The Role of Authenticity in Establishing Credibility

Living A Life of Personal Authenticity

Aubrey Marcus, CEO and founder of ONNIT (a nutritional supplement & holistic health company), had started to dig into a concept known as total human optimization. This research forced Marcus to analyze human development and growth behaviors from a wide variety of spectrums ranging from diet to psyche. It appears to be that in this process, he began to analyze authenticity and its role in driving success. His research led to the claim that "the persona is incapable of receiving love, it can only receive praise".

I first heard this concept while listening to the Modern Wisdom podcast by Chris Williamson featuring Rich Roll. In this podcast, Chris offered a great interpretation of the above quote, provided examples of what he meant, and articulated the intention as follows: 

If you’re playing a role, any of the accolades that you get and any of the care that people give toward you isn’t going to hit you existentially. People don’t love Russell Crow, they love gladiator. People don’t love Chris Hemsworth, they love Thor. And this is how you can feel alone in a crowd and hollow in victory because if you do something without genuinely putting yourself into it, whenever people praise it, you won’t feel satisfied. (40:17)

In the role of credibility, I have emphasized the importance of honesty and transparency in more ways than one. It appears to me that a byproduct of unapologetic honesty and transparency is a resulting authenticity that drastically impacts both personal and professional credibility. Through an authentic representation of yours, you help others trust you, and more importantly, help you trust yourself. But how do you build an authentic version of who you are?

Take Time To Understand Yourself

It is all too easy to confuse ourselves and justify our wants versus satisfying our needs. In this same podcast, I heard another quote from Naval which was "It is easier to achieve our material success than it is to recount it". In an overly consumption-based society, it can be difficult to differentiate wants from needs. Keeping up with the Joneses is a very real feeling for a large number of individuals. The perception of how others view you can completely direct your physical, emotional, and financial needs and well-being if you do not take steps to protect yourself and analyze exactly what you need to feel fulfillment. 

It can be difficult to know what you need, and therefore, sometimes it is more important for you to figure out what you don't need. For example, I was raised in a small town outside of Albuquerque, NM, and really enjoyed my childhood. I never really felt too anxious or overwhelmed by the world which allowed me to spread out my wings and find out somewhat of what I like to have in my environment to feel fulfilled. There weren't a lot of people in my life that I felt close with so my fulfillment was derived more from space and personal competition. I ran my own landscaping business, worked with horses, and found enough land (both public & private) where I could try a plethora of activities. However, when I turned 19, I moved to Dallas, TX. The next two years of my life had a large number of changes that truly altered the direction I thought that my life was going. In my time in Dallas, while I grew significantly in physical and emotional manners, I also felt more tired, confused, and lost than ever. I wanted to have more money than I did, I wanted to be out of school because it felt pointless, and didn't even know who I wanted to be. I felt overwhelmingly unfulfilled. After I left Dallas and engaged in some emotionally vulnerable discussions, I was willing to say that I feel unfulfilled in the city (or at the very least, Dallas). I decided the first thing to change in order to figure out what I wanted was to start with changing my environment.

While I wish I had a resolution to share with you that would simply tell you what you wanted and how to bring about a better life, I can not tell you what it is that you want. My only advice is to be as honest as you possibly can with yourself which will ultimately impact how honest you are with others. While it can be difficult to gauge whether you are being honest or not (because if you want to, you can justify any position that benefits your desires), it seems to me best to trust your gut, do not justify your feelings, and instead address your emotions for their function (as outlined in a separate blog post). If you can begin to understand your feelings, avoid justifications, and make a decision to stop apologizing for being who you are or what you are feeling, it seems to allow the world to manifest itself in the way it was meant to unfold without any expectations and with relinquished control over your future. Be in the present, work on yourself, appreciate the little things, and be honest with yourself to help create the most authentic version of who you are and who you could be.

Stay credible my friends.

Collens W.