Authenticity.
We like things that are authentic. Things that are REAL.
We also like people who are authentic. People who are REAL.
As our civilization grows, however, it seems to become increasingly difficult to live authentically.
Why is that?
As entities grow bigger — whether nations or companies — there’s an increasing need for organization. Structure emerges, and with structure comes rules, and norms.
If you want to succeed in the environment you find yourself in, chances are you’re going to need to conform to SOME degree.
The question is how much.
Each rule, each social norm, impinges ever so slightly on your ability to speak and act authentically.
If you don’t dress “normal,” they tell you you’re weird.
When you don’t speak “normal,” they tell you you’re rude.
Eventually, when you find yourself editing (consciously or subconsciously) the majority of your thoughts, words, and/or actions, you’ve crossed over what I call, “The Authenticity Threshold.”
When 51% of you is influenced by the norms around you, you are no longer you.
And chances are you’ll feel it.
Authenticity is the courage to push back; to resist the impersonal claims of the world around you.
To be you.
Because you can be normal or you can be you.
But you can’t be both.
I wonder which you will choose?
