Personality traits describe your patterns, but they don’t define your potential.

Self-acceptance and intentional change can coexist.

Discomfort during growth doesn’t mean you’re being fake; it means you’re practicing something new.

Just be yourself. It’s some of the most common advice we’re given. And it’s certainly well-intentioned, usually offered to help us feel more at ease in our own skin.

In fact, there is so much emphasis on being “authentic” in recent years that acting outside your usual patterns can start to feel untrue to who you are.

As a practicing clinical psychologist, I am a strong advocate for self-acceptance. As a researcher who studies how people intentionally shift personality traits that aren’t serving them, however, I sometimes wonder whether we’ve misunderstood what authenticity really means.

The question I keep coming back to is this: Is it possible to be authentic while actively trying to change?

Striking the Balance Between Acceptance and Change

At first glance, acceptance and change can seem like opposing forces. If you accept........

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