There are moments in life that change you quietly — not through grand achievements, but through the courage it takes to reclaim yourself. This reflection is one of those moments for me. It’s about remembering who I am beneath the noise of other people’s opinions, learning to trust my own voice again, and finding the strength to live a life that’s authentically mine.
There are goals that challenge your time, energy, and discipline — and then there are goals that challenge your soul. For me, the hardest goal I’ve ever set wasn’t about success, fitness, or creativity. It was about learning to trust myself again — to truly live a life that’s mine.
At one point in my life, I allowed others to cause me self-doubt because of my illness. I made the mistake of letting other people’s judgments and opinions of me affect how I saw myself. I allowed them to cross that boundary — my sacred space where only my opinion should matter.
I remember second-guessing myself and being consumed by someone’s opinion about my decisions. I would spend so much time overthinking, replaying conversations, and questioning my own choices. Eventually, I started feeling unsure of myself — like I couldn’t trust my own instincts anymore. It was as if I was living my life just to appease others, to keep the peace, to maintain harmony in relationships that required me to shrink.
I convinced myself that their opinion about my life mattered more than my own. Until one day, I woke up and asked myself — why am I giving other people so much say about my life? I don’t meddle in anyone’s personal affairs, so why am I allowing others to dictate mine?
Over time, I realized that the more I allowed others to influence my path, the more resentment I felt. That resentment grew quietly, deeply, and uncomfortably — and I didn’t like what it was turning me into. I knew something had to change. I had to stop giving so much weight to voices that didn’t understand what it’s like to live in my shoes, especially while living with anxiety and OCD.
I needed to be true to myself — to what I feel, what I believe, and what I know is right for me. I grew tired of molding myself just to fit in, just to be accepted or loved. My childhood longing to belong made me compromise important parts of myself for far too long.
It took reaching a point of deep resentment to finally say, enough is enough. But the ultimate turning point came when my daughter was born. She made me braver and stronger. She inspires me to keep growing — to become a better version of myself in every way that matters.
And I think that’s the hardest goal I’ve ever set for myself: to become a better me despite life’s many trials and tribulations, to rise above the occasion every single time life throws a curveball, and most importantly — to never again let other people’s opinions or judgments deter me from living a life that is authentically mine.
Sometimes the hardest goal isn’t about achievement — it’s about alignment. About finding your way back to your truth and realizing that your worth has never depended on anyone’s approval. If you’re in that season too, may this remind you: your life is yours. You get to decide who you become.
EXPLORE . ADVENTURE . DISCOVER . 