Most people never make the effort to get to know themselves. So they default to the behavior of the rest of the society. It's not suprising really, in the animal kingdom you're way more likely to die if you're different. The safe route is to be like everyone else.

It's a trade off though, that not too many people realize: you gain safety, but lose individuality.

See, authenticity makes you, you. So when you give it up, you become the same as everyone else, which means you're doing things you don't really want to do.

It can mean that you're studying law, because your parents were laywers.

Or maybe you're preparing to get married at the age of 21.

You can't truly be an authentic individual if you don't know who you are. That's why it's important to get to know yourself by simply asking "do I really want to do X?"

"Do I really want to study law?"

"Do I really want to get married?"

These kind of questions can be scary and no wonder, answers to those questions can potentially turn our lives upside down.

That's why I feel like it's better to start small, with things that can't make or break your life.

Next time you hear that "happy wife - happy life", or how "adulting" is hard, or that Mondays are shitty and you feel like you need to laugh, just to be polite and to conform - ask yourself:

"Does this joke really make me laugh?"