Showing Up As Yourself Takes More Than Authenticity

I hear the word “authenticity” a lot. It seems to pop up everywhere, in every facet of our personal and professional lives. Think about it: how many times just in the past two days have you heard some variation of the phrase “Showing up as your authentic self”? People always say they “want to be authentic”. They always say they want someone to “be real”, to “be themselves” in all areas of their life.

“Authenticity” is one of those words that’s become so ubiquitous it has almost stopped meaning anything at all, so, let’s go back to the dictionary for a moment. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Authenticity as being “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character”.

Well, that’s still pretty vague, but also seems a little incongruous with how people use the word. Sometimes being true to our own character in every situation…isn’t appropriate. After all, your personality may be a “take no BS from anyone” spirit, but if you’re actually true to that when your boss is being a jerk, you might find yourself out of a job — and what happens if you don’t really feel connected to your own sense of self? How can you be authentic then? People say “authenticity” when they really mean “I want you to be self aware, to know yourself, and to have the level of consciousness and awareness that is appropriate for every situation.”