True Self
If I received 1 rupee anytime someone said they wanted to be vulnerable and be their true self, I would’ve been a millionaire.
This romanticized idea of being your true self and being vulnerable and attracting your tribe based on that doesn’t work the majority of the time. After watching Barry, some thoughts went into my head, and this was a dominant one.
Most of us have achieved whatever little by not showing our true selves. That job, entry to that group. All came when we weren’t our true selves. That’s why LinkedIn works.
In the case of Barry, he hid his true self and got invited to a class, built a reputation in the community, and found a girl for himself. That’s us. And there is nothing wrong with that.
But we find ourselves bullshitting that we want to be our true selves. We want people to accept us for who we are.
No. People will not like your true self. Because it is complicated and messy. It’s difficult to put someone in a box when their personality doesn’t signal 1 thing.
Try showing your true self. You might not even like yourself. Some friends will stick, and I think that is the only incentive.
Time and again, Barry’s true self surfaced, and we did not like it. He lost a lot because people got to know his true self. Something he tried to hide. Something we try to hide.
And it is completely fine. Our true self doesn’t have to come out in public. He/she chills with us. What is not okay is the whining that this is not me. People should love the real me.
Do you have the balls to digest the consequences of someone knowing your true self? Be honest with yourself.
Can you deal when someone doesn’t like your true self? It’s very cool to talk about the ‘real me’ until they see the not-so-nice side of yours. Decide wisely how real you want to be.
But until then, please be the LinkedIn Version of yourself.