Look within and tell not lies,
Self-awareness lives in you inside.
Your true self should clearly show,
For only then can you truly grow.
Without honesty no progress made,
This is the path to an enlightened state.
Listen to your heart’s wise voice pure,
Honesty with self will always be sure.
Being honest with yourself is essential to developing a healthier outlook on life and achieving your goals. In fact a study by researchers at the University of San Diego Emotion Lab showed that honesty also makes us happy.
Honesty requires self-reflection and an understanding that there may be aspects of your life that need to change in order to move forward. To make things more surprising, being honest not only means being open to making big changes, it can also mean allowing things to be left as they are.
To become more honest with yourself takes self awareness which is more difficult than it sounds. It requires you to look inward and confront your biases, beliefs and feelings. We all have habitual preferences and ways of being, they are described here as shortcuts, and we can just fall into those as default without really giving things an honest appraisal.
This process can be applied to work situations, relationships, family matters, and even our dreams and aspirations. But the rewards of being self-aware and transparent with yourself are worth the effort.
Here are some strategies to help you be honest with yourself:
First things first, take time each day to reflect on your thoughts and feelings. Ask yourself tough questions, like why you reacted in a certain way in a situation or what lessons can be learned from past experiences that have troubled or upset you. Ask if the things that you say you want are true for you.
Or are you following someone else’s preference or some old version of yourself that you have to live up to. Taking time for reflection will help you become better acquainted with what makes you tick so that being honest with yourself becomes second nature.
Another way to practice honesty is by journaling. Writing down your thoughts and feelings allows for a deeper level of introspection into who you are and how the events in your life shape the way you think and feel. Studies have shown that writing down your thoughts is vital in modern times and can also help boost memory, mindfulness, and communication skills.
You don’t have to be a great writer or to hit any word count targets – get your thoughts down without editing them first. After a week quickly read through your pages and note any recurring truths that emerge. Then be honest with yourself about what that means.
Finally, practice active listening when talking about yourself or discussing topics related to things that are important to you. Often we can just have conversations on autopilot, so really challenge yourself to notice if you’re speaking from the heart or just paying lip service to what you think you should be saying. Listen for underlying assumptions or patterns in your thinking that may prevent you from seeing the whole picture in any given situation.
Being honest with yourself can be hard, but it is an essential part of living a life of authenticity. It also allows you to be more accepting of who you are, and helps you make decisions that are best for you.
I’m sure most people reading this article would have honesty as an important value, so why not begin that journey and start being honest with yourself?
Photo by Laurenz Kleinheider on Unsplash