Authentic Doesn't Mean Everything

There’s a version of ‘authenticity’ that I think is often misunderstood, and actually plain annoying to see

It goes a bit like this;

‘Authenticity is good, so I should just say what I really think. No filter, whatever is true for me goes up’

And then you get a coach posting that their audience CAN actually afford coaching, they just don’t think they can because they waste money on takeaways, coffee out, Netflix subscriptions, after school clubs for their kids, mortgage payments etc etc

There’s almost an implication that ‘You’re a bit dim for even thinking about this and hesitating’

I know what happens when you push back on this kind of marketing with these coaches, because I’ve done it before

‘Yeah but the thing is I genuinely believe that’s true’

Fine, fair enough - maybe you do.

But that isn’t the point.

You don’t have to post everything you believe - that isn’t what authenticity is.

And even if you’re being ‘your true self’ on social media, it’s still a marketing tool.

You’re still choosing, deciding what needs to be shared and what doesn’t, it’s still curated.

The people who you follow who seem most authentic aren’t unfiltered, they’re just picking a filter that’s honest to them and actually useful for you

So I couldn’t care less if you think the moon landing was staged - you can hold that belief quietly and still run a perfectly successful, profitable business.

Talking down to your audience doesn’t show honesty and isn’t you ‘sharing what you think’ to the people you want to work with, it just comes across as smug belittling of people who struggle with something you don’t.

People can spot the difference between ‘This person respects me and is being straight with me’ and ‘This person treats me with contempt and thinks I’m an idiot, and then just calls that straight talking’

Be authentic - but remember that you’re doing that to connect, not just for catharsis.