What is Authenticity Defined and How Can I be Authentic?

OHMIGOSH, how can I be more authentic? But wait, what even is authentic and why is everyone talking about it? Learn all about it here!

Are you authentic? I know I am! But when I was first trying to look into authenticity and what is it defined. It was a hot mess. I couldn’t separate a Bob from a Linda. Little did I know that authenticity is something that can make or break your business. Actually, it’s something that made me rebuild my brand from inside out completely. It was like that old tv show “Extreme home makeover,” where a whole big butt team comes in an tears the old foundation down and rebuilds the house from scratch.

Being authentic is just that important. Don’t believe me? Let’s look deeper into authenticity.

Authentic

/ɔːˈθɛntɪk/

of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine.

Seems fairy simple, am I right? It means you’re an “original,” you’re “real.” You’re not trying to be something or someone you’re not.

Alright, now that we know what authentic means – now we can focus on how can you be more authentic.

01. Being authentic is not hard

Being authentic is really easy. It’s about embodying who you really are. Who you are already. It’s almost like telling everyone to go screw themselves because you’re tired of playing by the “rules.” I do want to say that it’s good to have similar values with you and your business (I often tell my clients that you should share the same values – and often people do). This way you’re automatically more authentic and you don’t have to fake being fun with your business, for instance. What you do is, you take who you are and what you value and ooze it all over your brand. If you love to have fun, then have fun while running a business too! Do fun trainings. Do silly videos. Most importantly, do it without thinking what others are going to think of you.

02. Let go of all the expectations

You might not even be aware of this but everyone you meet holds expectations over you. The moment you meet someone, the moment someone sees you… they set certain expectations on you based on what they see. And often, we try to live up to those expectations without even realizing it. If my friend sees me as an extrovert, then I might try to keep this image up because I want to keep this person as my friend. But in reality I’m an introvert. Doesn’t sound very authentic does it now? You need to start to let go of these expectations in order for you to be and live authentically.

03. Listen to your gut

Something people seem to forget to do A LOT. Listen to your damn guts, Becky. It tells you way more than any book or human could ever teach you. Often we’re told to just do what’s best for us. Well, sometimes when we do that we end up miserable and unhappy. I say, listen to your gut. Do what FEELS good. More often than not, my gut has made all the right decisions for me. Decisions that I have not regretted later. Now days I look for the feeling in my gut if I’m getting a new client or if there is an opportunity. It’s either a hell yes or a hell no.

04. Be present

For the love of cheese, stop living in a fantasy world and wasting all your energy in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. If you’re always wishing to be somewhere else lives passes by. I used to be bad about this. I was always daydreaming about different things and it took a lot of time and energy out of my own life. We all want things. Stop wishing and start doing. Nothing beats action. If you’re looking for a darn sign to do something…. THIS IS YOUR SIGN. Stop wasting precious time. Be present in the moment and be intentional with what you’re doing and what you’re working on. This is one of the biggest lessons I can teach you.

Doesn’t this sound amazing? The funny thing is that when you’re authentic… you can say or do anything online. As long as you stand behind all of your actions. And guess what? You could do business and use swearwords? I mean, who the hell wouldn’t want that? People also really love it when businesses take a strong stand. But that is a subject for another post.

Need more help becoming an authentic brand? A brand that will blow people’s socks off? I have a TOTALLY FREE contact form you can fill out that will get you started on the branding process. I got a lot to offer. I mean GIFs and shit. Who wouldn’t want personalized GIFs?!

LET’S WORK TOGETHA 4EVA