Authentic writer

Be honest about your beliefs

Most of us are coerced into conformity from a very early age. Our careers and lives are often so blighted by our efforts to be what we think someone else wants us to be, that we lose all confidence in our own judgment and instinct.

It happened to me. I always excelled at English and had a definite creative streak. And yet I didn’t appreciate you could have a career as a writer or an artist. In fact, these were professions that did not even feature on the school’s careers database. And so I ended up doing law – not because I had any real motivation in that area, but because it was widely recognized and accepted as a decent career (and because I wanted to earn lots of money).

Have the courage to be different

Eight years on I was bored and frustrated and, quite frankly, not enjoying life. Something had to give. A move down to Devon, from London, combined with my discovery of Neil Croft’s book, ‘Authentic: how to make a living by being yourself’, gave me the courage and inspiration to do something I had never done before: take control of my life and follow my instinct. I haven’t looked back.

Authenticity and the ‘real’ world

Authenticity works. People and organisations pursuing their authentic path are more motivated, focused and energised than others. They find it easier to take decisions and are more committed to what they are doing.

It is only our conditioning that leads us to believe that being authentic and exposing our true selves is somehow risky or unacceptable. For many of us, our education and upbringing conditioned us to conform rather than encouraging us to explore our individual brilliance.

The greatest contribution we can make to our own lives, to our family, to our community, to our business, to our country and to our planet, is to evolve our own authenticity.

To find out more about being authentic – both as an individual and as a business – go to Neil Croft’s website: www.authentictransformation.co.uk.