Monday Message: Authentically, who?

If you’ve been keeping abreast of my latest moves, you know that I started my Youtube Channel last week.  I was very proud of myself for this accomplishment since, like many women, I’ve had an issue with stepping forward, out in the spotlight, and being unafraid to reveal the true me.

Then a very good friend who has her own Channel and on whose Channel I have appeared said to me,”I really liked the video, but you didn’t sound like you.”  All I had to say to that was,

Crap!

Why? Because when I watched the video again, I heard it–what my daughter calls my “phone voice.”  The way I speak to people who I don’t know and want to keep a bit of distance or professional space from.  While I feel that voice is helpful when needed.  It wasn’t the image I wanted to project to my viewers.

All this made me think how hard it is to be our authentic selves in this world.  And which self? We all play so many roles, particularly us women, we may need to wear so many faces, that we may lose sight of who the real us is. Or we may be so afraid of being wrong that we make the safest choices possible in order to avoid appearing foolish.  I think that’s what I may have done, since I have to admit I was more than a bit nervous putting myself out there.

But you know what?  I’ve just done another series of videos that I’m much happier with–particularly the last one on negative energy. It’s more of me just sounding like me, talking, the same way I do when someone comes into my office for a consultation or session. You see, you can’t be afraid to try again, even if your first effort is more of a miss than a masterpiece.  

I heard a definition of authenticity recently that really rang true with me.  Authenticity is the ability to be yourself, without feeling the need to be right. If you don’t HAVE to be right, you can be free to experiment and explore without beating yourself up for not getting it perfect. Being perfect is an illusion, since there are always ways we can improve.  It is as much a stalling tactic as procrastination in that it provides an excuse for delaying without an appreciable improvement in the outcome.  

So, have you ever had the experience of starting something new and obsessing over getting it just right or beating yourself up if you found a flaw?  Are you in that stuck place right now, afraid to move forward because you’re not sure you’ve got it just right?  Tell me about it in the comments below.