Maybe it’s because the Authentic Life has become so important to me, but I keep seeing “authenticity” everywhere.

Yesterday, I saw a leader in the financial planning community encouraging everyone to try to be more authentic in the new year.

I also read a post on Substack that claimed authenticity was fake–that it wasn’t possible to be authentic because we wear different masks depending on who we are with and where we are. The author also questioned whether past versions of our Self were more or less authentic than the current one. As much as I disagreed with the author of this post, I understood the point he was making.

I’m beginning to think that, as a collective, we are overthinking and overcomplicating authenticity.

If you know your Authentic Self, you shouldn’t have to try to be authentic; you should just be.

Different settings sometimes require different aspects of our authentic Selves. Just because you might need to be a little more reserved in a professional setting doesn’t mean you can be true to your Authentic Self.

Only you can know your Authentic Self. The world can sense authenticity, but no one else can tell you what is authentic to you.

Don’t try to be more authentic–try to get to know your Authentic Self, learn to listen to your heart, develop the confidence to follow your heart, and evolve with your Authentic Self.

The author of the Substack post wasn’t wrong to question if the past, present, or future version is the most authentic, but what I think he failed to understand is that they all can be. Your Authentic Self from the past is no more authentic than your current or future versions–assuming you were, are, and will be true to your Authentic Self at those times.

Authenticity has always been important.

It will be even more important, not only because of the rise of AI and the inauthenticity that it promotes, but because I believe there is a greater shift, maybe even an awakening, occurring where more and more people are waking up to the fact that they have been living an inauthentic life–not because they aren’t authentic, but because they didn’t know a more authentic version of their Self was possible.

Just like I see authenticity more and more, I see more examples of people challenging the lives they’ve been living and questioning why, and whether it is authentic.

From my experience, authenticity doesn’t have to be complicated–it is already within you. Once you find it, you won’t have to try; you’ll know how to maintain it without compromising your Self across different settings and environments.

Just don’t overthink it– instead, feel it.

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See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC