Being Unapologetically Authentic… a Way to Live Your Life

What comes to mind when you hear the word authenticity, or authentic?  Perhaps you feel it is about being present with someone.  It could be living your life with passion, conviction, confidence and congruency, knowing that you embrace and embody your values.  For those of you who value your relationships and choose to associate with others who we feel are of like values, other associations may come to mind such as honesty, integrity, from the heart, and true to ourselves.  A good test is when people think of you, they know what’s important to you by how you show up.  You’re unwavering in your resolve on how you choose to live your life.

The “B.S. Factor” doesn’t exist, as expressed in the lyrics of Billy Joel’sfamous hit, Honesty:

Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

I can always find someone
To say they sympathize
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve
But I don’t want some pretty face
To tell me pretty lies
All I want is someone to believe.

 

When looking to build relationships, we often turn to people who we want to learn from, so we can grow.  With all that we have going on in our lives, we don’t have time for those who are not truthful, and that truthfulness can easily be conveyed just by the mere nature of who you are and how you show up and live your life. Your authentic self that shines through.

 

So, this week, our focus is on Authenticity, with a challenge to do a self-assessment to determine whether or not we are living up to our own personal standards of being authentic … with ourselves, and with others.

 

Let’s start with ourselves by answering the following questions:

• What’s important to you? What do you value most in terms of your character and morals and how do you convey this to others?
• When you think of yourself, are you solid in the fact that you are honest with yourself about who you are at your core?
• And if you know who you are and what you stand for in your life, are you true to yourself? Do you show up in ways that consistently reflect this standard in your life?
• Are there some areas you feel need attention?If so, what are they?
• What can you do to change, so you are congruent in your actions?

 

Next, let’s shift to others, or more specifically, how you are perceived by others.

• When people think of you, do they deem you as someone they respect? Someone who is open and without an agenda?
• Or do they think of you as just another sales pitch? “What do you want from them NOW?”
• When you express yourself to others, is it from the heart, or is it what you think they want to hear?
• Does it really matter how you are perceived by others as long as you are true to yourself and live each day deliberately, on purpose, and in congruence with what is important to you?

 

As we close, a suggestion is that you check in with yourself at the end of each day.  Ask the question:

How did I show up today?

• Was I patient?
• Did I display anger or a lack of patience?
• Was I judgmental and did I ask myself if what I thought was really true?
• Was I truthful, even when I did not want to generate conflict?
• Did I express how I felt toward someone in my life or did I hold back in fear of rejection?
• Did someone ask my opinion and was I honest in conveying what I really thought?
• What did I do to make a difference in someone’s life?
• What did I do today that made me feel alive, playful, and true to who I am?

 

Keep a log or make notes in your journal so that you hold yourself accountable and make adjustments when you need to.   And make a commitment daily to maintain your standard of being your authentic self.  Of being Unapologetically Authentic.

 

~xoxo Loren

 

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