Is it possible to be completely authentic in all parts of your life? I was challenged on this recently, and the conversation got me thinking about what does it mean to be authentic.
There are lots of aspirational quotes available such as:
“Authenticity over everything”
“Don’t trade your authenticity for approval”
“Be fearlessly authentic”
“Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity”
While I find these quotes hard to argue, how do you achieve this? What does being authentic even mean?
Looking for something
I spent the first 25 years of my career looking for something. In that time I went through eight jobs. That means my average tenure in any position was around three years.
I have plenty of reasons for leaving those jobs. Most times I blamed someone or something else. I blamed the company, manager, working conditions and more. I got laid off in one case. However, quitting was inevitable so I will look at the experience the same way.
While all of the reasons I gave were true, I now see I kept denying one underlying factor: an inauthentic self.
