Who Do You Think You Are?

Have you ever stopped to think about how many different versions of yourself the world sees everyday? The you on the interview, the you as the boss, mom, wife, girlfriend, daughter, and of course the you in your car singing to Madonna.

I often wonder who is our “authentic” self? The real you. The you who is the most comfortable, and as a result, the most productive? I was talking to someone about how corporate life doesn’t fit who I am, I “don’t fit the mold”…I think outside the box…people have said. I have to tell you, it took many, many years of self-reflection (and therapy) for me to understand that I may not have what it takes to rise up the corporate ranks–because you have to be a certain kind of person and think in a certain way to really make your mark in a large company.

And often what that means, (no disrespect whatsoever to successful corporate women here) is you have to be “street smart” not “book smart”. I have seen people go to such incredible lengths to move upward, without consideration of the actual job they were hired to do. I either don’t have the skill set or I find that to become the corporate giant that I thought I wanted to be, I would have to be a different Kim.

Coincidently, today’s topic on Oprah was this incredible notion that young girls and women are conditioned when they are little to hide their talents and gifts so as not to intimidate boys. Which means as early as 5, we are training ourselves be something we are not.

I could go in a million different directions with this post, but I’ll keep it simple–who is your “authentic self”?