How To Be Authentic

I’m currently sitting in a car on my way back to Albany from Maryland. We just spent Thanksgiving there and while I’m always thankful to see family it’s nice to be home and have a weekend day to get things in order for the week. Like my weekly meal plan that I’ll share with you soon!

One of the other things that need to get done is this post and many others for the week. I had originally planned to give you another gift guide but I thought that might be too many in a row. So, yes, I have one more gift guide for you but we’ll put that on hold for a hot second. I love giving you guys ideas but I also want to make sure I’m giving you some of my thoughts and opinions as we enter this holiday season.

Today I want to take a moment to talk about authenticity. That word gets thrown around a lot but it’s so important in this day and age. It seems that in this online & social media world, you can be whoever you want to be even if that means it’s someone else. You don’t have to cite anyone and you can claim anything as your own.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for collaboration and for helping others succeed. However, what I’m not about is copying others or pretending to be someone you’re not. The thing is, I’m too honest to be someone I’m not, it’s one of my biggest strengths and my biggest flaw.

Think back to middle school. Remember how you had to cite every last thing you referenced? No one does that anymore and it drives me bonkers! Instead we want to camouflage what we stole and make it look like our own. Not cool, not cool at all!

Authentic as defined by Merriam- Webster :

Wowza! Now think about your social media feed! How many people do you feel like are perfect or cookie cutter? How many people have feeds that seem to be someone else’s? How many are false or imitations? Not true to personality? Spirit? Character?

I mean how many people do you know could talk on Instagram stories but would crumble if they had to talk to you in person????

It’s easy to think that if someone can have success then we can too. It’s easy to hide behind our phones & computers What we forget is that the person or people we are trying to mimic had to bust their booty to get where they are and it’s not as easy as copy & paste.

What we also forget is that eventually people see through that B.S. it’s so not worth it. It pays in the end to be yourself. Sure, you may turn some people off and you may not grow a following quite as fast but what’s the point if the following is not authentic?

I get annoyed that some days my following isn’t growing as fast as I’d like. But you know what? It’s about quality over quantity. I know at the end of the day I am who I am and never veer from it. My followers get me every time and I hope to goodness I get them too. I’m in this for the long run and want you to know me, and I want to know you, not who you think I want you to be.

I tell that to my clients all the time. Be honest with me and this will go WAY better. I can’t help you unless you are honest. Yes, that may mean tears, it may mean a lot of emotions, but it will be so worth it in the end, I promise.

Now that we know what being authentic means and why we should be as authentic as possible, here’s how we can be authentic.

I know this can be hard to do but believe me your gut instinct is usually right, trust it.

I make my clients figure this out all the time. If you don’t know your why, you’ll fall flat every time and change your tune daily. Know why it is you do what you do and chase after it every second of every day.

If you love the way someone does something, ask them about it! Don’t steal it. More often than not people will be happy to help or talk about it. If you go the other way chances are they won’t be willing to help. I’m a very forgiving person but if you choose to wrong me, believe me, it’s going to be that much harder to gain or re-gain my trust & respect.

Know what it means to be authentic and learn what makes you authentically you!

Ask yourself all the time if you are sticking to who you are/want to be. If not, do your homework, find your why, & trust yourself.

My name “Sassy” usually speaks for itself but my spunky, fun loving & caring personality is every bit authentic! Not convinced? Check out my Instagram feed to see exactly who I am 🙂

xoxo,

Sassy