Dare to live with authenticity
Authenticity is a big word with a lot of meaning and naturally its expression differs from person to person. I believe that living with authenticity is one of the biggest gifts you can give, to yourself as well as to others.
It’s so refreshing and rewarding if you show your true self in whatever you do. It means that you dare to be yourself, that you do not disguise yourself, that you actually do not hold back but invest all your talents, your values, your passions.
It also means that you dare to show your vulnerability and that you embrace your weaknesses.
Being authentic requires courage on an everyday basis as it challenges you to bring out the best in you instead of going with the flow or being the proverbial sheep in the flock.
I have realized that my high degree of authenticity is a strong enabler for how I deal with life, how I overcome challenges, why I make certain life decisions and choices. For me authenticity is a key ingredient to wholehearted living because it empowers me to truly live MY life – not someone other’s life.
Authenticity requires a great deal of self-knowledge and to get clear what authenticity means for you, I suggest that you make inventory - what you are great in, and what you are good in. Discover your strengths, embrace them, develop them further and live them!
- what you care about, what your values and beliefs are.
Identify your values and beliefs and stand up for them!
Getting to know oneself is really a journey – an exciting one, I believe. Yet many of us have little sense of their talents and strengths, much less the ability to build their lives around them. Instead, they become experts in their weaknesses and spend their lives trying to repair these flaws, while their strengths lie dormant and neglected.
I believe myself lucky and fortunate that I have found a partner with whom I can be 100% authentic; that I work in a company that truly appreciates my values and beliefs. Yet, it comes all back to my choices and my own drive to seek for people and places where I am appreciated for what I am and my determination to “detox” socially if it’s not the case.
To understand yourself better, I recommend the “Discover your Strength”- book including self-questionnaire which I used repeatedly for team building sessions and to kick-start conversations with new colleagues. It has lots of stories and examples to help you understand yourself, detect your strengths and simultaneously be aware of your blind spots and your weaknesses.
Check out: http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Strengths-Marcus-Buckingham/dp/0743201140/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461079865&sr=1-1&keywords=now+discover+your+strengths
