Newsletter: Becoming Yourself
Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone! I hope you're off enjoying your holiday weekend if you're here in North America. I'm spending my weekend putting the finishing touches on the first draft of my book.
In this week's newsletter, we're covering what it really means to 'be yourself', how to look with appreciation instead of judgment, and what to remember about those stories you're telling yourself. Starting next week, you can expect the community section back up and running in here again.
Finally, it was an honor to have our work shared in Design Milk this week. If you're interested in learning more about our work and specifically design process, you can read it here.
Have a great weekend.
Stephanie Harrison, founder of The New Happy
This Week
Advice like “Just be yourself” or “be authentic!” is so well-meaning, but often very difficult to put into practice. It's particularly hard if you’ve been immersed in Old Happy culture for a long time and lost track of who you are.
Try This
We need to translate this platitude into an action. Ask yourself: What is one thing that your true self really wants to do today?
I love this question because the answer is so often surprising. Whenever I ask it of myself, the answer is different, and yet it always moves me closer towards authenticity.
These small actions might not seem like much. But they add up because as you ask and act, you’re also authentically becoming more of yourself. Authenticity really just means that you are acting in alignment with your true self. It’s a like a muscle we can develop over time, one that soon won't need to be consciously trained in this way. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
More Tips and Tools
1. Accepting reality (Instagram, TikTok)
2. Your attention is a beam (Instagram)
3. The stories you tell (Instagram, TikTok)
Inspiration
1. Behind the scenes of an Afghan (Australian) soccer team (NYT) — Courage in action.
2. The best complaint letter of all time (Letters of Note)— The funniest note I've ever read.
3. Domestic artistry is artwork (Washington Post) — This is a beautiful and important perspective.
Before You Go
Thank you for reading
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