1. Living your truth is not always popular
The first thing you should know is that it’s not always popular to go against the grain.
People may not always accept it which puts you in the position where you have to choose between living your own life and pleasing the people around you.
It’s extremely selfish behavior that people would rather have you live according to what makes them feel better, as opposed to living a life on your own terms.
However, we can always face it with understanding and compassion.
Doing something new, something that goes against ‘the norm’ or ‘the comfy known’ is scary. It’s scary for you AND the people who care for you.
I think it’s best to recognize that it’s not necessarily the case that people want you to live an unhappy life. Instead, it’s more that they want you to be safe, not hurt, and close by to care for. It’s something that comes from good intentions but it’s fear-based thinking.
And we all know that fear-based thinking gets you nowhere good in life.
If you want to follow your own path, you should be prepared for some of this. I think it helps to kind of just nod, smile, then keep doing your own thing.
At the end of the day, you have to let others deal with their own issues and focus your energy on your own actions.
2. Living your truth is hard work
Just because it is your calling, your goal, or something that fulfills you doesn’t mean it will come easy.
No matter what it means in your specific situation to live your truth, it’s going to take work and sacrifice.
Want to get your debt under control and be better with money? That’ll take work.
Want to get in shape, eat healthier, and build discipline? That’ll take work.
Want to start a creative project or side hustle? That’ll take work.
Sometimes you only see the end result – the body transformation pictures, the marathon finish line pictures, or the laptop by the pool pictures on Instagram. But you can guarantee that a lot of work was involved in getting to those moments.
If I had a dollar for every time I have received a snarky comment for being a blogger and how nice it must be to be a ‘lady of leisure’ I’d be able to kick back and probably afford avocado toast.
I have done the study life, the corporate life, and now the freelance/creative entrepreneur life and I can tell you, it’s all hard work.
The thing is, it’s a different kind of stress when you’re working towards goals that are fulfilling.
Don’t shy away from hard work because taking the easy road doesn’t lead you to a fulfilling life. Face the hard work, the uncomfortable feelings, the challenges, and you will be glad you did.
3. It can be isolating
Honestly, carving your own path can be isolating.
I think it depends on what you are doing though. For example, perhaps taking up the hobbies you’ve always wanted to might not be as isolating as a complete lifestyle change. If it is a bigger change, it can be the case that people drift away, or worse, turn on you for making changes.
Usually, it has little or nothing to do with you.
We look at others as a mirror to judge ourselves. When people see you being bold, being brave, achieving goals, and living your own life, it can trigger unpleasant emotions in them as they reflect on their own life choices.
Sometimes this causes them to turn on you, belittle your effort or achievements, ignore you, shame you, scare you into going back, or other equally unsupportive things.
It can be a lonely experience to follow your own path.
Honestly, people are dealing with their own fears, insecurities, and issues, so I think it’s a good time to step back from people who do this kind of stuff.
Focus on yourself, and people who bring positivity into your life.
Another way it can feel isolating is that you can find you no longer have as much in common with the people around you. For example, perhaps your friend circle had previously spent weekends partying, eating junk food, and watching reality TV.
If you want to make healthier changes in your life, it can be isolating because you won’t be able to socialize with the group in the same way.
If you find yourself drifting away or feeling isolated, it’s important to find other like-minded people so that you have a community connect with. You shouldn’t cut the original friends out of your life, providing they’re not trying to sabotage you of course.
But, it’s important to have some people in your life who understand your goals and can be a positive support network.
4. You have to constantly check yourself
When you step away from what is ‘normal’ and accepted, you are also challenging your own thought patterns and beliefs.
A lot of times there can be fear or hesitation before trying something new or different.
This is when you need to check in with yourself to figure out where that fear is coming from, what you want to achieve, and if these hesitations are just your own limiting beliefs trying to hold you back.
Following your own path will expose you to new patterns and ideas. You will need to constantly challenge any preconceived notions of what think as well and be open to new ideas.
There’s no blueprint to follow when you step away and live your own truth because you are the creator.
This means you have to always be overwriting any previous ideas that might have been passed down to you, but you don’t necessarily want to live by.
You have to challenge your thoughts and constantly question what you think, what is right for you, what you like, what you don’t, what to adopt, and what to let go.
Living your truth means expanding your mind. It means developing super strong self-awareness and checking yourself on the bullshit thoughts that sometimes get in the way.
Is living your truth worth it?
Is there a dark side to living a life on your terms? Yes. But does that mean you shouldn’t do it? Absolutely not. The dark side is no darker than the dark side of living a life for other people.
There will always be pros and cons to everything, that’s just a reality. But the pros far outweigh the cons.
I think it’s good to remember that you only have one life to live, and kind of owe it to yourself to create the life that fulfills you.
Text from “The Katie Show Blog”
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