Why You Need To Keep It Real With Yourself At All Times

August 10, 2015 • Inspiration, Reflect

You could end up saving your life.

Yesterday I went to visit my dad in the hospital. He has a history of heart complications, so when his chest started to hurt, my mom took him to the emergency room to make sure everything was okay.

Because the doctors wanted to monitor his vitals, he had to be admitted for a few days.

Here’s the thing: My dad, being the type of person he is, didn’t even want to admit that his chest hurt.

Instead, he walked around the house, slower than normal, with his hand over his chest.

“Are you okay, Daddy?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he grimaced. The look on his face read, “I need help,” yet the words didn’t escape from his mouth.

My mother – being the type of person she is – badgered him until he finally caved and agreed to go to ER.

I’m telling you this little story because I find it a bit funny how – while talking to my dad  during my visit to see him- he told me this:

“Rana, you’ve got to keep it real with yourself. Stop doing 100 different things and focus on that ONE thing that you really really want to do.”

My problem is (and always has been) that I do too much. I’m scared of commitment. I’m scared of failing.

So you know what happens?

I do a million and one different things and try to help a million and one different people….all at the detriment of my mind, body and soul.

Some days I look in at myself and say, “Rana, what are you doing? Why are you doing all this stuff that truly doesn’t make you happy? Why aren’t you doing what YOU truly want to do?”

The moral of this story is sometimes you have to keep it 100% real with yourself. If you go down a path that you know deep down inside that you have no passion for – you’ll spend your days in a state of mental, emotional, (and even physical) sickness.

See, Daddy wasn’t real with himself. He KNEW he was in PAIN and yet he kept wanting to walk around and go about his day as if everything was okay.

Maybe he was scared to ask for help. Maybe he didn’t want to seem weak. Maybe he was nervous about what the chest pain really meant.

It wasn’t until he was tired of my mom’s badgering (and maybe the pain was getting to be too much) did he actually make that trip to the ER, which potentially saved his life.

Are you spending your days living in pain because you’re following someone’s else’s dream? Are you not being real about the things that YOU KNOW are holding you back?

When you focus on keeping it real with yourself at all times, you will achieve:

  1. Freedom
  2. Clarity
  3. Motivation
  4. Inspiration
  5. Energy
  6. Faith
  7. Courage
  8. Wisdom

I’ll talk a little bit more about all of these things in my next post, so make sure to check back for that. (Subscribe to my newsletter to get updates via email.)

I’m sure some of you reading this can relate, so in the meantime LEAVE A COMMENT and share how keeping it real with yourself has helped you.

#shineon

GET INSPIRATION IN YOUR INBOX WEEKLY, CLICK HERE

 

The following two tabs change content below.
Rana Campbell is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Ranacampbell.com, a site dedicated to personal branding and helping people learn how to SHINE in their personal and professional lives.

Tags: , ,

4 Responses to Why You Need To Keep It Real With Yourself At All Times

  1. Emilie Burke says:

    YAAAAAAS. The only apppropriate comment on this.

  2. McKenzie says:

    Loved this! I’m so glad your dad is okay now. I’m definitely guilty of not always keeping it real with myself, especially in regards to what I am and am not willing to do job-wise. It’s made the job search process especially frustrating, because I find that it’s hard to keep it real with myself about what I want to do when I don’t have the experience or clout to back it up

    • I so understand where you are coming from on this one. Sometimes finding the perfect fit can be tough, but try to keep in mind what your ultimate goals are and ask if the opportunity will teach you something that will help you end up where you ultimately want to be. That may be a way to navigate not having as much experience or klout at the moment. At the end of the day, you’re fabulous and remember that you can do anything you put your mind to.