One Word Suggestion: Authenticity

You can always tell when you see or meet someone who is truly authentic and living comfortably and openly with who they are.

Sometimes it’s obvious just by their behaviour, other times it’s more of a gut feeling, but either way, you know it when you’re around people who are living their truth.

And usually, they’re our most favourite people to be around. Because there’s no pretence, no BS, so self-inflated ego, exaggeration or misleading behaviour.

Mike Robbins, author of Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken, says in his TED Talk that authenticity is different than honesty or expressing opinions. It’s about being willing to be vulnerable and let others know who you really are and what you really feel – instead of worrying about how you look or come across.

It can take a long time to truly discover and get comfortable with your authentic self. I’ve been big into the self-improvement space for over a decade and I think I’m just now, finally, maybe getting to grips with who I am.

Vulnerability and also confidence are definitely part of the equation so if you haven’t already, check out episode two for more on this.

Mike’s analogy is that people are like icebergs. We often just see the tip, but underneath the surface, there’s so much more of what makes us who we really are that rarely gets seen.

So, if you’re an iceberg and you want to get more comfortable sharing your authentic self, then you gotta learn to lower your waterline. And for a lot of people the first time they get comfortable with this is through improv training.

At LMA we’re awesome at creating a safe, warm, and welcoming environment where anyone can learn, play, take risks, fail gloriously – and succeed hilariously, and ultimately become more authentic human beings, unafraid to share their soul.

The strong friendships our students make, in every class, are based on genuine human connection. Not on the type of work people do, where they went to school, or how much money they make, or where they were born. The glue is authenticity.

And as scary as it may sound to show the whole iceberg, that’s when the magic happens. The more “you” you are, the more people will embrace it.

Because authenticity is powerful – it liberates us and it touches and inspires the people around us.