Authenticity paradox

Being authentic is something we tend to qualify as something good because authenticity is when there is originality, has the quality and it will never fail us. As things are authentic: brands we consume, designer clothes, bags and watches, technology and food, we prefer them over other things that may be better but are not authentic. A person that is authentic is humble because he or she knows who they are and what they can or cannot do (they are reliable), they are true to themselves and others because of what they say they do, and they are brave to face their fears.

Being authentic is not an excuse for sticking with what’s comfortable or what might leave us with the least effort to do good. But when we are unsure of ourselves or our ability to perform well or measure up in a new setting, we often retreat to familiar behaviours and styles, we protect ourselves. We do that all the time, in learning we tend to prove to ourselves we can grow, but we are afraid that it will change us, it starts with unnatural and often superficial behaviours that can make us feel calculating instead of genuine and spontaneous. We tend to protect ourselves from fitting in with others’ ideas of what it should be and not what we really are.

We can be authentic, being true to ourselves even if we feel threatened by a new project:

1. Take elements you have learned from others’ styles and behaviours and make them your own.

2. Take the best qualities other people have and mix them into your own: modify and improve. 

3. Have goals and set them, continue learning to have more attributes and become comfortable with what you know.

4. You are your story, what made you become who you are and still learning what you want to be.

Be who you are and don’t fear to be yourself, that is what made you be here right now, continue learning.