How to Be Yourself and Cultivate a Positive Self-Image

Be yourself. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve heard this phrase in the movies, songs and books I’ve encountered. And I have to admit I never really understood what it meant all this time. Until recently.
There’s more to this phrase than what you think. Sure, you know yourself better than any other person. You know what you like and dislike, you understand your feelings, and you can most probably say that you are your own best friend.
Yet why do you still frown when you see the mirror. Why do you keep comparing yourself to other people? Why do you fail to see your strengths as a person?
This is the moment where you are actually being far from yourself. You are not being you. You are being what others expect you to be. You are living up to other’s expectations, not yours. And thus, you feel discontented, unhappy and emotionally weak.
Be yourself, and follow your passion

In a society that uses money as measure of success, it’s easy to lose our head into ideals imposed by the rich and powerful.
Most young professionals get into high paying jobs to fulfill their ego, and make their parents proud of how much they earn. Unknowingly making their life miserable by being in a job they hate.
It is easy to lie to yourself, masquerade happiness by pretentious Facebook posts, and live a life of quiet desperation. People see one another in terms of job title and salary, like it’s the very essence of self-worth.
Instead be yourself, feed your mind, soul and spirit. Cultivate passion and love with work you have fun doing, whatever fun means to you.

Be yourself, no matter who you face
Embrace your personality. No matter how different you can be. If you are an awkward introvert like me, a spontaneous extrovert, a cool ambivert, these labels don’t really matter because you are who you think and feel.

Don’t sweat it out, drop all the pretenses and don’t ever change yourself just to fit in. Find your strengths and just be you, no matter whom you face! Because genuine people don’t mind, and those are just the people you need in your life.
Be yourself, and tune in to your feelings
The state of being at peace with yourself is achieved by tuning in to your feelings. This makes you strong even at the face of discord or stress.
Being in tune with your feeling involves understanding yourself in times of anger, sadness, happiness or fear. You acknowledge all this emotions with no denial and full acceptance.
When you are mad, you try your best to stay calm and gain composure. When you are sad, you understand that it is part of life, and that to better appreciate happy moments, we must know sadness. And when you’re in fear, you find the root cause of your fear and deal with it by changing your mindset.
Be yourself, and trust your intuition
People always think that wise decisions are those that are practical and purposeful. But sometimes it isn’t. If you always make decisions based on what you think is right, not what you feel is right, then, you are going to have a bad time achieving harmony