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Why Personal Development Advice Can Feel So Confusing There’s a lot of confusion in the personal development world around identity work vs self-acceptance. So I’m wading in…! Do you find that one moment you’re focused on shifting into a new identity (that you have no prior experience of), in order to become who you need to be to achieve your dreams…But then you learn that you should really be working towards radical self-acceptance, because that’s where your true power lies? Both of these endeavours can be beautifully life-enriching, and in no way mutually exclusive (as I’ll explain in a minute), but I frequently see them translated into some pretty toxic narratives. Two Popular But Problematic Narratives in Personal Development It morphs into advice that is split into two opposing and unhelpful options: 1. Fake it till you make it 2. You don’t need to change And they miss the bigger picture, never quite addressing what the “Self” is that is either to be upgraded or accepted 🤔 Which leads either to feeling like you aren’t good enough as you are, so you must adopt a persona and trust it’ll become your norm eventually…Or that it’s not necessary (or even desirable) to challenge yourself to behave in any way other than you do — a narcissist’s heaven, if such a thing were to exist. Why These Messages Miss the Bigger Picture Now I know that I often talk about both evolving AND shadow integration, so I want to make sure that my message to you is clear: To evolve is natural. It simply means to change. Change is both inevitable and something we can initiate and steer. Resistance to change is often a path of suffering. At the same time, I strongly feel that it’s vital to explore and know ourselves deeply, “warts” and all, if you like. Because we are all human and all have a soul that’s not so different from anyone else’s on a fundamental level. Change Is Natural—And It Doesn’t Mean You’re Broken We have life experiences that shape our character and bodies, yes. But overall, we arrived here with the propensity and desire to express all aspects of our humanity—though we quickly learned how culturally unacceptable that can be! So my version of “love yourself” is to get to know all the dark corners of your personality and dive into the subconscious to become more aware of what is controlling you. This creates spiritual freedom. I refer to this as “honouring your true self”. What “Loving Yourself” Really Means But one thing that is often overlooked in shadow work is how much we ALSO bury our light and brilliance and power. It is seen as flashy or dangerous to express this, and we’ve all been warned at some point not to get too big for our boots. In other words, don’t shine too brightly. It’s Not About Becoming Someone Else—It’s About Remembering Who You Are So the “new identity” work I would advocate is not about abandoning who you were and pretending to be something you are not. It’s about embracing the fact that you have far more potential than you can even see from your current vantage point. Identity is just that — how you see yourself. Self-perception or self-image. It’s not who you actually are as a soul; it’s simply your current relationship with yourself. Don’t Just Accept Yourself—See Yourself Clearly And all of this equally applies when people use “self-acceptance” to avoid looking at who they really are, by indulging a self-image that lacks accountability for their behaviour and its consequences. Demanding that others accept them as they see themselves, but without doing the painful work of acknowledging that while their soul is beautiful and timeless and complete, they are acting from a defensive and myopic position, not truly Self-accepting. Ultimately, whichever way you look at it, you are either freeing yourself from the limits you learned or you’re shackling yourself to them. You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone I created The EVOLVE Journey to support you 1:1 through the often confusing and frustrating terrain of coming home to your true self. Click here to book a free call and learn more about working with me. Ask me the difficult, awkward questions and show me your deepest contradictions, and I will guide you back to such clarity about yourself that it naturally unlocks your energy and vision to begin consciously creating your most meaningful and fulfilling life 💖