PRACTICAL TIPS ON BECOMING YOUR BEST SELF

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Have you always wondered whether you can become your best self? Do you feel like there is a better version of you that should emerge? Maybe you have seen someone who has reinvented themselves and now you want the same for yourself, too. If this is you, then let’s dive right in. 

But before we do, I want you to recognize that you can become your best self. And that reinvention can happen at any age and anytime. You don’t have to wait until the start of another year to reinvent yourself. The beauty of life is that it is a journey without a specific road map. Life is what you make it to be, and it is up to you to create the life that you have always wanted. Now, of course, being a Christian reinvention means getting to be the real person who God created you to be. So it is your soul being congruent with your spirit. Now you may wonder why there is a disconnect between your spirit and soul. 

The real reason for the disconnect is sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, there was a void created. God had told them they would die if they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. And when they did, they died. Now, of course, we know they did not experience physical death. After all, they are our ancestors. But there is something that died. And that was their spirit. That connection between them and God was what died. Because God is our creator and there was that disconnect, we lost our sense of identity. And it took Jesus coming to earth and dying for our sins for us to receive eternal life and be restored to God. 

The consequence of their action led to us losing the sense of who we truly are. And that’s why we usually have an identity crisis. Because God created us for fellowship, we always have that need to identify with someone and something. We always need to feel like we belong somewhere or with someone. And that’s why often we compromise what we know to be true to fit in. The problem with this is that we take away from who we are and when it is time for us to discover ourselves, we have a hard time doing so. This is because it takes time to change a habit. And when we spend our time becoming who we are not, we will require to put in more work and effort to discover ourselves and become our best selves. 

Maybe this is you, maybe you have been a people pleaser or you have just been trying to keep up with the latest trend because of the fear of missing out. It is especially difficult in the era of social media because everyone is posting their highlight reels and you might feel left out or even left behind. But the reality is that we are all on different journeys and paths. And unless we know this, we can allow comparison and depression to drive us to compromise and disregard who we truly are. But then how do we get to our best selves?

How can you become your best self?

The first step to becoming your best self is to find your identity.

How will you know how to truly be your best self if you don’t know who you are? How will you improve when you don’t even know what you are aiming at? It is imperative that you first find your identity before becoming your best self. The house that stands when a storm comes is the one built on a solid foundation. When you do not set the foundation right, you will build on shaky ground and it will crumble. If you allow your career to define you, what happens when you lose the position? If it is a relationship, what happens when the person leaves? Culture, career, wealth, finances, fame, education, and beauty cannot and should not define you.

All these cannot define you. This is because they are all fleeting. Don’t get me wrong. You should be ambitious and it is okay to live a comfortable life and even have companionship. After all, these things, and even people, make life memorable and fun. So I am not discounting them and the things and people all have a role to play in our lives. But they should not be your anchor or where your identity lies.

What defines you? God should be the one who defines you. This is because He is unchangeable. And He will never leave you nor forsake you. You know, God says that everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that that which cannot be shaken can remain.

What does your foundation look like? Who and what are you anchored on? Jesus is the solid Rock. He is your firm foundation.

Below are some scriptures that describe Jesus as the Solid Rock.

Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Saviour? It is one thing to know about Him and a whole other thing to know Him. Can you decipher the two? The Bible says that when you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, He will save you. Maybe today is the day for you to make that commitment and make Jesus the center of your life. You have been struggling long enough to find your identity. Why not try Jesus? He will always be there for you, after all.

Having a relationship with Jesus is cultivated by spending time with Him. And because your connection with Jesus is through your spirit, you need to feed your spirit. The same way you nourish your body for it to thrive in the same way you need to nourish your soul. You need to remember that what you feed grows. So if you want your spirit to grow you need to feed it. You may wonder how you can do that.

• You can feed your spirit through prayer- Prayer is communication with God. And as you pray, you strengthen your spirit.
• Reading the Bible. The Word of God is food for your spirit. 1 Peter 2:2. like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow regarding salvation. John 6:51: I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. And before you wonder how this applies. John 1:1 talks about Jesus being the Word.
• Praise and worship- Worship is surrender and the more you surrender to God, the more your spirit comes alive. Remember, the only way you can connect to God, who is Spirit, is through your spirit. So worship and praise are also a way you can strengthen your spirit. Your spirit and your flesh are always in a constant war. And whenever you are feeding one, the other weakens. Choose wisely.
• Fellowship with the Holy Spirit- Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to be our helper. And when you engage with Him, you activate your spirit.
• Obeying God’s commandments- As you follow His laws, you strengthen your spirit. Obedience leads to sensitivity to the voice of God and the strengthening of your spirit.

The importance of having a relationship with God and strengthening your spirit is that you will hear Him. Also, through your reading the Word, you will get to discover the truth of who God is and what He says about you. It is when you read the word of God that you will get to know the promises He has spoken over you.

And also, through the Word of God, your spiritual antennas will be alert to hear Him when He speaks to you. God might speak to you through an impression in your spirit. Or even through scripture, that jumps out of the pages of the Bible. He can even speak to you through dreams and visions. If you want to know more about God’s voice, check out this blog post on hearing God’s voice. Hearing God’s voice will help you become your best self.

Make Peace With Your Past

For you to become your best self you need to make peace with your past. You cannot grow and evolve if you allow your past to haunt you. And if you want some tips to help you with that then keep reading

For you to make peace with your past, acknowledge that your past was not pretty. Until you acknowledge it, the past will haunt you. Acknowledging the past will bring it to the light and what is in the light, the devil has no control over. This can be as simple as confronting the past and addressing the mistakes, failures, or even the shame and guilt you are feeling. It is recognizing that there was a mistake made. Whether it is through people-pleasing, or being in a wrong relationship. Or just allowing people or things to define you. Any time you acknowledge something unpleasant, it loses its power over you. So take your power by acknowledging it.

The second thing is by taking it to God. God will heal every broken area you bring to Him. He is your healer. And also your Creator. Him being your creator means He has the power to take the broken pieces and make them whole again. As you take your past to God, you give Him room to remove everything that is not of Him. God created you for a purpose, the same way a potter creates their masterpiece for an intended purpose. So if God created you for a purpose, it means that as He is healing you, He will give you your true identity back.

Taking your past to God is simply telling Him everything. And allowing yourself to be vulnerable with God. Your best self is found on the other side of your vulnerability and honesty. As you take it to God, repent and ask Him to forgive you for not being your authentic self. God is faithful and just to forgive you when you repent.

Forgive yourself. Yes, your past is not pretty. But you cannot change it. Fortunately, you have a Saviour who specializes in mending broken hearts and healing broken pieces. And the best part is that He will use the mistakes and every ugly part of your life for His Glory. It will all work out for your good. Allow the truth that it will all work out for your good to give you room to forgive yourself.

Unlearn the old ways

Believe the truth of who God says you are. The Bible makes it clear that your true identity is found in God. Your best self is found in God and nowhere else. Jesus was effective here on earth because He understood His identity. He knew God was the only one who could define Him. He knew the hearts of men are fickle and He did not rely on them. That is why He easily forgave Peter and redeemed him when he denied Him.

Having found your identity, what does your best self look like? How can you cultivate and build her up?

So let’s say you want to be confident. Do you need to learn what confidence is?

How does God define confidence?

• What does a confident person look like?
• Do you know someone confident?
• How do they behave?

Asking yourself these questions will help you know what you need to do to get the confidence. Find a community of people who are on the same path as you. This will help keep you motivated when you want to give up. Community is vital on your journey to becoming your best self. And remember, you are who you hang around with. So if you want to become your best self, you need to hang around those who want the same thing. They will not only keep you accountable but will also be your biggest cheerleaders. You will also find yourself doing things the right way because you are around wise counsel.

Listen to podcasts or read books that will help you become your best self. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Fill your mind with the truth you want to reflect and it will be so. God honors your diligence. Be diligent in the pursuit of your best self and do not stop at anything. God will reward you and you will reap if you faint not.

Extend grace to yourself- Rome was not built in a day. There will be days when your old self will try to rear its head. In those days, extend grace to yourself. Remember that you are human and therefore prone to error. Grace is available for you. Make room for grace in those moments. Remember, it is in your weakness that God’s strength is revealed. You are not doing it alone. God is with you. Take it a day at a time. Celebrate the wins and be consistent in your growth.

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• The Journey To Becoming Your True Self As Christian Millennials.
• When You Have Nothing Left To Lose
• PEOPLE PLEASING AND HOW TO GET OUT OF IT.

Conclusion.

Becoming your best self is a journey. You will never fully arrive until you are glorified. As long as you are here on earth, you are being sanctified. Enjoy the journey and learn to celebrate the milestones. Always be consistent and remember it is the small steps and things that form a habit. So focus on doing one small thing every day and add to it. As you do that, a year from now, you realize you are no longer the person you used to be. You can do it, don’t procrastinate. Start now.