Sometimes, being yourself isn't good enough. | Yakezie Reader Insights | Yakezie Forums

We've always been told to "just be ourselves". But what if being ourselves isn't good enough? Do you guys believe in the "be yourself" line?

http://www.investorzblog.com/s…..od-enough/

I guess what you can ask yourself is are you maximizing your own EV (satisfaction in life)? That's what ultimately matters.

Without getting all metaphysical and woo-woo, I'd say, yes- being yourself is enough.  Whenever it doesn't feel like "enough," it's good to do a evaluation of our life choices, how we live our days and who we associate with and what our goals are, and that sets the stagnant "self" in motion.  

It's enough until it isn't, then we work on making it enough again in new, fulfilling ways ;)

FrugalBeautiful said:

Without getting all metaphysical and woo-woo, I'd say, yes- being yourself is enough.  Whenever it doesn't feel like "enough," it's good to do a evaluation of our life choices, how we live our days and who we associate with and what our goals are, and that sets the stagnant "self" in motion.  

 

It's enough until it isn't, then we work on making it enough again in new, fulfilling ways ;)

Awesome response. I totally agree. Great post Tony.

This is a tricky topic – because the question is – can you become different?

Of course we all change – that is inevitable. But how much can we force ourselves to change? Sometimes, you can fake a behavior until it becomes habit, and becomes more natural for you. But if you hate crowds, for example, it may be too much to choose a career for yourself that forces you to constantly be in a crowd – unless there is something you will really love about that career that motivates you so much that you will deal with the crowds to make it.

I think most of us here set goals for ourselves, and that's one way of controlling yourself to act a way that you might not act without tracking it. But you have to also be comfortable with who you are.

I don't like going to parties, and I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about not wanting to go to more parties in college. But I realized that I should have directed that energy towards finding social activities I did like – small gatherings, rather than huge parties – rather than trying to change myself to like parties.

Sometimes it's good to start with your inherent personality traits and figure out in what situations those traits would be positive attributes. Almost all traits that are negative in one situation can be positive in a different situation.

Barb Friedberg said:

MaximizingMoney said:

I guess you either have to be happy with who you are or become somebody you'd be happy to be. As long as being yourself makes you happy and is positive for you, then yeah, I'd believe that line. If being yourself is making you a miserable wreck and ruining your life, then you may need to rethink who you are.

Very wise. I agree :)

Ditto!

I guess it depends on who is asking.  Is being yourself good enough to get by on a daily basis – probably for you.  However, if someone else is judging you (say a spouse, parent, boss) maybe what you do isnt good enough for them.  

To the people who say me being myself isnt good enough, I simply say thats fine.  What they think does not matter.

I look at it that I'm probably the cause of disappointment to at least one person at any given time.  The goal is to make sure that it isn't long lasting and that it's not everybody.  I guess it goes back to realizing that you can't please everyone.