7 Ways to Embrace Who You Are

PUBLISHED Jul 7th, 2020 & UPDATED ON Feb 14th, 2023

You go on Pinterest and your feed is overflowing with motivational quotes (or is that just us?). “Love yourself” they say. “Be you”. That’s great advice, but… how? Is there some sort of fine print with instructions that we’re missing? How do you embrace who you are?

Embracing yourself – all of yourself – is not just a switch you can turn on and off. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Although there will never be a universal set of fine print instructions for how to embrace yourself, we hope that ours will be a starting point for you in learning to love your amazing, unique, brave self.

1. Work at It

The most important thing to realize is that embracing yourself will not happen magically overnight. It won’t be automatic, and it won’t be easy. Learning to embrace yourself is going to be a work in progress and that’s ok. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Just know that every time you make a conscious choice to stay true to yourself, you’re closer to your end goal than you were one day ago.

2. Choose a Support System That Helps You Grow

Surround yourself with people who are willing to work with you, who will give you the opportunity to grow into yourself, and who will never judge you along the way. Although it is ultimately up to you to choose and accept yourself, it doesn’t hurt to have people around you who are also willing to choose and accept you. They will be there to support you as you grow and will not expect you to be the same person they met years ago. They will acknowledge that there is more than one version of you.

3. Forgive Your Earlier Mistakes

As you grow, it is so important to forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for mistakes you’ve made not only with others, but with yourself as well. Be kind and practice self-compassion. In the process of growing and embracing yourself, you are inevitably going to make mistakes. That’s ok. Since we’re in the spirit of embracing things, let’s embrace those too. Learning from mistakes is the only way to grow.

4. Detach Your Value From the Values of Others

We’ve heard it a million times: it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Then why does it still feel like it does? Because it’s going to take a lot of time and a constant effort to reverse the habits we’ve lived with for years. It’s ok to hear the opinions of others, but the important thing to realize is that their negative opinions do not diminish your value.

Repeat after us: my value does not depend on what others think of me.

5. Get to Know Yourself

Part of embracing who you are is knowing who you are. If you don’t even know who you are, how are you supposed to embrace and stand up for that person? If you’re unsure of your identity right now, don’t worry. Be open to trying new things so you can figure out what makes you you. It will take work and introspection to know yourself – that’s what we’re here for.

Use our DiveThru app to dig deep into yourself and find the true you that’s hiding under all the layers of fitting in (see next point).

What makes you swell with pride?

What makes you want to scream in frustration?

And what makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside?

Once you know these things about yourself, it will be easier to embrace them and live authentically. This is a small step towards learning how to love yourself more.

6. Don’t Try to Fit In

It’s very hard when all we’ve been taught is to fit into a box, a mold, and a certain way of being. Growing up, all we wanted to do was fit in. The thing we probably didn’t realize was that, by being different, we were already similar. Our differences make us unique and interesting, but they are also what make us similar. We are all different. That’s a good thing. How boring would the world be if everyone was a carbon copy of one another?

7. Know That You’re Doing Your Best

It’s hard to be yourself in a world that’s constantly trying to tell you to be someone else. We get it. Just know that you are doing your best and that that is enough. Despite what people may tell you, you don’t have to be perfect. Your best is and will always be enough.