Ever catch yourself spending hours looking through your social media feed? You look at all those amazingly beautiful man and woman, envious of all the places they travel, the body they parade on the beach, the perfectly styled home they live in, the lavish lifestyle they portrait.
And as you scroll down, you glimpse over a picture of a close friend and you laugh a little because you realize that doesn’t even look like her. It’s a filtered, enhanced and sculpted picture of her and you wonder why she bothered doing that, since she is such a naturally beautiful person.
But you shrug it off and keep scrolling down, not taking the time to realize that most of what you see on your feed is also filtered, enhanced and sculpted to look and feel a certain way. A way that will make you envious of the life you think they have, as you frown at the life that you do have.
And as you search for meaning in your own life, as you are figuring out who you are and what you are meant to accomplish in this lifetime, you think that maybe, maybe, by emulating those you see on social media, you will also have their life.
At that moment, you have given up on your own path, to follow someone else’s path.
And no great achievement comes from following someone else’s path. Simply because it is not your path.
Your path is designed for you and by you. It calls upon all of your talents, characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. It is tailored made for you so you can accomplish what you are meant to, in this lifetime.
Following your path is what makes you authentic. It’s what makes you unique.
By following someone else’s path, you are cheating yourself out of your own greatness. You are allowing yourself to become a cheap version of you.
And you didn’t come into this world to be a cheap version of you. You came into this world to be a fantastic version of you.
So how do you avoid being a cheap know-off?
You play your own strengths! That’s it, as easy as that.
Ok, maybe not really as easy as that but definitely as simple as that.
The first step to being you is to identify what your strengths are.
Take out a pen and a piece of paper and write down everything you think you are good at.
Then list everything you enjoy doing. What are you passionate about? What motivates you? What sends shivers up and down your spine and makes you smile?
If you find yourself short of inspiration, find a quiet corner and sit in silent meditation. Allow the answers to come to you.
Or go for a silent walk in nature and allow yourself to not think about anything.
Then get back to your pen and paper and get writing again. Write from instinct, not from reflected logic. Write what comes to mind first without allowing your mind to process it.
Then step away from the pen and paper and go do something else. Anything else.
Go for another walk, do laundry, prep dinner, call a friends, watch Netflix. Anything.
Then after an hour or so has passed, go back to your paper and read what you wrote.
Don’t judge yourself. Simple read the words you wrote down and see if you can find some similarities in what you wrote. If you can see yourself in what you wrote.
That is the first step to being authentic. That is the first step in learning to be you. It’s to get to know you.
Once you know who you are, you can start following your own path and build your own destiny, without being envious of others or wishing you had their life or worst, trying to recreate what you think their life is like.
Now don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy scrolling down my social media feed.
I too love to see fit bodies, beautiful destinations and gorgeously decorated homes, but my attitude towards it comes from a place of authenticity to myself.
I don’t say: I wish I had her body. I say, wow, she must have worked hard for her body, let me DM her and see if she offers workout programs.
I don’t say: I wish my life allowed me to travel like her. I say, that looks like a beautiful destination that my family and I would definitely enjoy. I’ll write it down somewhere and look into it.
I don’t say: I want to live in her house. I say, she did a phenomenal job at decorating her house. I wonder if some of her bathroom ideas would work in mine.
I appreciate the beauty of what I see from my own authentic space and if I see something I want to implement for myself, I tailor it to me, or to my family…
The difference is in the mind frame.
The drawback to wanting to step into someone else’s shoes is that you’ll never reach the success or happiness you are after.
Not because you are less deserving then they are. Not because you are not as good/pretty/smart… as they are. But because their life was not meant to be yours. It’s meant to be theirs. You have your own life to be deserving of.
The Universe will back you up when you call on your own talents and strengths. When you create your own path and follow your own destiny.
The success and happiness that you deserve will manifest itself into your life when you are authentic because the Universe loves you. It cannot love who you pretend to be. It can only love who you are.
And once you discover and align yourself with who you are, the Universe will push you towards the life you are meant to live.
So go grab that pen and paper and start writing. Start discovering your true authentic self.
Love,
Eloise
P.S.
EN 
FR