Ever felt like you couldn?t share the authentic you, the REAL you, in your business?

I get it. When I first started my business, I was so concerned with not offending anyone that my posts were totally bland (and my old videos look like I?m apologizing. A lot.)

Ever felt like you couldn?t share the authentic you, the REAL you, in your business?

I get it. When I first started my business, I was so concerned with not offending anyone that my posts were totally bland (and my old videos look like I?m apologizing. A lot.)

Now I love to go on rants? and surprisingly, they are the posts that my readers like the most.??

But how do you know what to share that?s the authentic you, and what?s unnecessary? Or worse yet, TMI? (News flash: You don?t need to share ?too much information? to be authentic!)

Here are 5 essentials for finding and expressing the authentic YOU!

1. Find low-stakes ways to share

When you think you?re talking to a potential client, there?s a desire to play it safe. After all, why risk offending someone or turning them off when you need your next client?

It feels easier to be authentic when you believe the stakes are lower? for example,

• When you don?t see the person you?re speaking to as a possible client
• When you believe that you?re sharing with an audience that aren?t ideal clients
• When you?re sharing in a way that you don?t believe people will see, like writing a blog with a small readership.
• When you?re sharing in a group created for support (like a coaching group that you?re a participant in.)

Give yourself opportunities to express what you think and feel in ways that feel like the stakes are low. You?ll feel more open, and you may surprise yourself with what comes out.

2. Authenticity is not an excuse for mediocrity

I?ve talked to lots of coaches and other experts who want to present as less-than-professional because that?s ?authentic? for them.

To be fair, many are corporate escapees who want to reject anything that smacks of the restrictions that they used to have in their jobs.

However, fair or not, we?re judged on 1) whether our appearance is professional, and 2) whether our presentations are well put-together.
Yes, be authentic. But authenticity should mean the BEST version of you.

3. What pisses you off, what breaks your heart?

This question comes from one of my previous mentors, Suzanne Evans. The question is designed to get you out of your head and into your passion for what you do.

Too often, transformational entrepreneurs will speak passionately about helping people create change, but the passion comes from the wrong focus.

The passion should not be about the process you can take people through. It?s about the challenges that your ideal clients are having, and the results that they want. It?s about the mistakes that they make as they fumble their way to change with you, and your frustration at wanting to help more quickly.

Recently, I created a rant about people trying to run Facebook ads before they, and their businesses, were ready for it. It breaks my heart when people turn to a quick tactic, instead of doing the difficult work of strategy that makes all tactics more effective.

Those passions create great ?rants? that engage people in your mission, your work, and your personality – the authentic YOU.

4. Embrace your opposites

When I began expressing myself as an entrepreneur, I would usually stick to what I was best known for. I remember the big day that I shared in a post that I was a sci-fi fan, simply by using a metaphor from Star Trek.?

The response was incredible! Turns out that many of my tribe share that love of mine.?

So what does sci-fi have to do with business strategy? In a sense, nothing. It?s the opposite. It?s a flavor, like creating chocolate with chili powder or sea salt. These flavors make the original more interesting, as long as you don?t lose sight of the main offering.

(It?s chocolate with chili powder? you don?t have to wonder if it?s actually chili powder.)

If you?d like to know an awesome way to incorporate your opposites into your message, check out my ?Character Diamond Formula? training HERE.

5. Expressing the authentic you is a journey

As you become more successful in your business, it?s usually easier to share your authentic self. The same way that it?s easier to share your authentic self with close friends, rather than with strangers, the confidence boost of success will make it easier to be you.

This means that expressing the authentic you is a journey. You should anticipate that you?ll grow more comfortable over time with putting potentially polarizing comments out in the world. When you work on it, you?ll also get better at expressing those sentiments so people understand exactly what you mean and where you?re coming from.

How can YOU express the authentic you today? Check out my Character Diamond Formula for more help in uncovering the authentic YOU!