Core Values: Authenticity

Accomplishments:

• I totally wrote a story in the 2nd Person!  All the writing blogs and tutorials talked about how hard it is... and they weren't joking.  A part of me wants to say I'll never do it again... but I probably will because it turned out Awesome!  Read it here if you also want to experience it's awesomeness!
• You'll notice I moved things around a little again.  I've been checking out other Author pages and seeing what I do and don't like.  This is all a learning curve for me and I love that I just keep learning new things!
• Chicken Wrangling...

Gratitude:

• Thank you, thank you, thank you times a million to my good friend Casey who is pretty much my Beta Reader for all my stories!  
• My busy little Genius that inspires me - I'll eventually get a good name for you... eventually.

Lesson:

• Nothing seems to be going according to plan so I need to plan accordingly, I guess (?).  It's not all bad - it just means life is happening!

---

There is no point in my life, prior to 2020, that I thought ‘I’m going to be an entrepreneur.’  I had ideas of becoming a Nurse Practitioner and opening my own clinic and perhaps changing the world of healthcare, but that is as entrepreneurial as it got.  When I started contemplating a very watered-down version of this path I discovered a podcast and blog called “Being Boss” and ended up buying their book (also called “Being Boss”).  After finding myself barreling, full-steam ahead, down the Creative Entrepreneur path this book (well, all their material really - they are bookmarked!) have been a great starting resource for me.

One of the exercises in this book is to work out the Core Values of your business.  Being the studious creature I am, I have been working on this exercise.  Being the habitual overachiever that I am, I have decided to spend a month on each of the Core Values that I’ve chosen.  I want to study each one, try them on, and take them for a test drive before I finalize the list.  Now the instructions say to pick 5 values.  This is where I chose to rebel.  I picked 7 because I really like the number 7.  Also, in Numerology, 7 is the number for Analysis and Understanding - all good energy to have encompassing your Core Values.

---

​The Values I have chosen, in no particular order, are: 
Connection
Accountability
Exploration
Authenticity
Fierceness
Impact
Playfulness

---

Interestingly enough, I found 2 more books in my personal library that pertain to business, both by Lee Cockerell “Creating Magic” and “The Customer Rules.”  For those who don’t know, because I totally wouldn’t if I hadn’t met the guy, Lee Cockerell is a Retired Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World Resort.  I got these books when I went to one of his speaking engagements, while I was in nursing school, in Louisville.  At the time, I was very active in school so my advisor actually introduced me to Mr. Cockerell, where he signed one of my books and gave me a pin after our brief conversation. 

Yes, I just name dropped a big wig, but not for the sake of name dropping alone.  What are the odds?  I have to question if the gods had this particular path set for me and have spent the last, however long, warming me up for it. 

​The gods can put you on a path,
but they can’t lead you to success,
​that’s up to you.

​Now here I am with 3 business books (3 is also a very Witchy/Magickal number, if you didn’t know) and 7 core values to explore.  This particular endeavor has to last at least 7 months, so I can get through all those values!

So what value have I been exploring for the past month?  Authenticity - if you hadn’t noticed from various FB posts and the YouTube video I did! - since it was the first Core Value to make it on my list. 

​Here are the highlights of what I have learned about Authenticity:
#1 Accentuate my Fabulousness (Being Boss Book)
#2 “Being boss is owning who you are, knowing what you want, and actually making it happen (Being Boss Book)
#3 Win one reader at a time and strive to keep each on (The Customer Rules)
#4 Don’t try too hard (The Customer Rules)
#5 Live my Values (Creating Magic)
#6 Practice ethical dilemmas (Creating Magic)
#7 When you’re ready, write yourself a break up letter. (Fempire)

If you want to check out the template for writing your own Dear Fake Me letter check it out here.

Dear Fake Me Letter

Dear Fake Me,
    It wasn’t all bad.  We had a good run.  I know you were trying to protect me when you kept me from admitting who I truly am and want to be in this life.  How I see and experience the world and how I want to affect it.  And I know you were trying to protect me when you got me out of saying I want to inspire people through my writing and create meaningful change, which would have made life really uncomfortable.  (Remember?  We just quietly seethed inside instead.  Good times!)
    Plus, there were all those times we spent trying to be exceptional at the acceptable, so we could dabble in the “impossible” without judgement.  And you stopped me from doing the “impossible,” by making sure I was too afraid.  That’s what’s really held us together all this time, you know?  Fear.  Fear of Failure.  Of Judgement. Not being Good-Enough.  Fear of making a Mistake. 
    But now - and I hope you won’t take this personally - we’ve grown apart.  Remember that time you said I couldn’t express myself through writing, that no one would listen, no one would care, ...even though I wanted to so much?  I always thought you were looking out for me.  But really, you were controlling me, I was too scared to tell the difference.
                 And now here we are.
    We’re through.  I’m ready to start speaking up.  I’m ready to be the version of me that shares the stories that are in my heart, and writes into creation the change I want to see, that never says or does things that feel wrong or fake.  I’m ready to stop doubting and start believing.  Believing in Myself, my Abilities, and my Dreams.
    I don’t want to keep my feelings bottled up, EVER.  Not with friends and family, not with strangers and acquaintances.  I don’t want to make my truth secondary to someone else’s comfort.  I will not be ashamed of how I feel or who I am.
                                            I want to shine.
    You served a purpose in my life, but we want different things.  It’s not you, it’s that you’re not me.  
    So take care of yourself, you won’t hear from me again.

Signed,
xxx
The Real Me