Authenticity. It’s a word constantly thrown around in Instagram captions, hashtagged to show our followers that we’re unique and genuine. But what does it mean to be authentic?

In simple terms, authenticity is being profoundly yourself. You are not pressured to change your personality, your values, or your spirit. You take accountability for your actions and responsibility for your mistakes. In our world obsessed with social media and our screens, it can feel risky to be your authentic self while still being accepted by others. Most of us have tried to fit in our entire lives, trying to achieve ‘perfection’ portrayed by the influencers we see every single day. As a result, the life we show on our social platforms has become presentations of who we want to be perceived as and not who we are. 

Being your true authentic self means what you say in life aligns with your actions. 

As humans, we are born blank pages in which we can write our own stories. We can take those pages and choose what kind of people we want to be – our values, principles, and aspirations. You can take your story in any direction you choose; however, sometimes, it is hard to decide what mark we want to make. We constantly worry about what other people will think, seeking guidance from others as we assume they know better than we do. The feeling that we need to conform, fit in, and seek out experts to make our decisions is hard to resist. To create and live as your authentic self, the truth is that the only person who can be the author is you, which can be a daunting task!

The best feeling of living authentically is the need never to ‘reveal’ who you are to the world! Being true to yourself means that you don’t have to tell anyone what your values are – everyone can see due to the way you live your life. When you live your chosen values, you become them.

To live authentically goes beyond your career, your possessions, and who you are to those around you. Authenticity is who you are at your core and how you live true to yourself with your thoughts, words, and actions and having them all align. When we aren’t true to ourselves, it’s easy to slide into a people-pleasing mode, doing what people expect of us or what we feel pressured into doing. There are consequences to living authentically – such as people not liking or not accepting the real you, judging who you are, and leaving yourself open to your feelings being hurt. You become more vulnerable overall – however, do you want to have people in your life who don’t accept your authentic self?

It’s time to take our masks off, be brave, and start to live as our authentic selves. Authenticity Coach Kat John is here to help you on your journey, reach out for a chat about 1:1 Coaching today!