Living Your Truth: Unleash Your Inner Compass for a Fulfilling Life

Let me ask you something: do you feel like you’re living your truth? 

Did you come here in hopes that I would have an answer for you? 

If so, you’re already doing it wrong because you’re looking outside of yourself for the answer.

Now, I’m just giving you crap here…but it’s true that so often we are looking outside of ourselves for the answers to our own lives. 

I mean, who really knows what you need more than you do? If you really sit with this, I believe the answer is nobody. Think about when you ask someone for advice and right away you know whether it’s something you will follow or not. 

You get that feeling in your gut. And it’s great when somebody gives the advice you need to follow. But the truth is, you already had the answer within you. You just didn’t listen enough to allow it to come through without needing the advice in the first place. 

There is so much information out there, so many opinions to consider, and paths to take. It is very easy to get overwhelmed and find yourself drowning in information. This can be debilitating and may leave you feeling lost, having no idea what to do, and not making any progress in your life. 

The easy solution here is to STOP looking out there. Learn to first reach inside where you don’t need to worry about who to trust. 

Choose to trust yourself. 

Learn your truth. 

Start living your truth. 

And only then, look outside yourself for specific things you’ve identified to help you along your journey. 

One thing I know for certain is that every single one of us has access to the greater wisdom within us. Through my life experience, I am confident that this is the wisdom we need to be tuning into for that “better life” we seek, not anything out there…

Not more education, a promotion, the right food, exercise routine, or relationship. Sure, these things can help, but when they are sought out from an inner knowing and not as an answer to get us a desired result, this makes all the difference. 

I’ve gotten pretty good at being able to distinguish between my internal compass and the conditioning of my egoic mind or external influences. Having this ability, I believe, is the number one reason for the peace and fulfillment I feel with my life. It is THAT important. 

I hope you will join me on this transformative journey of going within. If you do, I promise to support you wholeheartedly along the way.

What Does Living Your Truth Mean?

The body is wise. It knows what is good for you and what it needs. Living your truth means you are tapping into this inner wisdom and allowing it to guide you.

This requires connecting with your higher self, which exists in all of us. To do so, you must shut out the ego mind and conditioned parts of yourself that cloud your vision. 

Eckhart Tolle's experience with depression as described in his book, The Power of Now, serves as an example of this. He realized that there were two parts of himself: the ego self that he couldn't live with and the higher self that he needed to connect with. He thought that maybe only one of these parts was real. 

People recovering from addiction or going through a dark night of the soul often find that to truly heal, they need to reconnect with their true self. They feel that they have found themselves again once they recover.

This higher self can be found in any challenge you face, no matter how big or small. While some challenges may be more extreme than others, the recognition of self can be just as profound.

Living your truth also means brushing off social norms and expectations to bring forth your true inner self. By living an authentic life, you free yourself from the burden of societal expectations and guide yourself to do things that you genuinely desire. Living your truth allows you to embrace your individuality and create a life that is deeply aligned with your core values and desires.

When you step into your authentic self, you'll feel a sense of inner peace that comes from living in your truth. You'll notice that you're more resilient, better able to handle adversity, and no longer in need of others' approval to validate your worth. Your confidence will soar as you speak and live your truth, creating a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling.

You may feel lost, stuck, or worried because you're not living an authentic life, but you have the power to change that. 

Remember, living your truth is not a one-time decision but an ongoing commitment to yourself. It's a continuous process of self-discovery and self-awareness that requires you to be honest with yourself about your desires and who you truly are. So, take a deep breath and start taking steps towards living your truth today.

Why is it Important to Live Your Truth

Here’s how I see it. Living your truth is spiritual work. It requires you to go beyond the confines of your human ego and connect with a larger reality. When we ignore our spiritual life, we struggle and experience all kinds of challenges.

We run around reacting to our lives and feel stuck, lost, and overwhelmed by everything that’s presented to us. We follow goals and work towards a destination that we don’t even want and never question. We may do things or chase dreams in the pursuit of happiness and realize in the end that none of these things will bring us this.

For a long time, I struggled with the pull of what I felt I should do for others versus what I actually wanted to do. This feeling hit me hard when I got my first job out of college in corrections. At an employee's 20-year anniversary celebration, I had a thought that popped into my head: "shoot me now if I am still here in 20 years." It wasn't meant to be disrespectful to anyone who chooses to stay in their career for 20 years or more, but it was a realization that this path wasn't for me. The problem was that I had no idea what to do next. If this wasn’t my path, then what was I even doing there at all?

The same thing happened when I found myself working in mental health case management. I debated going back to school for my social work license and possibly a master's degree. This was largely influenced by what others around me were doing and seemed like the next logical step to advance my career and increase my salary. But when I really tuned in, I realized this may (or may not) have been their path, but it wasn't mine. It was a decision that saved me years of my life.

Whenever I went against my inner pull that was telling me no, by explaining logically that I needed to do what society was telling me to do, I felt even more lost, stuck, and overwhelmed. It always left me disconnected and not feeling like myself. Clearly! Because I was living someone else's life, or society's version of what life should look like.

I had a choice: keep going with what I felt I should be doing from the world around me or tune in and follow my inner truth. When I started following my own inner truth, I felt more connected, aligned, and confident. I awakened to a whole new world around me, freed from the confines of trying to fit into a box that I never belonged in. 

The Benefits of Living Your Truth 

Living in your truth allows you to live fully and lean into the wholeness that is already present within you. It provides you with increased happiness, fulfillment, and a greater sense of purpose. When you know what you stand for and what you believe in, you can set goals and work towards them with a clear sense of direction and purpose. 

Embracing your authentic self can also help you face and overcome fears that may be holding you back from reaching your true potential. By being more in tune with who you are, you also find it easier to trust yourself and make decisions that are in line with your values and beliefs. This can lead to living a life that truly reflects your unique essence, and in turn, brings peace and meaning to each moment of your life.

Living your truth is also important because it frees up more time and space in your life. Think about all the time and mental energy you've spent looking outside yourself, sitting in indecision, second-guessing yourself, looking for validation, trying to be perfect, worrying over uncertainties, and so on. When you live in your truth, you feel at peace and can save time to do things that actually bring you joy and a better life experience.

How to Identify Your Truth

If you’re not getting this by now, the most important thing is to stop looking out and start looking in!

We do this with so many things, we go outside not just to fulfill that career, white-picket fence and kids life we are told we should strive for. But we also go outside when we want to create a feeling inside. We want to be happy, joyful, peaceful, or content. We start changing around our external lives to create the feeling. The answer again is to create this from within! 

Stop looking out and start looking in. Everything you need is inside you. You can look outside for guidance, but ultimately it lies in accessing and living your truth. No “thing” out there will bring this to you. If you look outside, you will always be looking. Always a seeker and never found. 

Keep in mind that your body is wise and there is a part of you that knows beyond a doubt what is right for you-this is your higher wisdom, your truth-call it whatever you want. Your intuition will lead you there. We are all one, drops of water in the same ocean, being able to connect to this oneness inside of you is what will bring you your answers, your truth.

In this section, we will explore how to identify your truth. We will also discuss how to be confident that you are following your truth and not something you think you want.

This is important because strong influences from the world around you and your own brain (i.e. fear, anxiety, etc.) can sometimes lead you astray. The influences from your brain may be trying to protect you, but they can also keep you stuck in old patterns.

In order to access your truth, you need to find ways to tune in and figure out what works best for you as an individual. This is different for everyone. It's important to find what resonates with you and to make it a regular practice.

Practices to Increase Your Awareness

Here are some ideas for how to increase your awareness and get in touch with the wisdom within you. The more awareness you have, the more you will know that you’re following your true self and not your ego self or other external influences.

Take away your distractions

Years ago, when I was feeling stuck and lost, I decided to leave my job and my life and take some time to just travel without a plan. I was thrust into greater awareness. I didn’t realize at the time that this would be the escape from the mental prison I had kept myself in.

The good news is you don’t need to leave the country to increase your awareness. What happened was that I stepped outside of my small world and left my comfort zone. You just have to do something to change your predictable environment. 

Identify your distractions and take them away. Taking away your comforts will open up your mind. It will heighten your awareness of what’s going on in your internal world. Stop giving in to your distractions and see what comes up.

Find ways to slow down and get quiet

Life today is busy. Sometimes we feel like there’s a million and one things to do and never enough time to get it all done. We unconsciously allow ourselves to be consumed with the busyness of life. This is when we find ourselves on autopilot with the goal of just getting through the day. When we’re in this state, we don’t tune into how we’re really thinking, what we’re feeling, why we’re even doing what we’re doing, and what actually matters.

We fill our lives with distractions and noise. If there is a moment of silence, we turn on a podcast, the TV, or check our phones. We often don’t allow ourselves to become aware and give our brain the chance to think for itself. Have you ever noticed that your best ideas come when you're in the shower? That's because you're finally allowing for quiet and stillness.

You know best how to find ways in your day to allow for quiet. Stop filling your time with noise and distractions. Allow your brain to think and your body to feel as you go about your daily tasks. By slowing down and getting quiet, you can tap into your inner wisdom and gain greater clarity on what truly matters.

Get your body into relaxation mode

Similar to finding ways to slow down, it's important to get your body into a relaxed state in order to tap into your inner truth. This can be achieved through various modalities, such as deep breathing, Reiki, tapping, meditation, stretching/yoga, and more. 

Deep breathing calms your mind and body, while Reiki balances your body's energy. Tapping helps release negative emotions, and meditation quiets your mind and promotes well-being. Stretching and yoga also release tension and promote relaxation. Alternatively, you may prefer other ways to get your body into a relaxed state, such as taking a warm bath, going for a walk in nature, or listening to calming music.  

The key is to find what works best for you and make it a regular part of your self-care routine. By incorporating relaxation techniques into your daily routine, you can create a more peaceful and centered mindset. This can help you to better connect with your inner self and tune into your true desires.

Journaling

Journaling is a powerful tool for uncovering your inner truth. By asking the right questions and providing a focus, you can spend time with your inner self and get to know yourself better. It's an interesting concept that we are us, so we should just know ourselves, right?  

The truth is that there are many parts inside of us that we never spend time with and even try to ignore and resist. When we do this, we wind up unconsciously blocking out our truth. By listening and understanding, we can take away some of the layers and let our truth rise to the surface. 

There are many different ways to use journaling to increase your awareness. One way is to explore your values to get to know yourself better. Use journaling to identify your values and goals, and then question them. Is this what you truly want, or is it influenced by outside factors? If a result you want has anything to do with proving yourself or being accepted by others, this is not following your truth. 

Another way to use journaling is to practice gratitude. Instead of just writing down things you're grateful for, first write down three things you do want and three things you don't. Then use these as your focus for gratitude throughout the day. This helps you focus on what you want, rather than just looking back as a reflection at the end of the day or starting your day off with surface-level gratitudes that have no connection with where you're headed. 

When you notice yourself thinking about the things you don't want, redirect your mind to focus on the things you do. Notice the ways you already have these things or think about what you can do to create them in your life now. For example, if you want peace, where does this already exist in your life, and what can you do to experience that now?

By incorporating journaling into your self-care routine, you can create the space you need to tune into your inner truth and live a more authentic and fulfilling life. 

Focus on your body

Whenever you think you know your truth, you always have to come back to the body.

Tune in and become aware of where you’re headed.

Notice how you feel-this will help you determine whether you’re on the right path. If you feel closed off, tense, or guarded in any way, explore this further. If you feel open and expansive, you're likely heading in the right direction.

Remember that your body is always giving you signals about what's right for you. By listening to these signals and paying attention to how you feel, you can navigate this journey of living your truth with confidence. 

Why is it so Hard to Live in Your Truth?

After uncovering your truth, you may hear a calling from within nudging you in the right direction. However, it can be difficult to live in alignment with your truth. You may start to question and second-guess yourself, despite already knowing the answers.

This is due to several obstacles and factors, such as social conditioning, self-limiting beliefs, and the ongoing battle between your ego and your soul. 

We all have the capability to tune into what feels right or wrong within our bodies, but we also have a lifetime of conditioning to tune that out. There are so many outside messages, information, judgement, and “evidence” about there being a right and wrong way to do everything. It can leave one feeling paralyzed.

From a young age, society molds us to fit into certain norms and expectations. This conditioning can lead us to suppress our authentic selves and conform to societal standards that may not align with our true desires and values.

Self-limiting beliefs stemming from past experiences or messages from others can also hinder your path to living authentically. These beliefs lead to doubt, shame, and a lack of self-confidence, making it difficult to take the necessary steps towards discovering and expressing your true self.

Besides our true self, there are other conditioned parts of us that are trying to protect us. These parts don't realize that our higher self is more than capable of doing this job and make it hard for our true self to show up.

This internal battle between your ego and your soul can be challenging. Your ego wants to protect you from being judged, feeling fear, anxiety, or shame, while your soul seeks authenticity, purpose, and fulfillment in life. This ongoing battle often leads to confusion and uncertainty about who you truly are and what you truly want.

Living in your truth requires self-awareness, courage, and a willingness to challenge the conditioning and beliefs that hold you back. It involves peeling back the layers of societal expectations and reconnecting with your true essence. 

It can be frustrating when you want to be living your truth and you now have the awareness, but still aren’t actually living it. It's important to be patient and compassionate with yourself during this process. Even when you are feeling discouraged or maybe even hopeless, know that you are headed in the right direction! 

Understand that living your truth is a journey, not a destination. It can be emotionally exhausting at times, but you are creating new pathways and programming in your brain. As your body learns to trust in this other connection with your higher self over your old patterns, you don't have to consciously work on it as much and it becomes easier over time. 

Additional Tools to Support You in Knowing Your Truth

Because of all of the internal and external influences that are keeping you from knowing your truth, sometimes you may need a little extra support. If you’re still having moments where you’re feeling unsure about what is true for you, don't worry. There are additional tools and modalities that can help you access your inner truth. 

Muscle testing is one technique you can use to tap into your body's innate knowledge. It involves using your body's physical responses to reveal what’s actually true for you. There are various techniques for muscle testing, such as using your fingers, hands, or arms. By practicing muscle testing, you can develop a deeper understanding of your inner truth and make more aligned decisions.

This is the method I currently use most often: First, I stand up straight and place both hands - one over the other - on my solar plexus chakra. Then, I close my eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and focus on my body. Next, I say a statement or ask a question in my head. If my body sways forwards, the statement is true or the answer is yes. If my body sways backwards, the statement is false or the answer is no.

Another tool you can utilize is a pendulum, which acts as a physical representation of your intuition. Hold the pendulum and ask it questions, taking note of its movements. Each swing or direction can indicate a different answer. Trust your instincts as you interpret the pendulum's guidance.

As a Reiki practitioner, I cannot emphasize enough how Reiki can assist you in finding your truth. This energy healing technique can increase your awareness and help you navigate through any given situation or challenge. When practicing Reiki, set the intention to reveal the truth and allow the energy to flow in order to gain deeper insights and clarity. Reiki not only helps you heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually but also guides you towards living an authentic, meaningful life. Learn more about Reiki here. 

Remember, you are not alone on this journey of self-discovery. By using these tools and techniques, you can reconnect with your inner truth and live a life that truly resonates with your core being. Embrace these modalities as supportive companions and let them guide you in understanding and embracing your unique value and purpose.

Practical Tips

So, are you ready to finally live your truth and create a life that aligns with your authentic self? Here are some practical tips to guide you on this transformative journey:

1. Question Everyday Messages

Living your truth often requires navigating through the noise of everyday messages. These messages surround us everywhere - from advertising campaigns to social media platforms, and even societal expectations. They can be incredibly powerful and influential, shaping our beliefs and actions without us even realizing it. 

Start to become aware of the impact everyday messages have on you. To live your truth, it's important to question the validity of these messages and critically analyze their intentions. By understanding the influence they hold over you, you can consciously choose to ignore or challenge them, and instead, listen to the whispers of your soul. 

2. Create a Plan with Actionable Steps

Now that you have some awareness of what your truth is, creating a plan with actionable steps can provide clarity and direction as you navigate this journey. By breaking down the process into actionable steps and focusing on one area of your life at a time, you can methodically explore various aspects of yourself and move closer to living your truth.

Think about situations where you find it difficult to live in your truth and set a goal around this. For example, if you want to improve a relationship, make a plan for how you might do this while living in your truth. Do you need to set boundaries? Are you living your values in this relationship? Do you feel yourself getting tense or defensive in your interactions? Is so, recognize that this is steering you away from your truth and look at examining that further. 

3. Align Your Behaviors with Your Authentic Self

Living your truth involves aligning your behaviors with your authentic self. This might mean letting go of the need for approval or doing things that you used to do, but no longer resonate with you. Take responsibility for your life and choose to engage in activities that support your true self. Take a closer look at your daily behaviors and habits. Are they in alignment with your true desires and values? Eliminate activities or routines that don't serve you and replace them with actions that resonate with your authentic self.

4. Embrace Vulnerability 

Living your truth means being open to change and showing your vulnerability – both to yourself and others. When you are genuine, you create an environment where people feel safe to be themselves, fostering deeper connections and a sense of authenticity in your relationships.

When you show up as your true self, you open yourself up to the possibility of rejection and judgment. However, you also open yourself up to the possibility of connection, growth, and fulfillment. Living in your truth requires vulnerability, which can be scary, but is so worth it in the end. 

5. Build Inner Trust

Building inner trust is crucial when living in your truth. Trusting yourself completely and knowing that you already have the answers can help you resist the influence of the outside world. Trusting your higher self, even when your brain wants to argue, can lead you to peace and guide you towards your goals.

To build trust, follow through on your goals and commitments. Also, notice your desire to look outside for answers and take this as an opportunity to go inward instead. Quiet the mind and listen for what comes up. Then follow through on the answer you find. This will strengthen your trust in yourself and help you live an authentic life. As you gain awareness about yourself and trust in life, you will be able to handle any situation with confidence.

6. Risk Getting it Wrong

It's natural to second-guess ourselves and our decisions, but it's important to take risks and trust yourself. When making decisions, decide that no matter the outcome, it's the right decision for you. Even if it doesn't get you the result you want, you can learn and grow from the experience.

Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process and can lead to valuable insights and personal growth. Remember that you have the power to overcome obstacles and make the best decisions for yourself. Trust yourself and take risks, even if it means making mistakes along the way.

7. Recognize Your Innate Worthiness

It can be hard to live in your truth when we’re conditioned to seek approval from others and believe we need to prove our worthiness. But you are worthy no matter what you’ve done, haven’t done, or what you decide to do in this world.

When you really believe this, you can start to take different actions that are based on how you want to show up so you can have a better experience of this life. Not so you can prove anything to anybody or make up for something you have done in the past. It’s true that actions have consequences, but no action will ever affect your innate worthiness as a human being alive on this planet.

In a world that encourages us to measure up to others, it's important to remember that you don't need to be like someone else. Differences are what bring beauty to this world. If you see something in another that you feel is “better” than you, use that to inspire you or to appreciate another. Try not to feel jealous about others. We can’t all have everything but when we focus more on our own talents than the talents of others, we can allow the best parts of us to expand. 

Recognizing your worthiness and having love for yourself is so important. Love is your innate essence, and when you're able to give this to yourself, it will shine a light straight down the path you wish to walk. You will also show up as a much more loving and compassionate person for all who come in contact with you. 

Living your truth is a powerful and liberating experience. By following these practical tips, you'll be well on your way to creating a life that is authentic, fulfilling, and in alignment with who you truly are. Remember, this is your journey, and you have the power to create your own truth. Embrace your uniqueness and let your inner light shine.