This is a series about authenticity, validation, self-belief and personal power. Having already mentioned being your own best friend, values, standards and boundaries, I now want to talk about living an authentic life.

What does authenticity mean?

Have you heard of the term authenticity? To confirm that an object is a genuine article, we might be given a certificate of authenticity for it. Artworks and other valuable items can be examined by an expert to see if they are authentic. In Australia, we have a funny slang word for authenticity – we say that something, or someone, is “dinky-di.”

But what does it mean to be an authentic person? Hopefully, we’re all real human beings, and we don’t need an expert to confirm that. But I’m talking about something more complex than that.

An authentic person is someone who is living an authentic life – and that means their life is filled with authenticity.

What is an authentic person?

To put it simply, an authentic person lives their life in alignment with their core values – and that means they are living their truth.

Because of this, various wonderful things have become their reality. They accept themselves for who they really are, and understand their own heart and motivations. They don’t appear to be fake, and they are living their own version of who should they should be.

Authentic people are not trying to copy anybody else. They’re not trying to live someone else’s version of who they should be, conforming to someone else’s plan for their life. They don’t live in someone else’s shadow, and fully participate in everything that has to do with their own life.

They do not allow themselves to be a victim, and won’t allow other people to treat them in a way that is inconsistent with their own values. They have healthy boundaries and will not tolerate anyone in their life who tries to treat them badly.

They also think about and deeply respect their own opinions and feelings. They don’t focus on what other people think of them – but on what they think of themselves. They don’t do things just to please other people, or because it’s what other people want them to do. They make their own choices in life.

In other words, they know themselves and live a life that is true to that.

How to Become Authentic

To become an authentic person, you need to think about your own values, the ones that truly resonate with your heart and mind. Those values must be used as the guiding light to lead your life, so that you are living in alignment with them.

You also need to have standards and boundaries for other people in your life. An authentic person will not let other people treat them in a way that is not in compliance with their values. If you’ve been allowing that to happen for a long time, it will take quite an effort to turn that around. But you can’t continue to let yourself be treated badly.

To be an authentic person, you need to understand and value your own feelings and opinions. While you listen to and take note of other people’s opinions, you need to primarily rely on your own judgement about things. When you do that, you stop worrying about what other people think of you. If someone is critical, you never hand your power away by reacting. Instead, you ask yourself if you agree with them – and often, you will not.

An important part of being authentic is to take an active involvement in all aspects of your life, rather than relying on other people to take care of certain aspects. That means being 100% involved in your own career, finances, family life and friendships. It also means taking responsibility for your own wellbeing. In other words, it means being a full-grown, mature adult.

Think about the masks you wear, and if you’ve been following or copying others instead of taking a leading hand with your own life. Are you sitting in the driver’s seat – or have you been in the back seat?

Have you thought about authenticity? I’d love to hear about it.

Here are my previous articles in this series:

Validate Yourself – and Transform Your Life

Become Your Own Best Friend

Don’t Give Your Power Away

Your Values and Living Your Truth

Having Boundaries – for healthy relationships

#mentalwellbeing #selflove #authenticity #values

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Thank you for stopping by. My name is Toni Pike, a multi-genre author who loves writing thrillers for adults, non-fiction, and hilarious books for children.

I’m the author of DESOLATION BLUFF, DEAD DRY HEART and The Jotham Fletcher Mystery Thriller Series: THE MAGUS COVENANT, THE ROCK OF MAGUS, THE MAGUS EPIPHANY and HOLY SPEAR OF MAGUS. My latest release is for children aged 6-9: BRODY CODY AND THE STEPMOTHER FROM OUTER SPACE.

I’m also the author of two non-fiction books. THE ONE WAY DIET is a no-nonsense guide to losing weight and HAPPY TRAVELS 101 is a short book of travel tips.

All my books can be found HERE.

You can find me online here:

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