What does it mean to be yourself

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I don't get this.

It is repeated message, and even in psychology authentic self is seen as the healthy way to go.

I have no idea what people mean by this.

I am pretty sure punching someone in the face when you feel like it is not what they mean.

I also know its not being 100 percent honest.

So what the hell does it mean.

Sometimes I am completely lazy person.
Why is that frowned upon if its authentic laziness.

What makes you guys feel authentic?

I'd say to be myself is to not put on a mask to pretend to be something I am not.

I have no idea either. I think it means, try to "seem" sincere and make mistakes sometimes so you dont come off as too showy.

It was originally sloganized around the 2ks.

It means, as I recall, to just be yourself socially. As in, oh, me and my friends are talking about something or hanging out, how should I be (for example.) Just be yourself.

Oh, I'm confused as what to do or say in this social situation or event. Just be yourself.

Not in any other way. It was sort of, a way if helping insecure or confused people reach out to others and understand themselves.

Or people, mainly the teens, to help them find 'themselves' interpersonally in the long term, and to help them develop their sociality in the short, which those two things build upon each other.

I first heard about it on an commercial back when bullying was all the rage.

Way, way back. When I was like, 14.

Hope I helped :+)

Thanks for responses.
Even though I did not find the answer to my question I appreciate the replys.
I guess its just something I have to figure out on my own as per usual, but I have heard this so many times, but never understood what people mean exactly by it.
Maybe people never quite figure out what that means, and we just kind of figure it out through out life.

No, "Be yourself!" is much older than the 2ks. Goes back to at least the 1960's and probably much earlier. In fact, a similar phrase -- "To thine own self be true" -- appears in one of Shakespeare's plays, way back around 1600.

I take it as meaning: "Don't mask more than you have to." Whenever and wherever possible, assert your own needs, and/or try to find people who share or appreciate your idiosyncrasies, instead of hiding them.

We do need to be considerate towards other people, and we do need to maintain enough of a professional demeanor to be able to perform our jobs satisfactorily.

But, beyond those basic social necessities, there are many other things that people conform to that are just arbitrary social norms. And some of those things are very difficult or unpleasant for some of us.

If possible, it is desirable to try to arrange one's life so as to minimize the amount of unpleasant or difficult arbitrary social norms that one has to conform to.

Examples:

(1) If you're gay and you live in a homophobic town, move out, as soon as you can, to some place that has a decent-sized LGBTQ+ community.

(2) If you have unusual special interests that seem weird to most people, look for people who share your interests, or who at least aren't fazed by them, instead of giving up your interests in order to fit in.

(3) If you have sensory sensitivities to uncomfortable clothing, try to find a job that doesn't require you to wear uncomfortable clothes.

(4) If you have difficulty with eye contact, to the point that trying to do NT-style eye contact makes it impossible to focus on the verbal content of what is being said to you, DON'T keep forcing yourself to do eye contact and thereby keep failing to actually listen to anyone, as satirized in this video:



Instead, explain your difficulty to the people in your life and ask them to respect your need to do whatever you need to do in order to maximize your ability to actually listen to them and actually understand and absorb what they are saying.

Something say they want but don't really know what it implies.