Freedom to be Yourself

Last weekend was the 4^th of July, where here in the USA, it’s a time to celebrate our freedom. But for many people, they feel most captive, within. They don’t feel they have the freedom to be themselves. So instead of boldly owning who they are and proudly sharing their creative expression of self, they pretend to be someone they are not. Or they hide in the shadows – never bringing their gifts and talents to light. (Maybe you can relate.)

Think about this for a minute… How free are you to be yourself, your true self? In everything you do and all your interactions with others, are you expressing yourself freely? If not, why?

It’s easy to blame others for your lack of freedom and I get it, societal norms can be a real bitch to break free from! But perhaps you hold yourself back more than anyone. Maybe it’s because you don’t believe you are enough or you don’t even like who you are, so you believe others won’t like or accept you either. Maybe you are self-critical and fear the same harsh judgement from others. Or could it be that you just haven’t found the courage to share yourself. After all, it takes courage to be vulnerable and risk putting your true self out there. So instead, you put on a facade, dim your light and hold yourself back.

What needs to change so you can feel free to be yourself everywhere you go and in all that you do? What needs to change so you can express yourself fully and share your gifts freely with the world? You never know who might need you to do exactly that!

I’m here to tell you that it’s time to start being brave. To be courageous. To believe in yourself, own who you are and trust that who you are is enough. It’s time to stop hiding and holding back. Instead it’s time to start sharing your gifts with the world. You don’t have to be a prisoner of fear or judgement. You just have to free yourself. – And self-acceptance for where you are right now – is where it starts. From there, you can always grow.

Let’s take those character traits we’ve been talking about the last few weeks as an example… The truth is, we don’t always show up as our best self, even though we’d like to, we all have bad days. However, for most people, who we are at the core – our character, is good. But if you don’t have character traits you love, and you know you want to change a few, it doesn’t mean you’re no good or not good enough. It just means it’s your time to reflect on what you want to change, have self-acceptance for where you are now and then challenging yourself to grow into the traits you wish to have.

This might be the one time that pretending to be something you don’t believe you are, say confident or brave, (aka “fake it till you make it”) isn’t always bad. It’s actually one way to push yourself forward into creating a desired change. (We’ll talk more about that next week.) But be cautious because it can be a fine line between crossing over into who you want to be and losing yourself in something that you are not. Just know that if you’re denying your own self-expression to shine through it’s time you give yourself the freedom to be you.

Check yourself and challenge yourself this week… it’s time to stop giving away your freedom. Your own limiting beliefs are the main reason you have not given yourself the freedom of self-expression. Believe in who you are, own who you are and be proud of who you are. Then empower yourself to keep growing so that you can be the best true you that you can possibly be.

***Wondering how to have the courage to be you and believe in yourself? Let’s Kickstart Your Freedom to Be You – For a limited time, get registered for a KickStart Session at a special discounted price. Just enter the coupon code: FREEDOM.

***Join me for more on this subject during my Wednesday Wisdom, Facebook Live at 2:00pm Mountain (1:00pm PT, 3:00pm CT, 4:00pm ET) on my Facebook Biz Page:  Coach Michelle Weimer

***I want to hear from you… Share your thoughts about this week’s topic below!