Living your truth means knowing who you are at your essence. Using and expressing it is the key to work-life balance, your purpose, joy, healthy boundaries, and life fulfillment. It took most of my adult life to figure mine out. I’m hoping this article gets you to that realization much faster or validates what you already know.

It’s extremely important because it’s about discovering who you truly are at your core. It’s the real you, and everything emanates from it.

It’s not always obvious and accessible if it’s hidden beneath layers of conditioning, expectations, codependency, and societal norms. And the bigger the lie or facade about who you are, the more difficult it is for anything else in your life to get into alignment. The longer you’ve been acting out of fear and conditioning instead of passion and your truth, the longer it might take to unravel, but it’s worth it.

I know that from my own experience of shapeshifting into versions of myself based on what I thought would be favorable to others. It didn’t prevent me from accomplishing my success, but it was paralyzing at times, and it prevented me from feeling deep fulfillment and satisfaction.

We have no idea what is happening behind the scenes with everyone’s highlight reels. They could very well be living behind a façade. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. We have to remind ourselves that it’s their truth, their lane, and their soul blueprint. Not ours. Ever.

Let’s dive into how to recognize and use your true essence. The good news is that it’s always there, waiting for you to call it out and use it to empower your journey and shine your light. The easiest way to do this is to recognize the undeniable aspects of yourself.

Our neighbor was a commercial mortgage banker, but every time we asked him if he could help us fix something in our house and yard, he skipped over like a kid running into Disneyland. My friend works 10-hour days in human resources, but if she gets the chance to gift someone with her home-cooked meals, she gets a surge of energy to carry on despite a long day.

Your essence is the unique melody that only you can play. Let it resound and create a symphony of fulfillment in your life.

Why? Because they are expressing their essence and who they are at their core: someone who loves to figure out problems and fix things, and someone who loves to use her culinary skills to offer love and support.

How do you recognize yourself in your essence? Think about your values, interests, passions, and when you feel truly alive. What kind of environment, challenges, people, or situations bring out your best?

You’ve all experienced a time when five minutes felt like one hour and one hour felt like five minutes. Why did it feel that way? What were you doing? Find the common denominators in the latter and infuse them into your life. At the same time, be careful to separate the commonalities from the actual activity.

If doing a crossword puzzle creates a state of flow, your essence is not a crossword puzzle-doer! What about the process, however? Detail-oriented tasks? Problem-solving? Zooming in from a big picture perspective to the correlating details? The quiet, focused, independent environment? Or perhaps it’s a family activity and you enjoy teamwork.

If you could spend most of your free days gardening, what aspects of that process could also be expressed in a vocation or career?

Our memories are incredibly insightful and helpful in this process as well.

Think as far back as you can remember. Focus on the ones that brought joy, a sense of purpose, and overall satisfaction. You will notice patterns in several areas of your life in which you are expressing elements of your essence.

Moving to the present, what are you doing now that draws you, pulls you, and provides a feeling of expansion?

How do other people describe you? (Living truthfully, of course.) What would they say if I asked your best friend(s) and/or close family members to describe you in one sentence?

What is your undeniable truth? What is on your I can't NOT do this list? Volunteering for the homeless, taking adventure vacations, working in a garden, making people laugh, or performing.

All of these questions yield an understanding of who you are at your best and when you were and are using your talents to be of service in some capacity.

Another way to identify this alignment is how you feel when you are connected to your true self. Topping the list are being free, balanced, confident, and fulfilled. Time flies by. Your mind doesn’t wander into racing thoughts. There is ease, flow, and enjoyment. What would be difficult for others is effortless.

And finally, this is how I dialed down my essence. I hope my example helps you start your process of discovery, especially if you are multi-passionate, as I like to describe it.

I recognized that I am here to uplift, unify, inspire, bring lightness and levity, help people with clarity and confidence, discover their spiritual paths, and initiate transformation and alignment. When I narrow it down, I’m here to unify the collective. How I go about it includes many different aspects of my talents and experience. It’s not my job title or career. It’s not being a mom, a wife, or even a mentor. Those do not describe me in my true essence. They are simply the ways I expressed it or continue to do so.

Remember that your essence is always a part of you, even in those stifling circumstances. Find other ways and places to use and express it. Recognize and appreciate your new awareness, which is always the first step.

You, in alignment, are expressing and using your talents for the greater good. Seek validation not from within but from your heart and intuition. Make decisions that support your essence, and you will support your dreams as well.