Authentic Self

The extraordinary Oprah Winfrey is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. Some regard her as the most influential woman in the world.

This is what she said about being her authentic self:

I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier.

Oprah had an exceptionally successful show because she allowed herself to be authentic, to be real, to be compassionate, and to be passionate. Her authenticity struck a chord with people and made her what she became. A very rich woman.

She made this comment about her wealth. But being authentic goes beyond wealth. Whether you are authentic in being yourself or whether you are pretending to be what you are not makes a difference in every aspect of your life.

The truth is that authenticity often has more to do with your life circumstances than your choices. The painful truth about Oprah is that she had much to overcome in her early life. Many people do. Maybe you too. It's difficult to be authentic when you are afraid, hungry, and trying to protect yourself from harm.

Oprah's capacity to become what she has become is a testament to her resilience and determination. It's also directly related to the producer who recognized her talents and give her the "big break" that made Oprah as rich and famous as she has become.

Authentic self-identity is shaped by many factors. One factor is fear of revealing the truth about yourself, which is often a result of being afraid of the people closest to you. If you live in a dangerous environment, survival takes precedence over attempting to be authentic. And sometimes, you're not authentic because it's easier "to go along to get along"

Choosing to Live Authentically

Whether you are authentic or whether you are pretending to be what you aren't, choosing to be authentic is a powerful tool to get what you truly want in life. What you want is to be authentic about what you care about and what you don't care about, what you are willing to and what you are unwilling to do, what is safe and what is unsafe.

If you are safe enough to make such decisions, you can choose to be yourself or you can go through life pretending to be what you are not. You can choose to follow your dreams or plod through life not daring to take the risk.

Pretending to what you're not conflicts with your values and your perception of your authentic self. In contrast, being authentic is a powerful tool to get what you truly want in life.

To be authentic, you are true to your own personality, spirit, and character. You live the truth about who you are. To be inauthentic is to pretend that you are what you aren't. To go along with societal norms because "everybody does this." To be authentic is to be real, first of all to yourself, and also to be authentic with anyone you deal with.

You will probably never be as famous and rich as Oprah Winfrey, but you can have a powerful impact upon your life and the lives of the people in your life by allowing yourself to be your authentic self.

What I Know for Sure  is a collection of essays written by Oprah Winfrey in her magazine O. Themes of the essays are joy, resilience, connection, gratitude, possibility, awe, clarity, and power. Find out more about this extraordinary guide to becoming who you choose to be.

[Original Post October 18, 2014]

My book, How to Get Out of The True Self Trap: The Life-Changing Secret of Heroic Stories,  challenges the assumptions of self-help work that treats you as a problem to be solved. This tendency is deeply rooted in religious and psychotherapeutic beliefs about fixing what is wrong with you. In contrast, heroic stories are about ordinary people doing extraordinary actions in response to some outer challenge. In the process, they discover that they are capable of far more than the imagined.

Available on Amazon in either Kindle or paperback versions. Click Buy Now From Amazon to get your copy now.