Some of you may know that I am a huge, huge, fan of Brené Brown and have been very inspired by her work and her books. Recently I had an opportunity to take an eCourse offered by Brené and Oprah, I jumped at the chance. Not only did I feel this course would be an opportunity to improve my own life, I felt it would hone my life coaching skills too, double win!  Being willing to do the difficult tasks many of my clients choose to undergo on their paths to cultivating the life they want, makes me better at understanding and offering the right support.

In the spirit of support I am excited to share a part of this eCourse around authenticity or being authentic to oneself.  In my experience as a person and a life coach I have observed that much of what gets in the way of living the life we want to live, has to do with the idea of authenticity. So much of the time we act on our “shoulds” or what we think we are supposed to look like or act like. We live in a culture where we are taught to “fit in.” So we forget who we really are and stop acting in accordance with our “authentic” selves; this causes a lot of misery and is a huge obstacle in achieving our life goals.

So if we want to live better lives and be truer to ourselves, what do we do about it and why does it matter? When we get bombarded by our “shoulds” or by other people’s ideas of how they think we should act or be, we lose our inner compass and maybe our ability to discern what it is we want.  It matters is because if we don’t know what we really want, how can we figure out our goals or how we want our lives to look? For many of us it can be really difficult to stop and ask yourself “what do I really want” or “what does my authentic self look like?” However,  it is important to not get overwhelmed by these ideas or to feel as though you have been “doing it wrong.”  As the quote above says “Authenticity is a daily practice” and for many  it is a new practice, and a whole new option, to be ourselves and “embrace who we are.”

Ultimately Choosing authenticity, as Brené Brown says it in her 2010 book, The Gifts of Imperfection, means  “cultivating the courage to be imperfect, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable.” It also means believing that we are enough.

I encourage you to think about your own authenticity practice, what are some small realistic ways you might be willing to do what the quote suggests? How can you start on the path to embracing who you are? And if you need support, just let me know.

If you want to know more about Brené Brown her website is here:  http://brenebrown.com