'Be Happy' Post Series | Be Yourself!

Hello, lovely ladies!

Hope you’re all well! I feel like I haven’t had a ‘proper’ post up in absolutely ages! As you guys know, I got back from my holiday last Thursday, so between catching up with things and going to work, I just haven’t had the time to write lots of new posts! Boo!

Anyway, today I’m going to be sharing my second post of my ‘Be Happy’ post series! In case any of you guys missed my first post in the series, ‘Confidence is Key’, you can check it out  here! This week’s post is all about being yourself!

‘Be yourself’ is a phrase that we hear being thrown around all the time. Whether we’re going for a job interview or to our first day of school, one of the most common pieces of advice that we’re given is to always be ourselves. But what does ‘be yourself’ really mean? And why does it have such a big part to play in our happiness?

Admit it – at some point in our lives, we’ve all pretended to be someone that we’re not. I certainly used to do this a lot, particularly during my early teenage years. The majority of us will have gone through the stage of trying to ‘fit in’ at some point in our lives. In high school, a lot of us want nothing more than to fit in with the ‘popular’ crowd of people – I know that I did. I’d always get super nervous when it came to meeting new people or making new friends because I was so worried that people wouldn’t like me or accept me for who I really was. As a result, I’d act like a completely different person, just to get these ‘popular’ people to like me, or think that I was ‘one of them’.

It took me a good few years, but I eventually realised that being ‘popular’ didn’t make these people any happier. I had tried so hard to change who I was just to fit in with these people, and for what? It certainly hadn’t made me any happier – trust me, keeping up the constant façade of being someone else made me nothing but miserable, and, more importantly, it hadn’t made me any real friends. Yes, I had this group of people that I hung around with, but at the end of the day, I had no one who I could really turn to when I needed help, or who I could just relax with after a long week.

So, how did I eventually learn to let go and just be myself? And, more importantly, how can you really learn to be yourself and be happy? Well, my first piece of advice would be to stop caring about how other people perceive you. How can you possibly be yourself and be truly happy when you’re so caught up in worrying about what other people think of you?! Lots of people are going to like you, but at the end of the day, some people aren’t. Those are the people who aren’t worth worrying and bothering about! The only people in your life who matter are the people who you can totally be yourself around – the people who’ll never judge you, no matter how weird or crazy you act when you’re around them! Stop focusing on negative thoughts such as ‘am I pretty enough?’, or ‘am I smart enough’. Stop trying to please other people, and start focusing on developing your talents and strengths! Maybe you want to join a certain club or even start a blog, but you’re worried about what other people will think? Who cares about them?! Forget about what other people think – push yourself to do the things that make you happy, and be confident about doing them!

Next up – take the time to think about what you value about yourself, and consider what really makes you, well, you! You can’t really begin to be yourself unless you know and accept yourself first! Whilst doing this, try not to dwell too much on the past. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with reliving your favourite memories and moments from your past, but don’t allow yourself to be defined by a particular memory or moment in time – I completely understand that for a lot of people, this is far easier said than done, but by overly fixating on the past, you’ll spend your time trying to still be that person from the past, rather than focusing on growing and becoming the person that you want to be! Learn to forgive yourself for your past mistakes, and learn to accept the choices that you’ve made in life – okay, so maybe we aren’t proud of some of the things that we’ve done, but that’s exactly what they are: done. You had your reasons for making these decisions at the time, so instead of burdening yourself with your past mistakes, treat them as a lesson learned - allow yourself to move on and be happy!

Another important factor in learning to be yourself is to stop comparing yourself to others! If you’re constantly focused on trying to be someone that you’re not, you’ll never be a happy person – simple, but true! Comparing yourself to others will only make you want things that you think you don’t have. So what if that other girl has ‘perfect’ hair or a ‘perfect’ figure? By comparing yourself to someone else, you’re giving their appearance far too much power - why do you care so much about what they look like? You’re beautiful, just the way you are! Idolising another person is completely normal, but instead of aspiring to look like someone else, concentrate on following your own style and expressing your individuality! Dress to fit your sense of style, listen to the music that you enjoy – don’t just go with the flow, do what makes you happy!

Oh, one last point to remember – it’s never too late to start again.  Maybe you’re unhappy with where the decisions that you made in your past have lead you to today, or maybe something in your life is preventing you from becoming the person that you really want to be and expressing who you really are – it’s not too late to make a change! Whether you want to go back to uni or get a new job, fall in love or travel the world, write a book or just change your hair colour – don’t be afraid to make changes in your life and do what you want to do, don’t let anything hold you back from happiness!

So, there you have it! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed this post and that some of you are able to take some inspiration from it – I’d love it if you guys could give me some feedback and let me know what you’ve thought of this post series so far! Thanks for reading!

See you all next time!

Much love,