I'm on a mission to help more people find and live their authentic life. Check out my Daily Notes where I write a short note each day about the connection of spirit, mind, body and money on the Pursuit of your authentic life.
"am I authentic?"
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This morning, a close friend shared in a text message that he had been struggling with the word “authenticity”. What did it really mean? He shared that he had finally defined what it meant to him to be authentic, and I have to admit, the realization that he came to was PERFECT. I told him that when I think of the definition of authenticity, it comes down to values. To be authentic, all you have to do is remain true to your Self, which requires doing the work to know your Self, and not compromise your values. Being authentic does not mean you only do what you want or that you don’t have to adapt to the settings you find your Self in. There will be situations where you find yourself unable to show up fully the way you would choose. For example, one day I will find my Self in a situation that will call for me to wear a suit. Since starting my company, I’ve shunned suits, with a couple of exceptions, like when I was on Bloomberg. I wouldn’t choose to wear a suit if I didn’t have to, but being on TV meant I had to rock one. Showing up in a suit didn’t make me inauthentic, and in the interview, I showed up fully as my Self—just in a suit. I didn’t change the investment beliefs I held because I was on Bloomberg, I held onto my boring investment values despite the temptation to try to be someone they’d want to have back on more often. You can code-switch without being inauthentic; code-switching doesn’t mean compromising your values. The things we often attribute to showing our authenticity, like fashion, have little to do with our authenticity. They are also often expressions of our Selves that evolve, and we might even change over time. I think people often mistake authenticity for what people see (the external), when it’s really what people feel when they are around us (the internal). Authenticity is sometimes difficult in practice. But authenticity is simple in definition—staying true to your Self and never compromising what you stand for—aka your values. See you tomorrow and keep pursuing, JC |
connect spirit, mind, body, and money w/ Justin Castelli
I'm on a mission to help more people find and live their authentic life. Check out my Daily Notes where I write a short note each day about the connection of spirit, mind, body and money on the Pursuit of your authentic life.
On Thursday, I drove up to Ludington, Michigan, to hike, swim in Lake Michigan, and camp overnight with some friends. The trip up there was over six hours, which gave me the perfect opportunity to listen to The Alchemist on Spotify—it’s the only audiobook I listen to. I wish I could explain the feeling I get when I listen to The Alchemist. The best I can do is say that the book's energy overcomes me and puts me at an extremely elevated level of energy. In my mind, I become Santiago. His...
"You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens." -Louise L. Hay See you tomorrow and keep pursuing, JC
The words you choose matter more than you think. In last night’s Mindful Monday talk, I told a group of 20 teenage boys that the words they choose will impact their mindset. I specifically highlighted the word “can’t”. I hate the word can’t and have tried to abolish it from our family’s vocabulary. Saying you can’t do something is a guarantee that you won’t do something. Instead of saying "can’t," I encouraged the boys to think about saying that they haven’t discovered how to do it YET—with...