sonder SOLUTIONS is sharing why being your authentic self is the most empowering quality you can bring to your career.
Some will tell you that the “Fake It ‘Til You Make It” attitude is just believing in yourself and your ability. The expression suggests that if you imitate confidence and competence, you will someday become confident and competent. Sure, pushing through negative emotions makes sense—pretend to be happy when something is weighing on you and eventually you will be in fact happy. But should we apply “Fake It ‘Til You Make It” to our career? Heck no.
If you bring the ‘fake it’ mentality to the work place, aren’t you pretending to be something you’re not? When has lying about who you are ever sounded appealing?
‘Faking it’ is just flat out stressful. You are not being your authentic self. Even if “faking it” helps you “make it”, you are cheating not only yourself but your employer and your coworkers by not letting your true strengths shine through. You are holding yourself back.
So what happens when your boss realizes that you’ve been faking it?
There are so many potential negative by products:
You could potentially lose your job.
You could lose all of your credibility.
You could lose out on any chance of a raise of career advancement.
You could lose a potential mentor or even just a job reference.
Instead of faking it, how can we utilize our skills to the best of our ability?
Researcher and storyteller Brené Brown encourages us to be vulnerable: “in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen”. “Faking it” makes you invisible making it impossible to forge a genuine connection with others.
Add Clarity in Your Goals
You will become more confident in your choices and actions when you decide what is most important to you. Instead of focusing on what you cannot do, focus on what you CAN DO.
Be Realistic About Your Abilities
Make a list of your strongest qualities. Build on those strengths; do whatever you can to make yourself the best.
Take Your Negatives and Make Them Positive
Take your rejections or failures and use it to empower yourself. See it as moving closer to where you want to be. Every failure is a learning experience to becoming the best YOU you can be.
Always strive to make yourself better. You are an awesome person by just being who you are, don’t let someone pass up on your genuine qualities because you’re too busy pretending to be someone you’re not.