This week, 90210 actress AnnaLynne McCord made headlines when she tweeted a photo of herself without a stitch of makeup. She made a surprising move and shared her authentic self with the masses. Blemishes and all. Do you share just as openly?
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| Left: AnnaLynne McCord with makeup and hairstyling. Right: AnnaLynne au natural. |
When we blog, tweet, podcast, or do other things online, we're trying to brand ourselves by creating an image. That public image, however, is sometimes very different than our authentic selves. Behind the metaphoric makeup, we all have imperfections.
Your professional goals may be to become the next Darren Rowse or Mari Smith, but it's not gonna happen. Know why? Only Darren is Darren and only Mari is Mari. To try to be them is nothing other than a goal to be a cheap knock-off. Instead of being them, shouldn't you be the best version of you? And that doesn't mean more mascara or a flashier website.
So, here's the reality. We all work hard to perfect that public image; to ensure we're portrayed in the best light possible. But, instead of worrying about the spin, how about being real? The truth is being authentic is powerful. It's something that makes people relate to you, cheer for you, support you, and remember you.
Regardless of what you put out there to maintain your image, there's no hiding from who you really are. You know yourself better than anyone. Why not share that person--the real you--with the world? Flaws and all. You may be surprised by how liberating and empowering a little authenticity can be.
I want to be like Bill Dorman; have you seen that dude? He's so cool even without makeup, that's pretty real if you ask me.........
ReplyDeleteOh, I have some blemishes alright so don't look too closely; but hopefully what you see is what you get. Me I can be pretty well, in fact I just have to show up to do that.
I have been 'surprised' by a few people who I felt there was too much of a disconnect in what they were trying to project and who I felt they really were. However, it was pretty easy for me to just move on down the road.
I'm not saying to have a different online persona than who you really are, but do you think a little bit of intrigue is a good thing? My wife thinks I'm TMI all of the time; I just don't know what TMI is for the most part. Maybe it's not good all of the time, huh?
To Me....Authenticity is Top Priority! It's what makes Me trust others, and makes Me feel good about who I am! Great post Amber! :)
ReplyDeleteYou? TMI? Clearly your wife doesn't know you at all, Bill ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Eleanor. Authenticity DOES instill trust. For sure!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and chiming in!
Damn right. Oops. Did I just say that? Hope that's ok here at the Casa de Amber.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% - be your best self; don't try to be someone else and through it all, be REAL. I'm a real hot mess right now: too busy to tweet, share, comment, write a blog post or anything.
When I'm able to do all that, I do it in spades. When I am unable, I go silent sporadically pop in and out, in order to focus on the work at hand. I used to kill myself to follow some A-List prescribed regimen about tweeting, posting, following formulas, writing on certain days of the week and times of day. That was not the real me or based in my reality.
The real me thinks you're A-Ok, Amber and really enjoyed this post.
Aw, thanks for that, Erica!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right in that you can't take someone else's recipe for success and assume it will work for you. It's always best to cherry pick from here and there to find the approaches that work best for you, isn't it?
Hope your hot mess turns cools off for you soon ;-)