I’m not the biggest fan of following influencers or celebrities on social media. I only have two role models that I look up to. If you know me, you already know who they are. This year, I want to be the person I would want to follow on social media. I want to be the person that I admire. I may not know it by the big like numbers or follower counts, but I believe my writing provides inspiration. My goal is to continue providing that inspiration with the gifts that I have. I would love for you to do the same too. Here’s some things we can all do to reach our potential.

Know Who You Are

The biggest reason why I don’t like following celebrities or influencers because they take us away from ourselves. We see lives of lavishness it makes us envious of them. The most true goal we have in our lives is not to get the house, the family, the car, or the job. We should be striving to always find our highest self.

With all the noise and comparisons of other people, it’s really easy to get off our very narrow path. It’s very easy to believe in what we should be rather than who we are. Instead of getting out our dreams like a Kanye-signed artist, we dream about our lives. We dream about the things we want, but tend not to believe the grandiose ideas are obtainable. We are so powerful when we believe in ourselves. We are all creators and are able to create the life we want for ourselves.

Take Risks

Ms. Frizzle probably has the best advice in all of television. “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” How many of us actually follow it? Maybe I’m not the best to talk about taking risks. I took a big one about a year ago and it definitely didn’t turn out as I wanted to. I guess that’s where the make mistakes and get messy comes from. No one ever said taking a risk would always give you a reward. I didn’t gain what I wanted from my risk. However, I’ve gained a purpose and my medium of following my purpose in the last year. I don’t know if I would find these two things without taking the risk I took.

Stop Prioritizing Others Over Yourself

This past year, I’ve also learned what sacrifice means. It means putting someone else over yourself in the name of love. Sacrifice is love. In order to sacrifice yourself, you must first put yourself first. Sacrifices shouldn’t happen every time someone asks you something. If you agree to someone else despite the love that you have yourself, you are people pleasing. If helping someone is going to make you hate that person, or the task that you have to do, don’t do it. However, if helping someone brings out your kindness and compassion, the sacrifice is definitely worth it.

This also falls in line with following others expectations of you. If someone else’s expectations doesn’t speak to your heart, you have the right to not live up to them. We worry entirely too much about how people think about us and not about how we think of ourselves.

Living with Integrity

The major key (word to DJ Khalid) to being authentic is living in integrity. That’s not living in the truth, but living YOUR truth. The biggest things I’ve been reading about recently have to do with integrity. So, let your words match your actions and your actions match your word. Talk your talk and walk your walk. Be confident in who you are because confidence is your super power. I’ve really found it hard to be authentic. I’ve found it easier to express my truth before anyone can perceive me as anything. This way there are no surprises.