Are you Living a Life of Alignment? How to Reclaim your Authentic Self

Have you ever felt like you’re moving through your days, checking all the boxes but an inner voice says “There’s gotto be more to life than this”. In today’s post I explore what it truly means to live a life of alignment, how to spot the signs of misalignment and simple steps to get back to your truest self.

What is Alignment

Alignment means living your life in sync with your core values belief systems, personality, preferences and inner compass. When you are in alignment, hard work feels rewarding, your days feel lighter and even challenges carry meaning. Gratitude tends to be the overarching emotion.

Misalignment on the other hand feels like a burden, a chore. You find yourself constantly looking for an escape – binge watching shows, scrolling endlessly on social media, shopping impulsively or fantasizing about our next holiday. Put simply alignment is living your truth, while misalignment is living someone else’s expectations of you.

Where Misalignment comes from

We are all born pure and untainted, untouched by the societal rules of how to live. But from the moment we’re born, not just into a family, but into a world view, we begin absorbing the beliefs, biases and expectations of those around us.

Depending on our culture or upbringing, the freedom to express individuality can either be fostered or stymied. For example, my experience growing up in an eastern culture is that the collective often takes precedence over the individual. Family over self. Government over citizen. Tradition over exploration.

Without the balancing act of self-reflection, crumbling under the influence of nationalistic, religious and cultural programming, keeping up appearances, avoiding stigma and fulfilling inherited expectations become our highest priority. We start choosing a path of conformity, eventually loosing ourselves in it.

Signs You’re not living in Alignment

You might be out of alignment if:

• You feel a persistent vague sense of unease but can’t quite put your finger on it (cognitive dissonance).
• Life feels like a chore you’re going through the motions on autopilot.
• You often doubt yourself or lack self-belief in your own decisions.

Signs You’re living in Alignment

When you’re aligned:

• You feel peace within even when life around you is chaotic.
• You don’t chase external validation. You’re happy with who you are.
• You engage in tasks that energize you and feels so natural that you get into a flow state. You lose track of time.

My 3 Step Guide to Living a Life of Alignment

Speaking from personal experience, the first step is to know yourself.

Here are my three tried and tested methods to begin realigning with your authentic self, starting today:

1. Prayer and Surrender – Whether you’re a spiritual person or not, pray. With prayer and surrender the ego is suspended and you connect with something bigger. From this humility we begin to see clearly who we are and what we want. Personally, my quiet conversations with the Divine are freeing. There is no judgment, just acceptance. And when I feel accepted by Him/Her I’m reminded to accept myself, warts and all.
2. Reconnect with your childhood passions – Think back to when you were a child. what activity made you lose track of time. What were you so immersed in that your parents had to pull you away from it. The ones that made you come alive, eyes wide and heart full of wonder. Something you couldn’t wait to share with the world, saying “look what I made/ found!” That’s your soul speaking. For me, it was writing. I would journal for hours and spin great stories out of thin air. Almost everyone told me I’d make a great journalist one day. That spark never left, and I just had to find it again.
3. Question everything you were taught – Examine the belief systems you inherited. Ask yourself “why do I believe this?”. “Does this feel true for me today?” Get informed. Some beliefs might resonate deeply. Great! Keep them. But others might feel outdated or imposed. Let them go. Rebuild your values from the foundation of a conscious choice, not cultural programming.
   

You don’t need to have everything figured out to begin. It’s a practice of returning to yourself, again and again, with compassion, curiosity and courage.

Think about it

Have you ever had a moment where you went against the grain to honor your own belief? How did you feel after?