We have all met people that we didn’t click with. The reason we didn’t click with them, is usually because they are not being themselves. So we pick up that there is something not quite right and we don’t pursue the relationship.
The most successful people are those that like themselves. If we like ourselves, we will automatically reveal ourselves to others, as we don’t think there is anything wrong with us.
Being Human. Being Yourself. Being Real. Being Authentic. Being True to Yourself is one of the greatest pursuits going on around the world.
In generations gone by, you couldn’t be yourself. You had to pretend. To stay safe, you needed to be something you were not. Whereas these days, being authentic, true and real is highly valued and sought after.
To be yourself is to know how to be vulnerable. When you are yourself, you are vulnerable, whereas those that are putting on a fake front have somewhere to hide. Or so they think…..
Are you willing to be vulnerable, when appropriate? It’s not about going around telling everyone your faults and your weaknesses and you’re terrible at this and that. That’s not being vulnerable, that’s being stupid.
I like to call it, Strategic Vulnerability. It is simply looking for opportunities in your business every day with your team, friends, family and colleagues to say “I’ve made a mistake” or “I don’t know” or “I didn’t realise” or “Sorry” and watch how people want to help you. Being vulnerable endears you to others. It is what being human is all about. Every now and again look for opportunities to show someone your vulnerability.
How true are you to yourself? How human are you? How willing are you to be vulnerable at the right moments, so that people know who you really are and want to help and support you.
The opposite of being human is the perfectionist. Being a perfectionist is to be machine like. Nobody has even enjoyed working for a machine.
A lot of my clients from the corporate world come to me privately to deal with their issues around perfectionism dis-ease. I have a mission to eradicate perfectionism dis-ease from the world. Because it leaves hard workers, good workers, exceptional employees feeling empty and starved at the end of each day. Beating themselves up all the way home about some small tiny error. Staying awake all night thinking about how they could of reworded that email. I don’t encourage perfectionism, I encourage and value continuous improvement.
After all, the universe isn’t perfect, she evolves, learns, grow and we as humans are part of that evolution. It was a man made construct “perfection”, it is not natural, it is not the way our universe operates. Our universe operates on continuous improvement.
How arrogant are we to think that anything will ever be perfect. Be gentle with yourself, get over your perfectionism dis-ease and work towards just doing your best every day.
Go home, after a decent days work and rest. You deserve it. After all, you gave it all you had. Now be gentle with yourself.
