May 2, 20214 min read

10 Quotes on Having the Courage to Be Yourself

Updated: Apr 29

Woman smiling with thumbs up - blog title added

Do you ever notice that everyone seems to have an opinion on who or what we should be, what we should do, how we spend our time, who we should spend it with. And we are bombarded with this from such a young age we barely know who we are or what we really want in life. And if we are lucky enough to discover what we want there are plenty of naysayers out there telling us we can’t, or that we shouldn’t.

It takes real courage to be who you are to be yourself, to go after what you want.

You can do this!

These 10 quotes (and my take on them) are here to inspire you to be YOU, to follow your dreams and reach your goals.

1. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you into something else is the greatest accomplishment – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on who or what we should be, what we should do, how we spend our time, who we should spend it with. And we are bombarded with this from such a young age we barely know who we are or what we want in life. And if we do discover what we want there are plenty of naysayers out there telling us we can’t.

It takes courage to be who we are, to go after what we want.

2. Here's my hunch; nobody’s secure and nobody feels like she completely belongs. Those insecurities are just hazards of being human. But some people dance anyway, and those people have more fun. - Glennon Metton

We all have insecurities; it’s discovering that you also have the courage to overcome them and do it anyway that will get you where you want to be. Courage in innate, you were born with it, it just gets buried beneath the ‘no you cant’s’ and the ‘you’re not good enoughs’ and any other limiting belief you have heard.

3. Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are, let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it. - C. Assaad

Take time out to discover who you are and what you want, not what others say you should be, not what’s expected of you by family and friends – that won’t make you happy, unless it’s what you truly want. If you could be anything, do anything what you be/do? When you can answer this question honestly to yourself, you can truly start to live your life.

4. Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticised anyway. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Everyone’s a critic when they don’t understand your journey. Surround yourself with people who love and support you for who you really are. It can be hard when the ones closest to us don’t allow us to be ourselves – just remind yourself that its their own insecurities and limiting beliefs that make them act this way – it has nothing to do with you.

5. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone elses. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Yes, you’ll make mistakes – you are human after all. But they are your mistakes, made for you to learn and grow. Own them, learn from them, then let them go.

6. One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself. - Shannon L Alder

When you look back at your life when you are in your autumn years, how do you want to see your life? As one lived to the fullest or are you going to look back and say ‘I wish I had…’?

7. Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead

That’s the paradox of being unique, it makes you just like everyone else. We are all unique, we all have different likes and dislikes, different dreams and goals, different passions. If we each embraced them and followed our uniqueness instead of following the crowd, just think how wonderful the world could be.

8. To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. Thich Nhat Hanh

Learning to accept yourself for who you are is a self-discovery journey. The more self-aware you become, the more you will recognise what you need to let go of - things you do and think that are not in keeping with who you are and have a negative impact on you - and what you need to embrace and maybe expand on - things that are truly part of you and make you feel good, inspire you, motivate you, get you excited for life.

9. Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are. – Lady Gaga

When you accept who you are, what you want to be, what you want to do, you send out a clear message to everyone around you that this is who you are, and even those who put up a resistance to your changes may surprise you and embrace the new you. And if they don’t… well they don’t. Your opinion of you is the only one that matters.

10. Let today be the day you give up who you’ve been for who you can become. - Hal Elrod

Find your courage, find yourself and become the person you want to be, the person you can look at in the mirror and say “you know what, you’re okay” or better still “you’re pretty awesome”. Do things that make you happy, share your happiness and your love for life with everyone around you.