Authenticity

The third (and perhaps most important) technique is transparency—giving your viewer a behind-the-scenes look at your life or business. Or to put it another way, being real.

Shama Hyder • The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue

Vulnerability is about making it impossible for people to ‘find out’ your secrets, by revealing them first and thereby neutralizing any fear you have about being discovered, as well as ensuring you cannot be manipulated (a person with no secrets is impossible to blackmail).

Daniel Munro • The Naked Truth: Using Shameless Honesty to Enhance Your Confidence, Connections and Integrity (The 3X Confidence Trilogy Book 2)

This reframes authenticity from moral imperative to biological necessity. When you stop auditioning for belonging, you realize something profound: you already belonged to yourself. Self-belonging is unconditional—not something you earn through performance, but something you recognize through presence.

stepfanie tyler • The Quiet Thrill of Not Being for Everyone

Charles Taylor, a Canadian philosopher, discusses authenticity as a modern moral ideal in his work, particularly in "The Ethics of Authenticity". For Taylor, authenticity isn't simply about being true to oneself in a superficial sense. Instead, he sees it as a complex concept deeply intertwined with:

1. **Self-discovery and Originality:**... See more

Anyhow, the older I get, the less impressed I become with originality. These days, I’m far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.

Elizabeth Gilbert • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

I tend to mostly value sincerity over originality. I think I perform better when I focus less on being original and more on being honest.

Timothy Ferriss • Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

What is authenticity? Of course there’s no such thing, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from believing in it. Nearly 80 years of anthropology research on authenticity-seeking behavior reveal authenticity to be one of the stickiest modern superstitions. The bulk of the early research is about tourism, an activity frequently motivated by a search for... See more

subpixel space • After Authenticity

When being real is your priority, the various parts of your life start to groove. Your career will begin to reflect your true passion; your living room will match your values; your friends will fit your soul; and your wealth—of which there are many definitions—will start to measure up with your notion of freedom. Sometimes the courage to be true to

Danielle LaPorte • The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms

Until you can accept who you are and value yourself deeply enough to bring your true, authentic self to others, you will experience an incongruence between your values and your actions.