Seek Your Truth And Speak Your Truth

In her studies and countless conversations with people on their deathbed, palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware found that the greatest regret of the dying is “I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” It’s an insight we need to take seriously because it can help us choose a life that we’re proud of.

But one of the assumptions in this idea is that people know what they want, that they know what an authentic life looks like. But I’m not convinced that’s the case, and that many people are lost trying to figure out who they fundamentally are rather than living in fear of being that person.

That’s why I want to share a more nuanced perspective that also serves as an action plan: Seek your truth and speak your truth.

As individuals and as a society, we are constantly evolving. This means that knowing what we want, and living a fully authentic life is a moving target. This means we must always be seeking our truth through introspection, having others call out our blindspots, changing our environment to observe our patterns, and being the process of learning more about ourselves. The work is never done but that’s the best part! Life would be boring if we had it all figured out.

But that’s not to say that it’s acceptable to delay being yourself until you feel like you know who that is. Living authentically is a practice. And even if you feel like you have an incomplete understanding for who you are, you’re tasked to live in alignment with who you think you are.

And that’s easier said than done. We must fight through a lifetime of conditioning, the judgment and criticism from others, and our own preferences to live authentically. It takes courage to be your most fully-expressed version of yourself, and speak your truth. But when you do, it liberates you and attracts the life you want.

As I reflect on how I initiated positive change in every chapter of my life, it always involved me seeking and speaking my truth. Whether it was going from being an underperforming salesperson into a growth-oriented business professional, or a judgmental boyfriend into a supportive husband, I first needed to become aware of the details of my life that were out of alignment, have the courage to accept those things, and take action toward making them better.

My process for gaining that awareness and holding myself accountable to living more courageously is in my Self Improvement Scorecard. It's responsible for all of the success I've created in my life!