What is authenticity? It seems to be thrown around on social media a lot lately. All the craze in the world of social media marketing.
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we are.”
Brene’ Brown
Your girl here is a shopper, so let’s go this route. If I am shopping for a designer handbag, and I am willing to drop big bucks, then I am shopping for the authentic one. I am not looking for the fake or the dupe. Basically, that is what authenticity is… it is the real deal, not the dupe.
Are You Willing to Pursue Authenticity Instead of Perfection?
Even with an authentic handbag, if you look close enough, you may find a flaw somewhere. You see, nothing is perfect. No matter how hard we strive for perfection, it cannot be reached. There is always going to be someone better than us or smarter than us. The one thing that they cannot be is us, though. We are uniquely made by our journey. We have a unique story that has shaped us into who we are and it is our story to tell.
Vulnerability and authenticity draw people to you. People are reprogrammed to like you because you are not wearing a mask. You are not hiding from them, and they can see you for you. You are brave enough to be real in a world full of people too terrified to be themselves and are one of a kind. It would be a shame to waste that on pretending to be something that you aren’t to make others feel more comfortable. Be you in all situations. When you are you in all situations, then you will see that you start to win.
Striving for perfection is playing safer than being authentic. I know this from experience. A lot of times, when we are striving for perfection we will limit what we try. We won’t try things that we know we may fail out. I have lived a lot of my life limiting what I try for fear of not getting it right on the first go around. Those are some serious expectations, right?
Are You Willing to Remove Your Mask?
Are you willing to remove your mask in order to connect with people? Removing the mask doesn’t mean that you have to share all your dirty laundry on social media, friends. It just means that you show people that you are real. You let them see your flaws. You don’t always let them see the highlight reels of your life. Some days they get to see the unedited version.
People are longing for someone to connect with and to know they are not alone in this journey. How can they connect with you if they don’t even know you are or are confused about who you are.
About a year ago, I was watching a live stream event and there was a lady being interviewed. She had a very unique story that in no way that I could personally relate to, but I could connect with her. I connected with her because she chose to remove her mask as painful as it was and share her story of her journey of how she had reached this point in her business. She was herself, and does an incredible job of showing up everyday as herself. Michelle is building a community of thousands and is changing lives, just by being herself.
She owns her past, and the thing about owning your past is no one can try to hold it against you. You have already exposed yourself. How freeing is that? You have already removed the expectation of perfection, and you can relax and get to work.
Are You Willing to Choose Integrity Over a Following?
Integrity starts with authenticity. Integrity really means that you are true to yourself and you would do nothing that would dishonor you. Being true to yourself starts with being authentic to yourself and others. One thing you have to become comfortable with is, not everyone is going to like you when you show up authentic. That’s okay. Those are not your people. The good thing is, you don’t need everyone to be your people.
Start today, showing up as the true you in your business. Just do you, boo! Take off your mask, and let the world see you and watch as you start to win!
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