8 habits of people who always stay true to themselves

As you’ve been working on yourself and discovering who you are, you know there’s one thing you want to do in life: always stay true to yourself.

With so many pressures from society and people around us, this can be challenging to do.

I know I’ve stumbled and fallen on my own journey many times. And over time, I’ve realized there are 8 key habits that people who always stay true to themselves confidently follow.

If you can adopt these into your life, you’ll be able to live more authentically than ever before.

Let’s have a look at what they are. 

1) You reflect on your emotions

What’s the one thing that guides us through practically every decision we make?

It’s our emotions. People who always stay true to themselves are highly aware of them.

This means they take ample time to reflect on them and understand them. 

For example, the other day I had a frustrating interaction with a family member. So I stopped to ask myself, why did that upset me? And I understood that it’s because I felt like I was being unfairly judged.

Without this knowledge, I might have just acted cold towards this person during our next conversation. But now, I was able to choose a course of action that’s more productive to my goals and needs, and ask for compassion and understanding instead. 

This is how self-reflection and self-understanding helps you make decisions that align with who you want to be. 

2) You don’t daydream a lot

You can’t confuse staying true to yourself with daydreaming — that’s one thing people who always stay true to themselves actually don’t do a lot of.

Why? Because rather than living out their dream life in their fantasies, they go out and build it in real life. 

It can be nice to daydream about starting your own business, moving overseas, or finding the love of your life… but one thing it’s not doing, is getting you any closer to having it!

This hit me a few years ago when I realized that I was spending all my time daydreaming about having deep and fulfilling relationships, and no time actually investing in them.

So I changed course and started spending my time reading books, taking coaching sessions, investing in courses, and most of all spending quality time in my relationships. 

If you find yourself daydreaming a lot, you should really stop to consider if you could bring that out into the real world instead.

Related: 9 traits of people who are genuinely happy in life

3) You’re not afraid to say no

You’re a great person, and you want to make the people around you happy.

But staying true to yourself means that sometimes, unfortunately, you will have to say no. Even if this means disappointing someone.

The fact is, you only have so much time and energy. You can’t give if you’re running on empty, and there are just way too many demands for you to fulfill them all. 

So you need to be prepared to put yourself first when you need it, and accept to help others only when it aligns with what you want to do in your life as well. 

I had to make a choice like this recently, when a friend of mine really wanted me to join him for a cultural trip abroad. I had happily said yes to one in the past, because I saw the value in spending time with him.

But now, I had other priorities I wanted to focus on, and agreeing to another one would mean not being able to make progress in the things that really mattered to me. 

So I gently told him no. I felt sorry about it, but it all worked out for the better — he has been able to find other people who share his same passions and who join him for his favorite activities without needing to compromise on their own desires. 

4) You embrace your mistakes

There are some parts of life we wish we could do without… but alas, they’re an inseparable part of it.

You guessed it — it’s our mistakes.

It can feel really uncomfortable at times, but as a person who always stays true to yourself, you understand the need to accept and embrace them.

This is how you maintain honesty and integrity, and make sure you keep growing as a person throughout your whole life. 

I make more mistakes than I can count, and much more than I’d like to admit — but I’ve come to understand that these mistakes are also what make me who I am.

By facing up to them, I’m able to make sure I don’t make this mistake more times than I need to. I can learn from it, and choose a better path next time. 

5) They don’t try to please everyone 

This is a habit I’ve personally struggled with A LOT. I’m a bit of a people-pleaser, and I hate conflict.

So as a result, I often find myself falling into the trap of doing things just to please others. I hate the feeling of being disliked.

But, people who always stay true to themselves need to let go of this need.

Because trying to please everyone has led me to make a couple decisions I’ve regretted. I end up spending my time in ways I don’t want to, or with people who I know I can’t deeply connect with.

And this only ends up being a waste of everybody’s time.

So the hard lesson I’ve learned is that being disliked is a natural by-product of being authentic. 

And the only way to find people who fit super well into your life is to filter out the people who don’t belong in it. 

6) They don’t compare themselves to others

Of the many diseases of the modern day, one of the most common and dangerous ones is comparison-itis. 

This is the damaging habit of constantly comparing your life to other people’s. It makes you feel like you’re constantly behind, or much worse off than everyone else. 

But the truth is, everyone is on their unique path, with their own life purpose that’s impossible to even compare to anyone else’s.

This became much easier for me to understand when I started living life true to myself. 

Of course, I still fall into the trap of seeing someone on Instagram on a luxury vacation, or doing extremely well in their business, and having a little twinge of “oh no… and what am I doing with my life?”

But I always come back to the truth that I am right where I am supposed to be — and so are you. 

7) They let go of things that no longer serve them

The idea of letting go of something, or cutting something out of your life, can sound pretty negative. 

But in fact, it’s another key habit of people who always stay true to themselves. 

If you want to fill your life with things that align with who you are, you need to have space for them first of all.

For example, let’s say I deeply value my family and health. But I have no time to spend quality time with my family or exercise because I spend 10 hours per day working, and 2 more hours scrolling social media.

There is no way I could possibly live my life true to myself. I first need to let go of the things that are not supporting my values and goals, and then I will be able to embrace what does. 

Sometimes, you need to first let go of things before you find the things that do belong in your life. This can feel a little dark and scary, as you will have something of a void in your life for a while.

But don’t worry — you are attracting the right things into your life, and with a bit of patience you’ll be living your dream while being completely true to yourself. 

8) They’re not afraid to go against the current

Have you ever done something because it’s what everyone else is doing, but felt in your heart that it doesn’t sit well with you?

We have all been there at one point or another — myself included. It’s natural to want to go along with the herd and fit into society.

But eventually, people who stay true to themselves gather courage to go against the current.

Just because everyone else around you is climbing the corporate ladder, getting married and having kids, or buying a house and a car, doesn’t mean you have to.

Maybe you have a deep desire for a life that looks completely different — and that’s totally fine!

You need to choose your life based on what you want, regardless of how similar or different it is from society’s norms and expectations.

And that means, sometimes you’ll find yourself forging a new path that you might be walking down alone. But it’s all worth it, because you’ll be living your life true to who you really are. 

Ready to live life true to yourself?

Above, you learned 8 habits of people who stay true to themselves.

Did you recognize any of them in your life already?

Chances are, there are at least a couple you’re already doing. 

And the great news is, you can always adopt the others into your life at any time. It’s never too late to embrace who you are and become someone who always stays true to themselves.