Written by: Jean Tien, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“When you stop trying to be someone else, you can finally be yourself.”
Therein lies the power of authenticity. By being yourself, you are no longer at the effect of the people and the environment around you. Instead, you finally have a choice in your life, empowering you to choose your thoughts, your beliefs, your profession, and your future.
What would it feel like to reclaim this power in your life?
Imagine if your life is like dining at a restaurant where there is no menu. At this restaurant, you order whatever you desire to eat at that time, and the kitchen prepares it for you just the way you like it (or better yet, the food is even more delicious than you could have ever imagined). This is the life you live when you live it authentically because you no longer choose from someone else’s menu. A menu that was created by the chef based on his personal limitations, as well as his expectations and projections of how a meal should be prepared.
However, when you choose from a limitless menu, you create from your own ideas, beliefs, and desires.
What is authenticity?
It is the act of being authentic, of being you.
While authenticity is the key to creation from choice, the process of being yourself can be overwhelming. The question of “Who am I?” is not an easy one to answer. You have the obvious answers that include your age, hair color, eye color, height, and other genetic traits that can be used to describe the way you look. Your looks, however, do not define your identity. It also includes your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and values. Traits that truly define you as a person.
What are the benefits of authenticity?
When you know thyself clearly, you become rooted in yourself. No matter what storms may come, you know you will come out stronger once it passes. You start trusting your inner knowing and stop questioning your choices. You seek opportunities and start taking chances instead of asking for permission. You start allowing for things to transpire naturally rather than pushing and forcing things to happen. After getting knocked down (because even the most authentic individuals out there will and do), you get right back up. You become resilient, and you keep moving forward towards the goals that you have defined for yourself.
Most importantly, from a place of authenticity, you create a unique brand to you and only you. No other person or large corporation can replicate this energy of yours. Additionally, your brand will attract die-hard fans who want more of you (not who you pretend to be). People are tired of seeing glossy photoshopped pictures. Instead, they want the unfiltered version of you because this helps them relate to you. When you allow them to see you at your best and your worst, you build trust within your community. A community that will withstand mistakes and failures because they appreciate the fact that you are human.
Knowing this, you develop the confidence to walk a path less traveled (meaning, no pre-planned menu) and learn to create from within rather than recreate what others have already done. From this, you walk a little taller and with an extra touch of swagger. You create and innovate rather than replicate. It’s not about playing it safe anymore but about doing the right thing, even when it’s the unpopular thing (for now). It will be this confidence and willingness to fail when you’ll truly start to lead and show others what’s possible despite the impossible. It is from this authenticity that others will follow you even though they may fear the unknown.
This is the power of authenticity.
So how do you achieve authenticity?
Authenticity is a path that you get to discover for yourself. It is one that rewards the brave as the journey is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is one where I have seen my clients find renewed joy and confidence in their lives and careers (almost as if a rebirth).
If this is something that resonates with you, then I challenge you to sit down and really get vulnerable with the following questions:
Who am I?
What do I like?
What don’t I like?
What brings me joy?
What don’t I enjoy?
What do I believe in?
What are my values?
Once you have answered these questions, then live each day intentionally and make each choice in alignment with who you are, even if it may offend or disappoint others. Now, please don’t take this as your sign to hurt others. It is about doing what’s right for you in the energy of self-love rather than revenge or intentional malice. This is from where your power will truly shine, and your life will transform in ways you wouldn’t have thought possible.
Should you walk this path, I would love to hear about your experience finding authenticity and your self-rediscovery.
Jean Tien, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jean is an intuitive mindset coach specializing in working with ambitious, career-driven women who have already achieved a certain level of success and are now ready to achieve more in life and find balance and fulfillment. She uses her intuitive abilities, as well as her own extensive corporate experience, to help women find their Zone of Genius, fully align with it so they can powerfully bring it into the world.
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