8 Tips on Being Authentic

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Joyce Glick, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.

AUTHENTICITY by Joyce Glick

Kernis and Goldman (now at Clayton State University) identified four separate and somewhat concrete components of authenticity that they could measure on a written test. First, and most fundamental, is self-awareness: knowledge of and trust in one’s own motives, emotions, preferences, and abilities. Second, clarity in evaluating your own strengths and your weaknesses: acknowledging when you’ve flubbed a presentation or a golf game. Third, behavior: it requires acting in ways congruent with your own values and needs, even at the risk of criticism or rejection. Fourth, close relationships because intimacy cannot develop without openness and honesty.

People who feel inauthentic are often living life according to fixed views about how they should be.

8 Acts of Authenticity:

1. Read Novels: It’s the best way to figure out what it feels like to be in someone elses head – and that’s what helps us to distinguish our own identity.

2. Meditate: Meditative absorption creates movements of happiness not contingent on outcomes or external factors or manipulation of the environment. From that platform you can investigate how to create real fulfillment.

3. Be Deliberate: Authenticity consists of being aware that you have choices and consciously choosing what you do.

4. But not too Deliberate: People often make better decisions when they don’t think about them. Go with your gut. Authentic reactions are much more at a gut level.

5. Cultivate Solitude: Quiet and time for the self are a big plus. If you’re worried about in-authenticity, there’s nothing like shutting the door.

6. But Stay Connected: Community is an outlook toward life in which you define yourself in relation to the world around you, rather than only in connection with yourself. I recommend enlarging the sense of self.

7. Play Hard: Whether it’s taking an art class, playing basketball, running, or just hanging out with friends, doing something you really enjoy allows you to express who you really are.

8. And be Willing to Lose: Feelings of in-authenticity are heightened by lack of a philosophy that allows failure to be part of our life. If you’re leading a full life, you’re going to fail some every day.

Although we think of ourselves as either an introvert or extrovert, WE ARE ALL BOTH depending on CONTEXT.