet, calm place underneath the swirling chaos of your emotions- a place where you feel 'ok'. Using mindfulness and self-compassion exercises can help you learn how to find confidence without external validation.

14. Learn to validate yourself

True self-worth comes from inside of you and is there even when no one likes your posts, replies to your texts, or hires you for the job you applied for. The only lasting form of self-worth comes from self-compassion, which is the practice of being kind and gentle to yourself. Try the tips below to tap into self-compassion and access your inner source of self-worth.

Be kind to your inner critic: Imagine yourself approaching your critic during times when it's toxic and encouraging it to 'take the day off'. This is a kind, gentle way to disengage from your critic instead of becoming angry when it shows up.

Use mindfulness: You can practice mindfulness by focusing on your breath, your 5 senses, or just trying to put your full attention to what you're doing. Mindfulness is proven to boost self-compassion, making it easier to disengage from your critic.

Write yourself a letter: Another way to boost self-compassion is to write yourself a letter, using the voice you would use with a friend or loved one. Reading it aloud to yourself after can also be a powerful way to boost self-compassion.

Choose to focus on and celebrate your strengths. Create a list of your accomplishments and review it regularly.

15. Stop comparing yourself

One of the sneaky ways your inner critic can force your true self into hiding is through comparisons. Comparing yourself can cause you to feel like you are not good enough. Shame is the feeling of not being good enough and is one of the fastest ways to send your true self into hiding.

Here are some of the toxic comparisons that may be disconnecting you from yourself:

Comparing your body, weight, or appearance (e.g., to celebrities, pictures of your friends on Instagram)

Where you thought you'd be in life at this point versus where you actually are (e.g., whether you're married, have kids, etc.)

Comparing your current self to your past self (e.g., how you've aged or changes in your health)

Why is it hard to be yourself?

Most of the time, anxiety, low self-esteem, or shame get in the way of being yourself.You might have noticed that it's harder to be yourself around people you don't know as well. This is because anxiety, insecurities, and a fear of being rejected are higher when you first meet someone. This can lead you to adopt certain defenses (what psychologists call 'safety behaviors') to lessen this risk.

Safety behaviors are ways you might change your behavior to avoid calling attention to yourself or to get people to like you or think you're cool. Unfortunately, instead of being shields that protect you from being hurt, these defenses can become walls that keep people out and prevent them from seeing the real you.

Some common safety behaviors that can make you feel untrue to yourself include:

Rehearsing or overthinking everything you say

Staying quiet or sitting in the back of the room

Using your phone to avoid social interactions

Not talking about yourself or opening up

Being silent when you disagree or have a different opinion

Being a people pleaser to get people to like you

Relying on a persona to seem liked, cool or funny

Avoiding saying or doing anything that would bring attention to you

When you overuse these safety behaviors, they can make you feel untrue to yourself. You can make an effort to stop using these behaviors by speaking more freely and not censoring or editing everything you say. You can also make an effort to speak up more, even when you don't know people very well, instead of staying quiet or trying not to stand out.

Final thoughts

You might have thought that being yourself was all about your words and actions, but a lot of the work is internal. This is because you can only show who you are when you know who you are. Being more in touch with your inner thoughts, feelings, and beliefs is the only way to be more authentic with others. When you know who you are, the next step is to let these parts of you show in your words and actions and resist the urge to hide, put on a mask, or change yourself to fit in.

Consider online therapy

Online therapy allows you to speak to a licensed therapist in the comfort of your home.

BetterHelp offers support via phone or video at $64 per week.

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Common questions about how to be yourself

How do you just be yourself?

The easiest way to be yourself is to stop trying too hard to be a different person. Even laughing at jokes you don't find funny or trying to be more outgoing can be small betrayals to yourself. Over time, these can cause you to lose touch with who you truly are.

How do I reveal my true self?

The first step to revealing your true self is to work on knowing yourself better and getting in touch with your own feelings, beliefs, and values. The next step is to let go of old safety behaviors you've used to fit in.

What does it really mean to be yourself?

Being yourself means knowing and showing your true thoughts and feelings and also staying true to your core values and beliefs. When your behavior is consistent with your inner feelings and beliefs, you will feel more authentic.

How do I get back to being myself?

If you feel lost and want to get back to being yourself, the best way to begin is to get in touch with your inner thoughts and feelings. Paying more attention to how you feel, your gut reactions, and private thoughts is a great way to start this process.

What if I don't like my true self?

It is easier to be yourself when you can love yourself and accept yourself, including all of your flaws and shortcomings. You can start this process by being less hard on yourself and by trying to talk to yourself in a kinder way.

Show references +

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Hailey Shafir is a licensed mental health counselor, licensed addiction specialist, and clinical supervisor working out of Raleigh, NC. She has a Masters in Counseling from NC State University, and has extensive professional experience in counseling, program development, and clinical supervision. Read more.

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How To Be Yourself (15 Practical Tips) | SocialSelf

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Being yourself involves both knowing and showing who you are. The first step to being yourself is to learn more about yourself and get more in touch with your feelings, beliefs, and needs. The next step is to learn how to express these in both your words and your actions.

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steps to be yourself
-Discovering Who You Are
1. Find yourself and define yourself on your terms.
2. Don't be surprised if some of your values seem to conflict.
3. Avoid fixating on the past and not letting yourself grow.
4. Never stop looking for your own strengths.
5. Relax
-Dealing with Others
1. Be honest and open.
2. Don't compare yourself to others.
3. Stop caring about how people perceive you.
4. Stop being a people-pleaser.
5. Surround yourself with positive people.
-Cultivating Your True Self
Hannes

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FEATURED ARTICLE

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Together, they cited information from 10 references. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article meets our high standards.

In other languages:

Français: être soi même, Italiano: Essere Te Stesso, Español: ser tú mismo, Português: Ser Você Mesmo(a), Nederlands: Jezelf zijn, Deutsch: Sei Du selbst, Русский: быть самим собой, 中文: , Čeština: Jak být sám sebou, Bahasa Indonesia: Menjadi Diri Sendiri, العربية: التصرّف على طبيعتك, ไทย: เป็นตัวของตัวเอง, हिन्दी: आप जो हैं वही बने रहें, Tiếng Việt: Là Chính mình, 한국어: , 日本語: , Türkçe: Nasıl Kendin Olunur

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 3,242,267 times.

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"Be yourself" is quite possibly the most commonly used phrase in the history of individualist-based advice. Be yourself. It's such a vague adage. What does it really mean, to be yourself? And is it really as easy as it sounds? With the...

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In her TEDx talk she telling us about how importend it is to be your self in her childhood everybody kept saying that you need to be your self to be succesfull and she didn't know yet what it actually means but throughout elementry school and high school she slowly started to realise what actually means. It sound pretty easy how to be your self but the truth is to be your self is one of the most diffecult things we will ever do. -KobeZ

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What Does It Mean To Be Yourself? | Carly Sotas | TEDxYouth@Granville

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Reason:

The reason why someone tells you to “just be yourself” is to reassure you that as a person you’re fine. To change something about you implies something is wrong and flawed.  Those who care for you want to preserve your self-esteem. The second reason someone tells you to “just be yourself” is that’s what most of us have heard about social skills our entire lives. Popularity creates familiarity and belief.

The Dangers of Being Yourself:
“Just be yourself” excuses you from leaving your comfort zone. It grants you permission to surf the Internet all day, not approach someone you want to talk to, or avoid that class you want to attend. Such thinking is like: “This feels uncomfortable so it’s unnatural. I better stop.”

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Follow your heart, be true to yourself, everything will work out, and just be yourself. And oh, ride your unicorn over the rainbow with butterflies and fairies floating through your hair.

The most common tip you hear to be better with women and men is "just be yourself". Jump in a forum, blog, or conversation where people discuss the secrets of making friends or attracting the opposite sex and you'll hear the unanimous piece of advice echoed like ancient wisdom. I've received many emails and comments on articles like What Women Want in Men saying, "Forget everything. Just be yourself." I manage to withhold from clicking reply and sending an angry response.

Being yourself is as useless advice as being told to "be confident". How do you just be confident? You can't just do it. Unless the word triggers what you need to do like "express your feelings" or "stand up straight", being yourself is not helpful advice.

It's time you understood this cliché and what you can do to be the best real you.

Why You're Told to Be Yourself

It is easy when we are in prosperity to give advice to the afflicted. Aeschylus, ancient Greek playwright and father of tragedy

Understand the reasons people say to be yourself and you begin breaking down the belief it's useful advice.

The majority don't know how to attract women, get a guy, or make friends. Asking the average person how to keep a conversation going is like questioning a poor man for the secrets to be rich. If you ask your well-intentioned mother how you can get that cute girl at school, she'll tell you to be yourself because she knows no better. Few have studied what makes one good with people.

The second reason someone tells you to "just be yourself" is to reassure you that as a person you're fine. To change something about you implies something is wrong and flawed. Those who care for you want to preserve your self-esteem.

Asking the average person how to keep a conversation going is like questioning a poor man for the secrets to be rich.

The third reason someone tells you to "just be yourself" is that's what most of us have heard about social skills our entire lives. Popularity creates familiarity and belief.

Mention these three weapons to counter the folly advice and you'll be told "okay, then just be patient" and "it's not meant to be if it doesn't work out". The reasons someone tells you to be yourself also explain this pathetic advice.

Talk to these people about conversational strategies, body language, or NLP and you'll see a blank look flush over their face. It's like getting a layman to explain how a bulb is switched on. Most lack understanding and consciousness of everyday systems we take for granted.

The Dangers of Being Yourself

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. Mike Murdock, televangelist.

One of the main differences between happy, successful people and their opposite is an attitude of responsibility towards creation. The common miserable man believes he's a victim of the world. "There's no point learning how to speak on stage because I'm bad at it." A belief that being yourself is the way to go creates victimization and laziness to get what you want.

"Just be yourself" excuses you from leaving your comfort zone. It grants you permission to surf the Internet all day, not approach someone you want to talk to, or avoid that class you want to attend. Such thinking is like: "This feels uncomfortable so it's unnatural. I better stop."

An unchallenged body does not know itself. Talk to someone who's been through severe adversity and you'll hear someone who knows what matters to them. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience," said Martin Luther King, Jr. "but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

An unchallenged body does not know itself.

The risk in being yourself and not leaving your comfort zone is stagnation towards achieving your goals. You get your current results in life for a reason. If you're fat, I guarantee you eat and think different to models on TV or bodybuilders. If you're lonely, I guarantee you move and think different to someone popular. If you're shy, I guarantee you talk and think different to a confident person. In this lies the problem of being yourself: you'll continue to get what you've always got and be what you've always been.

The Case for Being Yourself

You never find yourself until you face the truth. Pearl Bailey, American actress and singer

If you're fuming about what you've read, I've just undermined your belief system of what to do to be good with people. To get what you want, you have to evolve. If you keep your daily habits, your future will be the same if not worse.

Pete Sampras, Wade Gretzky, or Jack Nicklaus didn't give up after a lost match, missed shot, or lost tournament. They certainly did not think being themselves was the secret to sporting success. Each of them practiced something everyday that wasn't "them".

Your true self is not your habitual self. You do what you do now for many reasons. Influences of what you do include friends, family, culture, and general experience in the world. A woman can be a rape victim fearful of intimacy or she can be a loving wife. Experience shapes who you are but it doesn't define you. You define yourself.

"Just be yourself" has too broad of a meaning to be useful. Getting more focused, there are certain situations where it is good to be yourself depending on context and meaning.

Being yourself is good advice when its understood as not comparing yourself to others. When you compare yourself to the billionaire or the guy who gets a hot new woman every week, you'll feel worthless. You're better off doing what I call a "self-to-self comparison" where you juxtapose your present self to your past self. Your past is too different from others to compare yourself with them. Stop putting people on pedestals.

It's not about being someone you're not. Authenticity is saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

Being yourself is also good advice for authentic conversation. "When one is pretending, the entire body revolts," wrote French author Anais Nin. What you feel shows in your body language. Psychologist Paul Ekman gave the term "microexpressions" to describe how the face gives off subtle signals of one's true feelings. You can say you're fine about a friend going to a movie without you, but your narrowed lips and eyebrows close together give the person an intuitive signal you're angry.

5 Ways to Be More "You"

Tara Mohr has five simple dimensions of what she calls the "soul self" in her article " Just Be Yourself? Think Again". Give yourself a rating of 1 to 10 for each:

1. Use your strengths.

2. Do what you love.

3. Align your life and values. What matters to you?

4. Acknowledge others. Your perception of people is a projection of you. Think about this each time you judge someone.

5. Do your assignments. What do you feel called to do in the world?

Fake a smile in the mirror to sense the weirdness of being unauthentic. Begin to imagine how hiding yourself damages relationships. It just feels wrong. Most of my teenage years were spent with a mask on covering my true feelings with family because of shame. Your emotional health and relationships eventually suffer when you're not yourself.

Why then do we act "fake" in relationships? You most likely do it because you fear rejection and not being loved for who you are. It is deep stuff.If someone dislikes your mask, that's only your mask and not you.

To be what I call " the real you " entails vulnerability. The real you entails equal effort, fear, and risk. If this scares you, know that a challenge will cause evolution. The best real you is saying what you mean, meaning what you say, and doing what you can to be trustworthy, reliable, and responsible.

The path to the best you is ****en hard if you've been unauthentic most of your life. People judge and treat you a certain way based on the image they expect you to uphold. Heck, you have an image of you called a self-image that regulates what you do.

The question is: what's your self-image at the moment and what do you want it to be? As you answer and think about that question throughout the week, keep in mind what Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
The next time you hear "just be yourself", email or post the link of this article to your advice-giver.

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Just Be Yourself - Why It's Bad Advice: Being Yourself is the Problem

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Follow your heart, be true to yourself, everything will work out, and just be yourself. And oh, ride your unicorn over the rainbow with butterflies and fairies floating through your hair. The most common tip you hear to be better with women and men is "just be yourself".

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website: https://www.karmanitalia.it/en/be-yourself/
mijn samenvatting:
Be yourself, this is of course easier said than done.
In this website you will find a few people who talk about themselves and show how important they think it is to be and stay yourself.
It is difficult to be yourself with everyone, sometimes you may feel it would be better if you started out differently but try to think about what is most important to you in each place and not the others.
Choose a place where you can come back to yourself and always find yourself.

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Be Yourself, our new claim defines the identity of Karman by blending the countless different sides to the personalities expressed by our lighting collections.

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Ik ben een facebook mama/ midlife crisis vrouw

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https://newquo.blogspot.com/2020/03/about-myself-funny-quotes.html

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its an article about how to deal with anxiety and be yourself in that kind of situsation

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When you don't feel comfortable in social situations, it can be a lonely world.

Take my youngest son. Despite his intelligence, kindness, and great sense of humor, he's shy about reaching out to others. In comparison to many of his peers, he seems to spend a lot of time alone and rarely joins group activities. Now that he's about to go off to college, I worry that he may have trouble adjusting to a new community of strangers.

Having good social relationships is important to health and well-being, of course, but the best way to cultivate them isn't by pretending to be someone you're not. How do people like my son learn to overcome social anxiety while remaining true to themselves?

This is the question behind psychologist Ellen Hendriksen's new book, How to Be Yourself. Hendriksen, who is socially anxious herself, argues that even the most worried among us can get relief and make connections with others, all without having to undergo a major personality change. Her book gives a thorough-and sometimes funny-guide to overcoming social anxiety, complete with illustrative stories and the research to back her up.

Contrary to popular belief, writes Hendriksen, what socially anxious people fear most is not judgment by others in and of itself, but that the judgment is right and correctly exposes their hidden flaws or frailties-a process she calls "The Reveal."

"We think there is something wrong with us, and we avoid in order to conceal it," she writes. "In our minds, if The Reveal comes to pass, we'll be rejected, humiliated, or exposed."

These "Reveals," she writes, come in four flavors:

Worry about the physical symptoms of our anxiety, like sweaty shirts or shaking hands.

Worry that we're unattractive, or that there's something weird about our bodies or clothes.

Worry about our personalities-that we're not cool, funny, smart, adequate, or competent.

Worry that whatever we say to someone will be seen as awkward, boring, or overly emotional; or that we'll forget mid-sentence what we want to say.

This feels true for my son, who seemed to shut down socially during puberty-perhaps because of physical changes in his body and new challenges in his peer relationships. No doubt the threat of The Reveal drove him to avoid situations where he might have his worst fears confirmed. But, of course, that also had the effect of preventing him from connecting with the people he most wanted to befriend.

Instead of relying on avoidance strategies, Hendriksen suggests there are better ways to cope with social anxiety. Here are some outlined in her book.

Think differently

Often, it's our irrational thoughts that make us anxious. But sometimes those thoughts are so ingrained in us that they're practically unconscious.

To uncover your hidden self-criticisms, Hendriksen suggests filling in the blanks to this sentence: When I [fill in the situation where I feel anxious], it will become obvious that I am [what my inner critic says is wrong with me]. Naming the thought makes it easier to counteract it.

The tools of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can then help you challenge and replace negative thoughts about yourself or your situation. Many CBT tools are provided in the book, but one particularly useful tip is to imagine the worst possible outcome in a social interaction and ask yourself these questions:

How bad would that really be if it happened?

What are the odds of that happening?

How would I cope if the worst came to pass?

This gives you a reality check; no matter what you fear, it's probably exaggerated. Putting a little distance between you and your catastrophic thinking gives you a chance to reason that, even if the worst came to pass-which is unlikely-you could cope.

Practice self-compassion

Instead of beating yourself up with self-criticism, self-compassion can help soothe your psyche and address the negative emotions that come with social anxiety, according to Hendriksen.

Self-compassion consists of being mindful and accepting of your thoughts and feelings; sending yourself kind messages-such as Even though I'm scared, it's going to be OK; and embracing your common humanity by remembering that everyone is scared sometimes.

Self-compassionate people tend to have lower levels of social anxiety-perhaps because self-compassion includes mindfulness, which soothes the stress associated with anxiety. And studies suggest that self-compassion, in general, buffers people from drops in self-esteem, which could come in handy during negative social encounters.

Being self-compassionate may help you remember that social interactions are a learning process, and that practicing rather than being perfect is the goal.

Take baby steps at first

One of the difficult things about anxiety of any kind is that the more we avoid doing something that makes us anxious, the greater the fear and anxiety grow. Rather than waiting for the time to "feel right," we should start by taking baby steps and repeating them over and over until the fear goes away-a process called "in vivo desensitization," better known as "fake it 'til you make it."

As recounted in the book, Albert Ellis, the psychologist who founded Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, was extremely socially anxious around women as a teen. He gave himself the challenge of going to a park bench every day and saying "hi" to any woman stranger he saw, eventually conversing with hundreds of women until his fear subsided.

This seems daunting to me, but Ellis helped himself by setting a goal and creating a structure-something any socially anxious person can do. For example, if you're going to a party, you might commit to introducing yourself to three people or conversing with one person for one minute. Or you could volunteer for a formal role at an event, like gathering people for a photo or signing in guests. Research suggests that creating structure helps people to converse better with strangers and make a more favorable impression on others.

The key is to do rather than think about doing something scary. That's how anxiety goes down.

Stop using your exit strategies

Socially anxious people have ingenious ways of trying to avoid The Reveal in social situations. They may employ one or more "exit strategies," like avoiding eye contact, rehearsing what they're going to say, taking deep breaths to calm their nerves, or smiling a lot to cover their discomfort. So one way to decrease anxiety is to identify your own exit strategy and experiment with letting it go.

Why do this? It allows you to be more yourself with someone, which helps them to feel more comfortable in your presence.

In one experiment, researchers helped socially anxious people to identify their worst fears and their exit strategies and then assigned them to talk with a stranger (a confederate of the researchers) for five minutes. Those who received explicit instructions to let go of their safety strategies-rather than being told that their anxiety would extinguish itself with time-appeared much more comfortable and believed that their conversation partner liked them better. Interestingly, the confederates also rated them more likeable when they dropped the safety nets.

These findings suggest that being our authentic selves works better than trying to "cover" or protect ourselves. However, that will be a lot easier if we engage in the other strategies first until we gain more social ease and confidence.

In the case of my son, I wish he'd had a book like this to read and follow when he first started showing signs of anxiety. But, interestingly, he's picked up some strategies on his own. He's taken on roles in student organizations that force him to engage with others and taken small steps at inviting others to hang out. Recently, at a senior send-off event, fellow students flooded him with appreciation for his quiet strength, humor, and kindness-an experience that warmed his heart and mine-because they saw his authentic self.

It also gave wings to one of Hendriksen's key messages: "Underneath all that anxiety, you're equipped with everything you need. There's nothing you to need to fake, no image to manufacture. You are enough just as you are."

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How to Be Yourself When You Have Social Anxiety

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When you don't feel comfortable in social situations, it can be a lonely world. Take my youngest son. Despite his intelligence, kindness, and great sense of humor, he's shy about reaching out to others. In comparison to many of his peers, he seems to spend a lot of time alone and rarely joins group activities.

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it's an article that is all about how to be ourselves and some steps to be yourself.

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Our daily lives consist of absorbing unrealistic expectations from media for what we should look like, how our romantic relationships should be, and even what we should be doing between the sheets with our sexual partners. It's no wonder that our social media profiles are merely presentations of who we think we should be and not reflections of who we really are. We're just trying to fit in, be liked, and be accepted by other human beings - no one would possibly like us for who we really are, we might think. So how do we get past all this and learn how to just be ourselves?

In my new book, Outsmart Your Smartphone: Conscious Tech Habits for Finding Happiness, Balance, and Connection IRL, I talk a lot about how to be ourselves now that we live in a hyper-digital world. These days, our personal relationships are so important to us that doing anything which could threaten those relationships can feel extra scary. We might already feel lonely and disconnected - why on earth would we want to be ourselves if that might chase people away?
Take this well-being quiz if you'd like to learn more about your current level of well-being.
Revealing our true selves can feel like a huge risk now that we live in a world where everyone is presenting themselves as perfect, attractive, and happy online. What if we don't feel like we are any of these things? Will being who we really are and scare people away? Will everyone just suddenly abandon us?

Being yourself can feel risky, and it is. There may be people in your life who have fully bought into the idea that being a certain way and presenting a certain image is all that matters. If you start showing your true self, these people may indeed treat you differently, and that's a risk. But if you have to hide who you really are to be around these people, you can end up feeling lost, lonely, or even feel shame, because you are basically telling yourself that who you really are isn't OK. And other people don't ever get to know who you really are, so you don't feel as strongly connected to them either. So rather than letting fear drive our self-expression, we need to learn how to accept ourselves, so we can truly be who we are. Here's what to do:
1. Accept yourself.
Media (and social media) can make us feel unattractive. Models and actors are attractive, of course, but now even our friends on social media have photoshopped their pictures to perfection, often making us feel unattractive in comparison.

Lots of evidence shows that the more media we consume with attractive people in it, the worse we feel about ourselves. But because we don't want to give up our addiction to media - an addiction that provides us with companionship, entertainment, and so many good memories - we don't quit. It subtly tells us we're not good enough so many times that we start to believe it's true. Media wouldn't lie to us, right?

Wrong! Media sets the bar impossibly high, so no matter how hard we try to improve ourselves, we always feel like we're falling short. We don't know our worth.
2. Identify negative self-talk.
One of the ways we can better accept ourselves is to identify and challenge our negativity. We always have these inner monologues chirping away at us, interpreting the events happening all around us. For many of us, this self-talk is mostly negative. For example, we might think, "I'm ugly"or"My life sucks," when we watch TV shows or look at our social media. Or we might think, "He hates me," if a friend posts a picture of a fun time that we weren't invited to. We could stop some of this painful ruminating by simply limiting our media and social media time, but we also need to practice stopping the negative self-talk.
3. Celebrate your strengths.
In addition to negative self-talk, we can also easily slide into the habit of focusing on our weaknesses instead of celebrating our strengths. We all suck at things. In fact, we all suck at most things, and that's OK. But it can really get us down when we focus on these things instead of focusing on what we're good at.

For example, I sometimes put myself down, because I'm not great at maintaining friendships long-term. It's true. I'm an introvert. I don't like texting and often feel shy about asking people to meet in person. But if we get down on ourselves regularly for the things we're not good at, it's going to be hard to like ourselves as much as we could. So, in addition to trying to improve our weaknesses, we have to remind ourselves of what we are good at. If we think about it, each of us has many strengths, even if these strengths seem small and insignificant. By identifying them we realize, hey, our weird, one-of-a-kind self is pretty awesome after all.
4. Express yourself.
What else stops us from being ourselves? Mostly, it's our fear of what other people might think about us if we showed our true selves. For example, maybe our friends all have the same opinion about a political topic, so we decide not to share our different point of view. Maybe our friends like a particular genre of music, and so we decide not to talk about the kinds of music we like. Or maybe our friends enjoy dining at fancy restaurants, so we decide not to invite them to our house for the cozy dinner we'd really prefer. We hold back because we are afraid of the possible consequences - consequences like them thinking we're weird or ditching us.

It's human nature for us to want to show the best sides of ourselves. And holding back our opinions occasionally is a necessary part of life - in fact, it can help make our relationships a bit easier and more enjoyable. As social beings, we have all navigated the challenge of balancing self-expression with social harmony in our face-to-face interactions. But now, in the technology age, we are having to navigate this challenge in a whole new environment - on the Internet, through text, images, or video. And we have no model to follow, so we do what everybody else does. We show only a sliver of who we really are - the best sliver of ourselves.

We don't share everything about ourselves - in part, for good reason. We don't want everyone we've ever met to know every little thing about us, and that's OK. Where we get into trouble is when our self-expression becomes a performance designed to evoke some kind of response in others. The result? Few of the people in our lives know who we really are deep down, and we might even start to forget who we really are deep down.

So how do we know whether our expressions have become presentations for an audience rather than creative expressions of who we really are? Well, we might start to wonder: Who is that person we pretend to be on social media - the one with the perfect clothes, photoshopped body, with the biggest smile you've ever seen? Or we might start to notice that we post pictures online not to show to others, but to make others think something specific about us. We'll have to start paying attention to whether we are acting in order to be ourselves, or whether we are putting on a show.
5. Show your vulnerability.
Another important step to being ourselves is showing our vulnerability. Most of us, myself included, don't really want to show the parts of us that we don't like - the parts that scare us or make us feel ashamed, angry, or weak. It's not so easy to share these parts of ourselves. We worry - What if others change their opinion of us, reject us, or abandon us?

It's scary to be so openly vulnerable - it's like opening up an old wound and telling others right where to poke you. But to fully be ourselves we have to be our full selves. We can't just pick and choose the parts that we like; we can't just show the manicured, photoshopped version of ourselves. So we have to be vulnerable from time to time.

To start, we could practice being more vulnerable on social media. I've seen some great examples of this on my social media recently. For example, some people I know posted about having herpes and IBS. Another person I know posts when she's feeling sad and wants to connect. And tons of women (and some men) have now posted their personal stories about sexual harassment with the #MeToo and #WhyIDidntReport hashtags. All of these are examples of people sharing stories about themselves that aren't exactly fun to share - their emotions and their stories make them vulnerable.

If we're more comfortable, we can choose specific people or opportune moments to show our vulnerability. Whether we share our personal stories with everyone or just a few people we feel close to is up to us, the goal is to be able to be all of yourself, at least some of the time.

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Our daily lives consist of absorbing unrealistic expectations from media for what we should look like, how our romantic relationships should be, and even what we should be doing between the sheets with our sexual partners. It's no wonder that our social media profiles are merely presentations of who we think we should be and not reflections of who we really are.

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no matter how self-confident we are, there is always some concern about ourselves not being enough. So relax and stop judging yourself for not meeting others’ expectations as long as you meet yours.
Self-confidence is something you build, not something you are inherently born with. Accepting yourself and living that way is the perfect way boost to it. You will spend less time caring about what people say about you. We all make mistakes, that is true, it’s part of human nature. Being you is just about living by your standards, but a word of caution is needed: Don’t be arrogant! You are not better than anyone and nobody’s better than you, you are just different and that’s okay.

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Have you ever wondered if you are being the real you or if you are just living up to other people's expectations of yourself?

There are certain things we will always have doubts about, and no matter how self-confident we are, there is always some concern about ourselves not being enough.

In the end, you don't have anything to prove to others. No one is actually keeping a tab on how you behave and what you achieve but (maybe) you. So relax and stop judging yourself for not meeting others' expectations as long as you meet yours.

Self-confidence is something you build, not something you are inherently born with. Accepting yourself and living that way is the perfect way boost to it. You will spend less time caring about what people say about you.

This is also how you'll be able to express your uniqueness. Giving yourself freedom regarding where you want to get and how will not only attract other people to you but inspire them to be themselves. All the criticism will likely come from people who are just too afraid of being their true selves.

Even though there will always be a lot of people similar to you, there can only be one YOU.

And it is only YOU who will drive towards whatever goal you wish to accomplish.

Once you've done it, you will also become the total owner of your life. Your decision making will work out almost all the time. Since by being you, you will find your purpose in life, not just follow the path you were told to fulfill.

We all make mistakes, that is true, it's part of human nature. So when it happens, know it is okay, Don't blame yourself for doing it and do not overthink it.

Eventually, you'll grow, since you are now able to identify your true strengths and how they will help you overcome your weaknesses.

Being you is just about living by your standards, but a word of caution is needed: Don't be arrogant! You are not better than anyone and nobody's better than you, you are just different and that's okay.

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Be yourself, No matter what they say! - AIESEC | Blog

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Have you ever wondered if you are being the real you or if you are just living up to other people's expectations of yourself? There are certain things we will always have doubts about, and no matter how self-confident we are, there is always some concern about ourselves not being enough.

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This article is about 5 things why you should be happy.
This are the 5 things.
1. Live in Aligment with your values and beliefs.
2. Establish your own identity
3. build courage
4. Establish boundaries
5. find focus and direction

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Krissy Brady
A women's health & wellness writer with a short-term goal to leave women feeling a little more empowered and a little less verklempt. Read full profile

As you keep up with everything going on in your life - the responsibilities, the obligations, even the distractions - there will be times when you'll look in the mirror and struggle to recognize yourself. "Where did I go? How can I understand myself better?" you'll ask, wondering how you've ended up where you are. "How did my plans for the future end up so... screwed up?"

When you don't take the time to understand yourself and who you are, your sense of individuality weakens. You become easily influenced and pushed into a lifestyle that doesn't represent who you are. The good news is you can gradually transition into the life you want by periodically "checking in" with yourself - the better you understand yourself, the easier it will be to steer your life in the right direction.

Here are 25 questions to get you started. Each answer will shed light on your individuality and unlock your potential:

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Make sure you're really an extrovert and not an introvert in an extrovert's clothing.

2. What are the top five words that describe your personality?

Highlight your key personality traits and stay true to who you are.

3. Are you comfortable or uncomfortable in a disorganized environment?

Define the ideal work/home environments you're known to thrive in.

4. Are you comfortable with taking risks?

Decide how you feel about uncertainty and how you'll use it to create your ideal lifestyle.

5. Do you work better alone or in a busy environment?

When you know what your most productive work environment consists of, it will help you find (or create) a job that best suits your preferences.

6. What are your strengths?

Define what your strengths are and how you're going to use them to your advantage.

7. What are your weaknesses?

Acknowledge what you struggle with and how you want to improve.

8. What sets you apart from everyone else?

Know your quirks and charm your ass off with them.

9. Are you motivated by competition?

Define what your ideal competition/collaboration formula is for optimal productivity.

10. What are your favorite movies/shows/books?

Disregard what's trending and define the types of movies/shows/books you'll always enjoy. It speaks volumes of your personality.

11. What's more important to you - having a career or a family?

Even though you'll try to have both, we all teeter towards a favorite. Knowing this will help you decide which priority will receive a bigger piece of the pie.

12. Do you embrace rules or rebel against them?

This is a huge determining factor in the type of lifestyle you'll create for yourself - structured or adventurous? Remember: there are no wrong answers.

13. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Know your energy peaks and valleys for when you're setting goals.

14. What's more important to you - saving time or saving money?

This will help you as you're planning your goals - you'll know what to outsource and what to take on yourself.

15. What do you lie about and why?

There are certain aspects of ourselves we don't want anyone else to know about. Knowing why will help you to work through what makes you self-conscious.

16. Do you say yes (or no) too much?

Saying yes to everything gives you little time for what you truly want to do, while saying no to everything may cause you to miss out on amazing experiences.

17. If money didn't exist, what would you be doing with your time?

We lose sight of what's important to us when the bills come due - regain control of what you enjoy doing the most.

18. Are you patient or impatient?

Define whether or not it gets in the way of your goals and what you're going to do about it.

19. Who makes you feel energized/inspired and exhausted/depleted?

There could be select family members or friends who are holding you back. Decide how you're going to set boundaries in your relationships.

20. If your home was on fire, what are the three things you'd leave with?

Answering this question will help you let go of the concept that material items will make you feel better as a person.

21. Do you take responsibility for your mistakes?

Blaming others for where your life is will get you nowhere - if anything, it will make you feel stuck. Take responsibility, learn from them, and forgive yourself.

22. What has to happen before your "real" life starts?

You might think that when you reach a certain goal you'll feel completely different, but such is not the case - you'll simply set a new goal and wait for it to happen, and so on, and end up missing out on amazing experiences.

23. What are you avoiding?

We all have certain responsibilities we procrastinate on, but you have to face them eventually. You'll feel a lot better once you do, and you can move onto the things you actually do care about.

24. Do you easily feel guilty?

You might be feeling stuck because of your years of people-pleasing; meanwhile, the only person you should worry about disappointing is yourself.

25. What do you think you have to lose?

Clearly there's something holding you back from creating the life you want. Work with it instead of pretending it's not there.

These questions can inspire you to reflect on yourself. Check in with yourself often and you will be amazed by the true potential you actually have.

More Self-Reflective Questions

Featured photo credit: Brooke Cagle via unsplash.com

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5 Reasons Why You Should Always Be Who You Are

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Krissy Brady A women's health & wellness writer with a short-term goal to leave women feeling a little more empowered and a little less verklempt. Read full profile As you keep up with everything going on in your life - the responsibilities, the obligations, even the distractions - there will be times when you'll look in the mirror and struggle to recognize yourself.

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this is about finding yourself and how best to do it.
They help you to stop listening to others,
And you learn to look at your own strengths.
It also tells you to be honest with yourself and not to pretend to be someone else, because what does it matter what others think of you, as long as you can be yourself.
And ignore the people who have a bad influence on you or don't like you.
And treat yourself as you'd treat your own best friend.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Together, they cited information from 10 references. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article meets our high standards.

In other languages:

Français: être soi même, Italiano: Essere Te Stesso, Español: ser tú mismo, Português: Ser Você Mesmo(a), Nederlands: Jezelf zijn, Deutsch: Sei Du selbst, Русский: быть самим собой, 中文: , Čeština: Jak být sám sebou, Bahasa Indonesia: Menjadi Diri Sendiri, العربية: التصرّف على طبيعتك, ไทย: เป็นตัวของตัวเอง, हिन्दी: आप जो हैं वही बने रहें, Tiếng Việt: Là Chính mình, 한국어: , 日本語: , Türkçe: Nasıl Kendin Olunur

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 3,242,267 times.

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"Be yourself" is quite possibly the most commonly used phrase in the history of individualist-based advice. Be yourself. It's such a vague adage. What does it really mean, to be yourself? And is it really as easy as it sounds? With the...

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You can not always be the best version of yourself or you can be a lesser version of youself .
It is bot you.
The most important is that you try to be the best version of yourself .
Their is no one way of being yourself .
It is the trying that counts.
It also something you can decide or choose every day or even every hour.
It takes courage to be yourself so don't speed it up.
Anouk

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That line moved me to tears in the premiere screening of Love Punch, a British comedy with Emma Thompson at the Toronto Film Festival 2014. Just be yourself, Emma Thompson was telling her daughter as the ultimate parting advice before she drives off to college to start a new era of life.

Just Be Yourself. It sounds simple, sweet, grounding and reassuring. Right? But what does it mean to be yourself? How can you be anyone but yourself when you possess one mind, one body, and if you choose to believe (as I do), one unique beautiful soul?

Sure, you can be a lesser version of yourself or the absolute best version, and you can switch it up given different circumstances, but they are all variations of who you are and how you feel at the time.

There is no one way to be yourself. There are many ways. Your outward demeanor stems from your internal compass. So perhaps a better way to look at it is how to always be true to the best version of yourself.

Being true to (the best version of) yourself is not a one time event. It is a constant decision you make every day, or even every hour. Sometimes you make good decisions. Sometimes you learn. Sometimes you are true to yourself. Sometimes you betray your true self.

Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up, don't berate yourself, and don't forget that it takes courage to be true to who you are in a world that is in such a hurry to measure you up and judge you at every turn. But also know this: whoever you are, you have got that courage. You can agree or argue with me on that - that doesn't change the fact that deep down, you can muster the courage to be your true self if you make up your mind to do so.

6 Examples of Not Being True to Who You Are

Let's start by defining what it's like not being true to yourself. If you can relate to these, then think about other similar behaviors you exhibit that are clear signs you are not being true to yourself.

1. Laughing at something that's not funny just to be polite: We've all done it at least once, but the more you do it, the harder it becomes to be genuine, because you have to act along with all else that follows that fake laugh. There is a reason you don't naturally find something amusing about someone and being insincere is not a pretty thing.

2. Complimenting someone when you don't mean it: Don't flaunt empty praise just to be liked. The hurt you inflict when the truth comes out is far worse than any good a fake compliment could bring about. Be silent instead and hold your compliments for what you find real praise-worthy. Be true to your likes and dislikes.

3. Lying about something just to please others: Why do this? Keep silent instead. Or disagree politely. Never lie. One lie leads to another and before you know it, you are in a web of lies, and can't remember them all to keep everything straight.

4. Acting happy when you are miserable, or vice versa, among others: You are not that good an actor and sooner or later, you'll get fed up and be your (angry frustrated) self! There is a better way. How about limiting people and activities that cause you misery and surrounding yourself with only the people who make you happy?

5. Hiding your true opinion for the sake of popularity: Fitting in - it's the worse disease and it starts in high school and seems to never end. Let it go. Fit in yourself. Don't fit into some box. If you think differently, then so be it. Sometimes your opinions are popular, sometimes they are radical, other times they are conservative. Forget what's in vogue today. Be true to your own values.

6. Forcing yourself to do things you don't like, saying things you don't mean, and going places you don't care to go, in a relationship: Enough said! If you are doing that in your relationship, then, well, stop. It's time to move on. It really is that easy because staying guarantees your future misery.

Lying isn't you. Pretending is not you either. Making up nonsense and hiding your true self, none of that is you. These is not stuff that make up your identity. Your true self is made up of beautiful qualities. You can choose to shine a light on them, or hide them, but you are made of good stuff regardless.

10 Signs that You ARE Being True to Yourself

1. You feel good. Simple and pure.
2. You feel comfortable in your own skin.
3. Your inner voice goes quiet and stops badgering you.
4. You manage situations easier - no need to keep track of lies and pretenses.
5. You don't have to think hard to act a part. You innately know how to be yourself.
6. You are not trying to impress anyone.
7. You are not worried about being judged or singled out.
8. Yourmuscles relax, you breathe easy.
9. You concentrate better on the task at hand.
10. You makeconfident decisions without second guessing your every move.

May I point out the irony here?

Being true to yourself is what your heart and soul yearn for. Being true to yourself is the only way to achieve inner peace. Being true to yourself sets you free and floods you with joy and happiness.

If given the choice, you would not want to abandon your true self to be someone else - you would feel lost and confused being anyone else but yourself, no matter how wealthy, how "lucky" or how popular they may be. Of course there is no way to prove this, so would you want to bet your happiness on something you can never have? Would you want to give up your own well of joy and bliss by pining after an empty desire?

Confidence Paves the Path to Your True Self

Grab the 21-step confidence building course here in PDF form or sign up to receive it in tiny bites in your Inbox below:

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A Practical Guide to Being Yourself | Prolific Living

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That line moved me to tears in the premiere screening of Love Punch, a British comedy with Emma Thompson at the Toronto Film Festival 2014. Just be yourself, Emma Thompson was telling her daughter as the ultimate parting advice before she drives off to college to start a new era of life.

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wonder

It is about lgbtq.You have to be able to accept it and deal with it.How lgbtq works.How people deal with negative comments.And how you know if you belong.

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It has now become commonplace for major corporations to join in on LGBT events such as Pride Month, National Coming Out Day or the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Indeed, this is sometimes a source of criticism within the community as companies are perceived to be cashing in on LGBT causes.

In the United States, several hundred American corporations are part of a Human Rights Campaign business coalition which advocates in support of a bill in Congress that would provide legal protections to LGBT people.

But it is easy to forget that these demonstrations of support for LGBT customers and employees is restricted to certain countries. Corporate solidarity is rarely a privilege afforded to people living in countries where governments are hostile to the LGBT community.

This represents a large proportion of the world. According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association, 69 countries currently criminalise consensual same-sex activities. In some countries, the penalty is death. For LGBT people in these hostile countries, including those who work at multinational corporations, coming out puts their lives in danger.

But multinational corporations that have a presence in hostile countries can use their economic influence and corporate resources to advance protections for LGBT people in the same way they champion equality in western countries.

Corporate social responsibility

Given the resources corporations invest in corporate political activity, they can help advocate for LGBT rights in hostile countries as part of their social responsibility agenda.

As multinational corporations contribute to the economy in their host countries, they have access to the government officials. Access creates an opportunity for them to raise concerns regarding a country's unfriendly LGBT laws and practices.

There will be critics who argue multinational corporations should respect the laws of their host countries and avoid activities that could negatively impact their business interests.

This position needs to be challenged. Can multinational corporations really be fully engaging in social responsibility if they turn a blind eye to state-sanctioned hostilities against LGBT people, including their own employees, suppliers, and customers?

Supporting LGBT people in hostile countries

Although corporations may feel obliged to comply with local laws that criminalise same-sex activities, there are varying degrees of action that can be taken to protect LGBT people in hostile countries.

While supporting local causes may be low-risk in some countries, public support could create tensions between the business and the host government, and potentially place LGBT people in harm's way. In hostile countries, advocating behind the scenes may be a more prudent approach.

One of the approaches suggested by Coqual, a global non-profit think tank, is the "Advocate Model" by which corporations directly lobby host governments or provide symbolic support for the local LGBT community.

This can be done either as part of ongoing engagements with lawmakers or on a one-off basis where protections for LGBT people are directly raised in business meetings. For multinational corporations that choose to directly advocate, the approach may need to be measured without being heavy-handed.

Depending on the country, securing full equality for LGBT people such as recognition for same-sex marriages may not be realistic at present, but efforts to provide fundamental protections such as decriminalisation, the introduction of laws against hate crime and non-discrimination policies for LGBT people may be more attainable.

Another approach to corporate LGBT advocacy is being part of a global coalition of like-minded businesses. Open For Business, a London-based non-profit, undertakes research on the economic benefits of LGBT inclusion.

One of its recent reports found that LGBT talent takes into consideration a country's laws when selecting international assignments and business travel. Another demonstrated the negative economic impacts of hostile policies toward LGBT people in the Central and Eastern Europe.

Corporations can use evidence like this to make the business case that unfriendly LGBT laws and practices could have an impact on the talent pipeline, and by extension the local economy.

Beyond the "pink dollar"

A corporation that prides itself on being a good place to work for LGBT people and chases the "pink dollar" but takes little action to advocate against the persecution of those very people may risk justifiable criticism about its true commitment to the community.

There could also be reputational risks where multinational corporations have a significance presence in hostile countries with harsh laws while marketing themselves as LGBT-friendly businesses in western countries.

The reasons multinational corporations are doing more to advance LGBT equality at home may be tied to the growing workplace diversity and inclusion agenda, and the plentiful "pink dollar". But they also need to examine the human impact of doing nothing to protect LGBT people - which of course include their own employees, suppliers, and customers in hostile countries - despite any potential business risks.

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Companies must advocate for LGBT rights everywhere in the world, not just where it's easy

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It has now become commonplace for major corporations to join in on LGBT events such as Pride Month, National Coming Out Day or the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Indeed, this is sometimes a source of criticism within the community as companies are perceived to be cashing in on LGBT causes.

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This article starts with a short story, from an anonymous person. He/she explains that it's hard be yourself in the world of today. Especially because he/she constantly wonders what other people think of him/her. Finally, he/she is done with that way of living, and is determined to stop caring about others opinion. Then you get to see 6 tips that you can apply in your own everyday life...

1: Take a break from social media.
2: Resist the urge to constantly please others.
3: Only say things you mean.
4: Get to know yourself better.
5: Try to not overanalyze and be fully present in every moment.
6: Be kind to yourself and appreciate who you are.

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How to Be Yourself in a World That Wants to Change You

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I don’t want to be you anymore, Dad. It’s too hard. I just want to be me.” Perfect.

What’s more important in life than being yourself (and loving who you are)? Most of us live someone else’s life. We act out the lives our parents wish for us. Or we behave as our neighbors expect us to. Or the way society tells us to behave. And we dismiss happiness as a result.

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It's a serene Sunday morning as I write this entry. James Blunt's hit "You're Beautiful" plays while I enjoy a great cup of java (the good Columbian stuff). My kids are reading and I'm moving in slow motion.

Something happened a little earlier that made me laugh. Needed to share it with you. My daughter Bianca and I were playing. Role playing to be precise. She was pretending to be me and I was being her. She sat in my study and wrote in my journal, mimicking the way I speak. I, in turn, talked non-stop about dogs and PSPs (Sony's Portable Play Station) and hip CDs. After a few minutes of imitating me here's what she said: "I don't want to be you anymore, Dad. It's too hard. I just want to be me." Perfect.

What's more important in life than being yourself (and loving who you are)? Most of us live someone else's life. We act out the lives our parents wish for us. Or we behave as our neighbors expect us to. Or the way society tells us to behave. And we dismiss happiness as a result.

Fulfillment comes from living your truth. Doing your values. Pursuing your dreams. "To thine own self be true" said that British sage Shakespeare. No point in getting to the end and realizing you never let the real you come out to play. A great life grows from an authentic one. Keep shining.

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It's a serene Sunday morning as I write this entry. James Blunt's hit "You're Beautiful" plays while I enjoy a great cup of java (the good Columbian stuff). My kids are reading and I'm moving in slow motion. Something happened a little earlier that made me laugh. Needed to share it with you.

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tristan

This is a good article to know what it really means to be yourself. You mustn't be too hard on yourself. You must know what your personality traits are. Get to know yourself and how you feel.

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"Be yourself." You hear it all the time. But are we really meant to be ourselves, all of the time? What about on a first date? A job interview? When you have a meeting with an intimidating manager or client, or lunch with your in-laws?

Being yourself can get confusing-and it's not always possible. As an energetic extrovert, I love new social encounters but have to tweak my style often. I have to gauge when I can truly "be myself" versus when I need to tone it down and show a more conservative side.

On the other hand, I coach a lot of introverts on how to dial their personality up and how to decide exactly when they need to. (If you're more of a quiet type, check out the introvert's guide to owning any social situation before your next big event.)

However, there's no rule book for figuring out how much of your true self to reveal on a day-to-day basis (if only!). We only have our common sense to judge which version to present in any scenario.

Below are five tips for putting this popular yet fuzzy advice into action.

1. Get to know the many facets of your "self."

Some days you will be more upbeat than others. Some days you will feel more confident than others. Some days more subdued, and others more excitable. This is a good thing: It gives us great flexibility to amp up certain elements of ourselves when appropriate-like letting our fun-loving side out at a bar with more exuberant colleagues, then dialing it down at a dinner party with the boss.

You are a beautifully unique, complex individual with many different aspects to your personality. Allowing your full spectrum to exist matters. This is what makes the world is so interesting and colorful.

2. Accept your personality traits.

Most people know if they are introverted, extroverted, or an ambivert (which is a blend of the two). Give yourself permission to own this and know when you either need alone time, or more time with other people, to fuel your soul. No one way of being is superior to another.

Knowing who you are simply puts you in a position to make choices that complement your preferences. While an extrovert may thrive by filling up their social calendar, an introvert might benefit from prioritizing some nights in to Netflix and chill. Both are awesome!

3. Being yourself also means being appropriate and respectful.

Don't let your personality type be an excuse for not making an effort. Maturity means taking stock of the situation you are in and making others around you feel comfortable. For example, if an introvert is at an important networking event, speaking to the one person they know in the corner all evening may appear rude to the host or planner. An extrovert may piss people off by being the loudest or most outspoken person at a gathering where the focus is on someone else's birthday or engagement. If you are unsure, ask yourself, "Which is the coolest and kindest version of myself to be right now?"

4. Never be who you're not.

As mentioned in point one, everyone's personality contains a variety of aspects. However, you should never have to try to be someone you're not or go against your personal values or authentic self.

So you don't want to smoke, go skiing, or hit up a nightclub this weekend? Then don't. You don't have to do something just because that's what your friends are doing. People respect those who are authentic to who they are. And you should appreciate yourself for making your desires the priority that they deserve to be.

5. Give yourself a break!

Life is a journey of becoming the highest version of who you are, and no one gets it right every time. We all have bratty moments. We all have generous moments. We all go through ups and downs and experience scary new encounters.

But you can always come back to who you are, because your true essence never wavers. In moments of fear or uncertainty, give yourself a gentle nudge and say, "I'm enough no matter what. So which 'myself' is the most suitable and loving to be right now?"

And rock being that.
Susie Moore is Greatist's life coach columnist and a confidence coach in New York City. Sign up for her free weekly wellness tips on her website and check back every Tuesday for her latest column!

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Here's Why You Don't Always Need to "Be Yourself"

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"Be yourself." You hear it all the time. But are we really meant to be ourselves, all of the time? What about on a first date? A job interview? When you have a meeting with an intimidating manager or client, or lunch with your in-laws? Being yourself can get confusing-and it's not always possible.

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This article talks about tips to be yourself. The first thing they mention is that you don't always need to be perfect, it's okay to "just" be the best at being yourself. They also say it is important to focus on the values of your life. You also need to stay authentic and you need to know when you aren't. Knowing your goals is also very important, you need to know why you are doing something to progres. The last thing they talk about is how to know what your defining characteristics are and what to do about it.

Lars Vanrobays

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Authenticity is underrated. It's more than being honest with the world. It's about being honest with yourself. There are many advantages to being authentic. Most importantly, you'll no longer feel the need to change your words and actions to impress others. You can relax and be yourself.

Before you can be authentic, it's important to know yourself. This includes your values and goals. Authenticity becomes possible when you know what's important to you.

Embrace authenticity and present yourself honestly.

1. Give up the need to appear perfect.

Excellent is good enough. But seriously, when you don't need to appear perfect, you're in the position to be honest. No one can be perfect and honest at the same time. Avoid putting on a show for the rest of the world. You'll only feel bad about yourself later.

It's okay to be less than spectacular. Be the best at being yourself.

2. Know your values and live by them.

If you know your values and live by them consistently, you're already doing well in the authentic department.

Make a list of your values and determine the five that are most important to you. Are you living your life according to these values? Would it be obvious to others that you hold these values?

Decide to make your decisions based upon your values. Be willing to share your values with others.

3. Notice when you're not being authentic.

It's not easy to be authentic all the time. You might find yourself transforming based on the situation. A first date is a good example. Are you being authentic or pretending to be someone you're not?

Take note of those times your authenticity starts to wane

4. Know your goals.

What do you want out of life? Do you know? Are you willing to let others know? By knowing your goals, you can you live your life accordingly.

Make a list of your short-term and long-term goals. How well do they align with your values?

5. What are your defining characteristics?

Describe yourself honestly. Now ask yourself if a casual acquaintance would describe you the same way? How about someone that knows you well? How about your closest friend?

How many people know you well? If there aren't many, ask yourself why. If you're living authentically, it should be easy for someone to develop an accurate opinion of you.

What are your "negative" characteristics? Are you impatient or messy? Are you willing to allow others to see these characteristics or do you attempt to hide them?

Tell the truth. If you're being authentic, why would you need to lie?

This pertains especially to anything you say about yourself. Admit your mistakes, weaknesses, and frailties. Share your opinions honestly and freely.

Simplify your life. Get rid of everything that's extraneous. What you choose to keep will be representative of your preferences and your true self. Find your true essence by stripping away the non-essential. Start with the clothes you never wear, the things you never use, and the activities you don't enjoy. Only keep the things that mean the most to you.

Do what you say you'll do. Keep your word and follow through on your promises. You'll feel more congruent, and others will view you as more congruent. When your words and actions match, you're demonstrating authenticity.

Beyond the blog

Life becomes easier when you're living authentically. You'll no longer feel the exhaustion that comes with constantly changing your opinions, attitudes, and personality to please others. You'll no longer feel the need to protect yourself from others. Be authentic with your thoughts, words, and actions. Invest the time in yourself and learn to be free.

If you're considering working with a coach to help you live and work in alignment with what makes your heart sing - book a free self-discovery call with me today.

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Five Ways to Set Yourself Free by Being Yourself - Small and Mighty Co.

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Authenticity is underrated. It's more than being honest with the world. It's about being honest with yourself. There are many advantages to being authentic. Most importantly, you'll no longer feel the need to change your words and actions to impress others. You can relax and be yourself.

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This article tells you 10 ways to be yourself and live happily. It tells you to not always try to please others but do things for yourself every now and then. The article says to learn more about yourself and appreciate who you are. Don't think about how other people view you. The most important things are to forgive yourself if you make a mistake and be confident in who you are.

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10 Ways To Always Be Yourself And Live Happily - LifeHack

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As you were probably told when you were in elementary school, “Just be yourself.” You can be a much happier person once you figure out who you truly are and you learn how to be yourself.

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link: https://blog.jostle.me/blog/why-you-should-be-yourself-at-work
We need more people who aren’t afraid to be themselves.
I’m not suggesting that you wear your bikini to work or that you arrive at work straight from last night’s party because that “defines who you are”.
While being your true self at work might seem daunting, the benefits are clear.
It’s hard work being someone else.
It builds trust and relationships.
It improves teamwork.
It boosts your overall experience at work.

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While being your true self at work might seem daunting, the benefits are clear. Being yourself at work creates a more authentic workplace for you and your team. And employers should support that.

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Brief summary: She tells us that it is important to be yourself. You can't copy someone else's life. She also says that sometimes it is hard to admit that you are not happy. It is easier to pretend that you are happy. Ever since we were little we have been told that we are not enough.
Link: https://welldoing.org/article/importance-being-yourself
Nerys

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It can be difficult to be yourself; we fear we won’t be accepted for who we are. Emma Azzopardi offers ways you can embrace authenticity

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This is the message of Disney films and Trashy novels. It is good advice but comes with a lot of problems. It isn't that simple to be yourself. If you are to special that isn't good. For job interviews it is best to fit in.

Norah

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You're going for a job interview, nervously anticipating a first date or meeting someone you want to impress. You go to a friend to ask for guidance. There's a fair chance you'll get the advice: "Just be yourself."

It's the message of many a Disney film, trashy novel or TV advert - follow your heart, be true to yourself. This piece of popular wisdom is pervasive, influential and deeply embedded in our psyches. There may be a grain of truth in it. But within it lurk deep problems.

Of course all this is relatively recent. In the ancient world people believed that they fitted into a large cosmic order, held together by God, or some kind of universal moral law.(Religions such as Christianity, Judaism or

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Why 'being yourself' is not such a good idea after all

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You're going for a job interview, nervously anticipating a first date or meeting someone you want to impress. You go to a friend to ask for guidance. There's a fair chance you'll get the advice: "Just be yourself." It's the message of many a Disney film, trashy novel or TV advert - follow your heart, be true to yourself.

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He sometimes doesn't do things with his friend because he doesn't like to do it. He says he maybe would  do it if he was younger. So he says he wouldn't do himself right if he did go with his friend. He struggled his whole life to be himself. He tried to not be himself but then he wasn't happy. After four and a half years he can be himself.

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He sometimes doesn't do things with his friend because he doesn't like to do it. He says he maybe would  do it if he was younger. So he says he wouldn't do himself right if he did go with his friend. He struggled his whole life to be himself. He tried to not be himself but then he wasn't happy. After four and a half years he can be himself.

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-lowie
link: https://medium.com/@jeffthewriter/the-importance-of-being-yourself-8aad9ccda2f8

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Photo by Marco Secchi on Unsplash

I have a friend who wants to go out to the clubs and pesters me often about going with him. He's at a place in his life where those things are attractive to him since he recently got divorced. But that isn't me. It's not who I am.

If I was 20 years younger, then I might go. But I don't like to do those things now, so I say no every time. I have no problem going for a beer occasionally, hanging out together...

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I have a friend who wants to go out to the clubs and pesters me often about going with him. He's at a place in his life where those things are attractive to him since he recently got divorced. But...