March 3, 2021 – JOLT – Feeling Comfortably Uncomfortable

There’s a dance which many resist learning. . .

which is the dance between authenticity and growth.

Authenticity is at a premium today, and people/prospects/potential partners smell it out.

We’re bombarded by ads and emails and social media so much that our nose sniffs first for authenticity before we put more than a split second into any distraction from our day. . .which promotions always are. Are they real? Are they selling something? Can I trust them?

Yet, there’s an actual learning process to be authentic! Think about it: we’re not raised to be authentic. We’re raised to make sure we look good, do things right, look like we’ve got it together and things under control. . .which is completely inauthentic.

But any venture of becoming a better version of ourselves involves us doing things differently than we have in the past. Thinking differently. Acting differently. We only grow outside our comfort zones.

And, for many, that feels weird and “not me.” But that’s only if you base your definition of the authentic “you” on who you’ve been in the past and the ways you’ve operated in the past (aka, “comfort zone”).

No easy answer here, and yet the dance of growth relies on giving up old comfort zones of being “myself” so that a greater “my Self” can arise. Which means trading in an old sense of authenticity for a new one. . .that may feel really weird for a while.

In what area of your life can you dance toward a new authenticity today?

Think differently, play better.

Radically,

Darrell
CareerGuy and Back Forty Freedom Flier