Authentic has multiple definitions, but I believe its business use is more related to the philosophy that surrounds the meaning of authenticity.
It comes from a form of existentialist philosophy and is defined (in existentialist philosophy) as relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.
Basically, it means we should be genuine in our business and have integrity.
So what does it mean to be genuine? and What does it mean to have integrity?
To be genuine when it comes to people is to be sincere.
Integrity is a bit more difficult to define as it contains 2 definitions.
- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
- the state of being whole and undivided.
I know I have done a great job in my business following the first concept, but I wonder if I was not maintaining self-integrity, which better relates to the second definition, as part of me has been divided on creating more creative content vs. strait-forward and factual content.
In the exploration of this topic, I reached out to my network to see what their responses were. They all stated, that it is perfectly acceptable to include and combine creative poetry or prose with factual based material.
One person put it so eloquently through a comparison of a public speaker. Their words are empowering they move you and drive you and the best speakers when you fact check them the facts they shared so easily within their speech are just as accurate. And they were able to share and showcase those facts in an easily digestible fashion.
Therefore authenticity can very easily mean allowing yourself to creatively display your knowledge and your value in a way that sings or zens people into acceptance of your words and your abilities.
One of my favorite writers Elizabeth Gilbert stated it perfectly “I have never seen any life transformation that didn’t begin with the person in question finally getting tired of their own bullshit.”
If you want to truly be your authentic self in your business then you need to move past:
Whatever is currently holding you back from doing what you want to do in your business, is what you need to get over and stop doing. Because that is what is keeping your creative mind locked up. When you do not allow your creativity to flow freely your entire business will suffer.
Creativity is what breeds new ideas, it is what keeps us moving and flowing forward in time and space and in business.
There is no one way to make it as a writer. There is no one way to make it as a business owner. The only thing you can do to ensure that one day you achieve your goal is to keep showing up. Show yourself some self-forgiveness when you fall off the wagon, jump right back on again forever moving forward towards your goal.
When you are consistent in business that is when you will ultimately succeed.
Do you find yourself battling with the idea of authenticity in your own business? Please let me know in the comments below.
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