How to Live More Authentically

How to build a life that you authentically love, from someone who’s done just that

Sally Clarke
7 min readJul 27, 2024
me on a hike in South Australia, January 2024

One of the hardest realizations that came after my burnout was that I had not been living my life authentically. Far from it, actually.

I had no idea of my own values or what mattered to me. Instead, I’d been making decisions that aligned with the values and a definition of success held by other people: my parents, my peers, society at large.

No wonder this led to a catastrophic burnout.

In retrospect, burnout just seems like my body’s intelligent response to its circumstances, namely, chronic workplace stress. I was working long hours in a profession that I didn’t find fulfilling (some people find corporate finance law super stimulating; fun fact! I’m not one of them).

I felt like I was forever sprinting, never keeping up, always falling short.

Eventually, I felt like I was an observer of my own life: watching from the outside through a glass pane. Not actively participating, never truly present.

It took concerted effort, but these days, my life mainly feels authentically my own. This isn’t an easy process — nor a quick one. It’s a lifelong process. And yet it’s one of the best choices I’ve ever made…

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Sally Clarke

Wellbeing & burnout author, expert, writer & speaker. Global adventurer. she/her www.salcla.com