Photo courtesy of William Brawley and Flickr
“I made a decision to write for my readers,
not to try to find more readers for my writing.”
– Seth Godin
This week’s article relates to a brief post I wrote on LinkedIn recently, and something fascinating that happened as a result of it. I wrote the LinkedIn post in response to a question a young man I know had asked in a group I’m a member of. His worry was that if he expressed himself honestly / authentically online, he’d upset people. But what unfolded was an object lesson in itself. First, here’s the post:
What if I piss people off?
He was asking what he should do about “feeling inauthentic”.
Be yourself.
If you’re being who you truly are, I GUARANTEE you’ll piss people off.
And that’s a good thing.
Authenticity is a ‘tuning fork’.
You sort for the people who are right for you, and vice versa.
Some will be repelled.
Some will be attracted.
When you’re inauthentic, you’ll be ignored (if you’re lucky).
So how do you overcome a “feeling of inauthenticity”?
You don’t “overcome it”; you just stop behaving inauthentically.
It takes no effort to be yourself.
Just…
Stop.
I posted this missive on LinkedIn and the ‘likes’ and comments started rolling in. All the comments were praising my stance, then a chap named Bradley challenged it, calling it “McWisdom” and “meaningless twaddle”. He made a number of points (which you can read in the comments under my LinkedIn post) which I responded to, and we started to go back and forth.
And here’s where it gets cool.
I did my best to ‘get his world’ and respond politely, and after several exchanges I offered to send him some audios to listen to. Now, I don’t know if he listened to them, or whether he got anything from them, but the cool bit is this…
When you’re being unapologetically yourself, it can evoke a ‘Marmite’ response (love it or hate it), and sometimes the people who at first hate it end up becoming your staunches advocates.
I don’t know if that’s what’s happened with Bradley, but I offer this as a pointer to the possibility.
I’m going to be posting more stuff on LinkedIn in the weeks and months to come, so if that’s somewhere you like to hang out, stop by and say “Hi!” My profiles is https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesmartclarity/ and you can follow me if you like.
BTW, I owe credit to my pal Ian Watson for the line, “It takes no effort to be yourself”
To your increasing clarity!
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, click here https://www.jamiesmart.com/book-jamie-to-speak-about/
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If you want to transition from full-time employment to something more fulfilling and on-purpose for you, you may be a good fit for the next intake of Project Jupiter (starting January 2018). Here’s how you’ll know if you’re right for Jupiter (and vice-versa):
– You are currently in full-time employment, but…
– You want to transition from your job to something more fulfilling and “on-purpose”
– You sense that it’ll probably take 1-3 years to complete the transition, but…
– Your goal hasn’t been getting much closer; it seems to stay the same distance away
– You want to make progress, but lack clarity about either the ‘what’ or the ‘how’
– You know that if you were clear on those, with a solid plan, you’d do what it takes to make it happen
– You’ve been thinking about it for long enough, and you’re ready to do something about it NOW
If that’s you, email Nikki at info@jamiesmart.com and type “Project Jupiter” in the subject line.
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Profitable Coaches Scorecard book www.JamieSmart.com/scorecard
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/resultspodcast
Listen to The Profitable Coaches Podcast www.JamieSmart.com/pcp
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More www.JamieSmart.com/instantresults