Finding Your Authentic Self

Is your authentic self something you are born with or is it something that you create?

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Finding your authentic self can boost your confidence and aid your sense of personal direction. But is your authentic self something you are born with or is it something that you create for yourself?

And if there is such a thing as an authentic self, does its needs outweigh those of the people around you? When does ‘being true to yourself’ tip over from authenticity into narcissism or self-centredness?

The idea of ‘being true to yourself’ can be traced all the way back to Aristotle. It begins with the view that each of us has the capacity to judge our situation, assess it, and then act in accordance with our own sense of what’s best. The opposite of this — by way of comparison — is when we judge and act on the basis of other people’s preferences, because it seems like the right thing to do.

So we might pose the question: What relationship do you have with your actions? Do they come from you, or are they the effect of someone else? Are you making your choices because you believe in them, or are they a result of wishing to please others?

In the 18th century, the philosopher Jean-Jacque Rousseau conceived the idea that society has the habit of corrupting…