In today’s world, it’s not always easy to be true to yourself. Most of us need a little help remembering.

That’s why I often repeat the following affirmation.

“Today, I will discover my journey and remain true to myself.”

I really love this affirmation because discovering my journey and being true to myself are two things that have taken a long time for me to truly understand.

I’ve done a lot of things over the course of my 51 years. In my working years, I’ve worked as an accountant and a bookkeeper. I’ve worked in medical sales and other versions of sales. I ran a horse farm where I taught horseback riding lessons. I ran a summer camp, and I also went back to school to be a teacher.

It wasn’t until my mid to late forties that I really came to understand what my real love and passion are.

I love storytelling.

When I finally discovered that storytelling is what I loved to do, the next question was, “Well, how do I make a career out of that?”

But if you believe in yourself and believe in what you are doing, you can make anything happen. And that’s how you can be true to yourself.

For me, it was about really looking at myself and asking what it is that I want to be doing in life.

It was about not looking at what anyone else was doing but looking inside myself and discovering what it was that made me happy.

What I realized is that the thing that makes me truly happy is being able to share my story. The idea of impacting just one person to change the way they see themselves and to reshape the way they see the world is exciting for me. It makes everything I’m doing worth it.

I continue to be true to who I am by making the necessary changes to more fully embrace new opportunities to share my story and to learn the stories of others.

Change doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes time to look at our lives, find our purpose, and identify the things we are passionate about without compromising who we are.

It’s also challenging to look at your life and make the necessary changes that will bring you greater happiness. But in order to be true to yourself and your life’s journey, it’s important that you make those changes, however hard they may be.  

Remember that everything is a process, and change doesn’t happen instantaneously.

Change isn’t easy. But I have learned from my own experience that when we are willing to align what we do with who we are, happiness just comes naturally.

To be true to yourself, let go of others’ expectations.

For many of us, the motivation behind the things we do in life comes from what other people have expected of us.

Other people tell us what they think we should be doing based on what they know of us. And before you know it, we end up unhappy because we’ve allowed others to choose for us. And in the end, we lose who we truly are.

Instead of being true to ourselves, we’ve become someone else’s version of who we are.

By not asking ourselves what we want and what we need, we lose the most important part of ourselves.

When I look back at my life, my greatest struggles came from not believing in myself and never recognizing that just by being me, I could make a difference in the world.

We all just need to be ourselves—that’s where real happiness is found.

Be true to yourself by living your passions.

Over the years, I have come to understand that the reason I didn’t feel like I was making a difference is because I didn’t feel passionate about what I was doing.

Yes, I felt passionate about my family and raising my children. But there was always a piece missing for me in my work life.

I always felt like I needed to be doing more—to be achieving more. I never felt like I was doing enough.

But what I’ve come to realize is that this feeling came because the work I was doing was never something I was truly passionate about. I was just me doing a job to do a job.

And honestly, I think a lot of us do this exact thing.

We go through life focusing on paying the bills and doing work that other people told us we would be good at. Instead of asking ourselves if it’s a job we actually want to be doing in the first place.

I am very fortunate that at 51 years old, I’m doing something that I’m very passionate about. I love sharing stories, and I love hearing other people’s stories.

And by understanding what I’m really passionate about, I have changed my world.

It’s surprising how drastically our world can change with something as simple as a new perspective.

Be true to you by changing how you see yourself.

I love to tell people that we don’t have to change who we are—we just need to change the way we see ourselves.

By changing the way we see ourselves, we can begin to understand all the things we are capable of accomplishing.

When we change the way we see ourselves, the world around us really does change.

And when we find that confidence to move forward with what we’re passionate about, we’re able to actually see the difference we are making in the world.

We’re also more willing to reach out to help others, to set goals, and to actually put the work in to accomplish those goals.

For many years, I would set goals, but I didn’t believe in them. And because I didn’t believe in them, I wasn’t willing to put in the work to actually accomplish them.

Now that I know what I want in life and what I’m passionate about, I’m willing to put in the work to make my goals happen.

Where are you in your own journey?

Make the time to really look at your life and determine where you are at in your own journey.

Really ask yourself what it is that you want. Figure out what you’re passionate about.

Be authentic with yourself and really try to understand who you are and what makes you happy.

You are a compilation of every choice that you make. And every choice that you make makes a difference in the world—especially when that world is your own.

If you struggle to know what your passions are, take a look at what you are already doing.

I honestly never imagined that by sharing the story of my family I would impact the lives of others.

I was moving through my life, not realizing that I had a story to share.

But by taking a chance and telling my story, I was able to impact others in a positive way.

Simply by realizing my own story and sharing it with others, it completely changed my life.

And knowing that I am making a difference just by being me has brought me the greatest happiness of all.

My plea to everyone reading this is that you will discover your own journey and learn to be true to you.

That’s where your own happiness can be found.