Today I am so excited to bring you some content from my friend Cierra Bray. She is going to be spilling the tea on what it means to be REAL, AUTHENTIC and YOU. 

Hey ya’ll my name is Cierra Bray and I’m a passionate enterpriser and the creator of Keep Being Real, a movement to empower you to keep being real in your life, business and relationships.

We live in a time that, on the surface, appears fake, everything has a filter, everything has to be perfectly placed, we can’t talk about our feelings, mental health still has a stigma and we are constantly being told what to do, how to dress, when to get married, when to have kids, etc, and I think this is absolutely cray cray.

Since I was little, I’ve been challenging the status quo and social rules that we all think we need to abide by. If you ask my mom, she will tell you I always stayed true to my values and never let outside opinions change my true self even as a child.

In this post, I’m going to share 4 tips on how you can Keep being Real and start living your life on your own terms because we only get one opportunity.

1) R – Reflect

To start living life on your own terms you have to reflect on your past and start healing from any past trauma or self-sabotage. To move forward, you must go back and overcome any leftover grief or self-judgement you may have. This process is crucial because if you want to live a life on your own terms, you have to overcome any negative pain that could come up down the road and challenge you.

To reflect, I highly encourage you sit with yourself, breathe and ask yourself what do I have to overcome. If you’re really quiet, your body will start to shed a light on it. While doing this process and sitting in the discomfort, I encourage you to journal and write everything you’re feeling.

Have an open mind and an open heart. Your ego will come in and try to discourage you from this process, thank it for attending your meeting but gently swift it away. Write until you can’t write anymore. It’s okay to feel angry, sad, happy, resentful etc. Feelings are good.

2) E- Embrace

Once you’ve reflected and really understand what some of your blocks could be, it’s time to embrace them. By embracing, you are overcoming and moving forward with love and confidence.   So how do you do this?

It’s a process and it takes time and consistency.

You have to decide how you want to feel. Take everything you’ve learned from reflecting and start asking yourself how you can overcome it. You can’t change your past but you can change the way you feel about it. Overcoming it may include forgiving yourself or someone else, it may be letting go through journaling and meditating, it may include seeing a therapist. There is no right or wrong answer but taking the steps to embrace what you’ve reflected on is important. Be courageous and embrace your past.

3) A – Accountability

Now that you’re on a path of embracing, and healing it’s time to hold yourself accountable with your words, your actions, and your energy. You are in charge and you get to choose how you want to feel and what you are going to do next.  Your body will start to notify you when something doesn’t fit your real values, listen to it and hold yourself accountable.

For me, I hold myself accountable to my non-negotiable routines, I work on my affirmations every day and this has helped me live in real alignment.

4) L – Love

Lastly, self-love is number one. No matter what you experience in reflection, in embracing or how you’re holding yourself accountable, you always have to lean on self-love and be kind to yourself.  Even when you don’t believe it, even when others are telling you something different, loving yourself is key.

You may be asking, how do I love myself? I don’t have all the answers but I do know that you can nourish your body with positive content, food, water and relationships, look at yourself in the mirror with complete contentment, tell yourself how much you love it, show gratitude for your body, appreciate the temple you have and continuously keep showing love, every single day!

*Important*

Being Real is a journey, not an overnight fix! You may have to heal along your journey, you will have to continue to embrace who you are and your past, you will always have to hold yourself accountable and may fail a few (100) times, loving yourself may be super difficult at times but it is all okay. This is part of the process of being real and I promise you, if you show up, even when it gets hard, it will be okay.

Feel free to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and check out my blog.

Thanks for reading, 

C

I hope you all really enjoyed this post from Cierra! Make sure that you all check out her blog and her social handles to learn more about herself and her mission. 

If you liked the post make sure to share it with a friend and subscribed to my blog to get email updates every time I post. Also be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get more updates from me on my day to day life.

• Daily Habits and Tips for Self Love
• building a DIY Selfcare Toolkit
• A Vital Mindset Shift To Ease Fear and Anxiety
• Improve Your Medical Care by Expanding Your Health Care Team
• Fun At-Home Activities For When You Can’t Go Out