Not the façade you put on before you walk into any given group of people, not even the image you give your family, or your closest friends. Get alone and meditate on you.  Who are you when you're alone? If it sparks your interest, try meditating. It can reduce your stress levels to enable better mental clarity. This may enable you to see yourself in a clearer manner. Everyday we see images of what is "okay." It changes constantly (which proves it doesn't really exist). To be you, you must give up trying to live up to some non-existent standard. There's no more being a prep or a jock or a hipster and there's just being. Labels are the way society defines us. There's no more carrying that Coach purse because it says "Coach" on it. You need a better reason than that! Throw away your aspirations of fitting into any select group, clique, or social class. If the genuine you is what they are looking for, they will come calling later, when you have established your true identity. Unfortunately, in today's world we're so bombarded with what society expects of us that sometimes we don't even know who we are. We spend years (sometimes decades, sometimes entire lifetimes) molding ourselves to fit someone else's idea of who we should be, burying who we really are under layers of fluff and masks. Take a minute to write down what actually feels like you. It can be things you do, things you are, or things you think -- it could be anything, so long as it's true. When you have a list of a dozen or so things (as simple as "I am happier in flip flops" or "I seek adventure above all else"), post it somewhere you'll run into it often. Then, when you go to make a comment or when you're reviewing your day, you can see if your behavior is in line with you who really are. Odds are you'll come up with some things you do/say/think that aren't true to you. We may not always like where we come from, but there is no escaping the influence our history has on who and what we are. Many people spend a lot of time and effort escaping their past, such as changing the spelling of their names to sound more politically correct, or giving other people too much power to reshape them culturally. Where do you come from? After all, your parents shaped you greatly and your grandparents shaped them. Think about the following:  Your upbringing. What do you remember most vividly about it? How was it different than most people's? Your location. How did that shape you? What hobbies and personality traits do you have because of it? Your likes and dislikes. How many of them are shared with your family? How many do you have because of your family? It's a natural human inclination to strive to be surrounded by people...even when those people drain us. But to really be genuine, to rediscover a you that is happy and natural, those people that leave you exhausted after interacting with them have to be cut out. That's all there is to it. Give yourself thirty seconds to think about it and you'll know exactly who they are.  There are people in the world that just aren't good for us. It's hard to cut them out, especially when we feel like we're being cruel. But it's important not to view this behavior as selfish. Sure, it's in your best interest -- but if you don't act in your best interest, no one will. You're not being selfish, you're being logical. Forget all the hyped up latest trends unless they fit the genuine you. They last a matter of months -- why would you want to cycle through identities that quickly? Look at your own style and preferences. If a T-shirt and jeans are you, fanfrickin'tastic. It's easy to think we're honest and sincere -- but in order to function tactfully and appropriately with others, it seems like we've inserted mind games into everyday interactions. That little white lie we tell Gina about how people actually like her, how we hint at asking for something from a friend because we think it's bad manners to ask for too many favors, etc. We're not being us -- we're being who people think we should be. Gotta cut that out. The two main sticklers are people-pleasing and avoidance. If you find yourself sacrificing your happiness to please others, that first one describes you. And if you avoid saying or doing things simply because they'd be frowned upon or they might be potentially embarrassing, that's the second. Those little voices inside our heads stopping us aren't us -- they're a part of us that's very much so taught and inorganic.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Spend some time self-indulgently thinking about who you really are. Let go of what society says is acceptable. Make a list of truths about yourself. Think about your own family history and culture. Fire your toxic friends. Quit the games now.

Q: Most of the strategies listed in Method 2 will help you focus when reading faster, but some tools will slow you down. Don't vocalize, highlight text, re-read material, or try to write down every detail you read.  Using your finger as a guide can actually help you speed up since your finger can help guide your eyes along as you read. Consider the structure of the book by reading the table of contents. Sure, sometimes skimming stops you from understanding the text fully, so ensure you read parts carefully now and then, and if there's something new, check back and read a little bit.   Spend time carefully reading the introduction and conclusion, as these lay out the main themes of the book. Skim through chapters that provide extensive drawings, illustrations, or lots of similar examples. Write down a summary after reading for a while. Be sure to note any key concepts or plot developments. This can help you focus while reading. If you're very pressed for time, you can get the main ideas of the book by reading the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Adjust your speed based on the information you're reading. For example, slow down when you encounter main arguments or new concepts. You can speed up again when you come to repeated or familiar material.  Time yourself. Give yourself a set amount of time to get through a certain amount of text. Once time's elapsed, evaluate your speed. Keep timing yourself and you should see progress. For example, give yourself an hour to complete reading/skimming a chapter. At the end of the hour, determine if you got the main points of the chapter and understood the information. Practice adjusting your speed if you did not finish or had too much time left.
A: Focus on reading but avoid habits that slow you down. Read effectively by skimming certain parts and paying attention to others. Train yourself to read faster.

Article: Do not top off the tank. Do not top off when refilling. Write down the difference between the two odometer readings. If the number was 30,000 miles (48,280 km) when you filled the tank the first time and 30,300 (48,763 km) when you refilled, you drove 300 miles (482.8 km) on 1 tank of gas. For example, if you drove 300 miles (482.8 km) and burned 15 gallons (56.78 liters) of gasoline, your vehicle got about 20 miles per gallon (8.5 km per liter). (If your car has 30,000 miles [48,280 km] and is 40 months old, you drive about 750 miles [1,207 km] per month.) In this hypothetical example, divide 750 (1,207 km) by 20 gallons (75.7 liters) to get the number of gallons or liters you burn per month: 37.5 gallons (142 liters). If gas costs $4 per gallon ($1.05 per liter), you spend $128 per month on fuel, or 17 cents per mile (10 cents per km).
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Calculate fuel costs by writing down the number of miles or kilometers on the odometer when the fuel tank is nearly empty. Fill the tank when it is near empty. Refill the tank when it is near empty again and write down the number of gallons or liters it took to fill. Check the odometer again at refilling and subtract the old number on the odometer from the new number to see how far you drove. Divide the number of miles or kilometers you drove by the number of gallons or liters it took to refill your tank. Divide the distance driven in a month by the miles or kilometers per gallon or liter. Multiply the total amount of fuel per month you burn by the cost of a gallon or liter of gasoline to get your monthly fuel costs.