It isn’t easy to be yourself, and the workplace is the first place where this reality becomes evident. We are compelled to play a role in order to hold a position, to defend a brand image that is not necessarily our own—the company’s image. This performance is exhausting because it deprives us of the time during which our authenticity could have expressed itself. As a result, our authenticity appears only in the leftover moments of our lives.
The need to earn our daily bread may force us to step into someone else’s skin, even if it means losing something in the process: we lose a part of who we are. How, then, can we reclaim our authenticity—and, more importantly, our happiness—when expressing who we truly are may jeopardize our livelihood?
A world is collapsing before our eyes, one that believed an undifferentiated mass was the best way to build empires—like contemporary armies, whose civilian equivalent is the employee in the service or industrial sector, expected to remain silent and obey without question.
But in the age of AI and automation, entire companies can operate with only a handful of people. This means the masses left behind will have to learn to become autonomous, to build viable businesses themselves, or to work as independent professionals.
This new configuration of work brings back to the forefront an idea once cherished but long neglected: individuality. In the world that is coming—or rather, the one already here—individuality is synonymous with rarity. And as the saying goes, what is rare is valuable, whereas it was once seen as mere eccentricity.
One of the best ways to stand out in an economy seeking specificity and performance, and in a life increasingly lacking meaning, is to embody one’s individuality as fully as possible. And what better tool than authenticity?
In a changing world, it is vital to have a compass. And what if your compass were your morality and everything you believe in? When the ground slips from beneath our feet, it becomes essential to return to the fundamentals and redefine our bearings, which can grow blurred during periods of prosperity.
The transition we are going through—often appearing in the form of a crisis—is the best opportunity to return to oneself and deepen one’s search for meaning, individually, so as to connect authentically with others.
Put simply: if you do not know where you are going, at least know where you come from.
Wealthy influencers are celebrated partly because of envy: the masses want to become those they observe. Yet when we look only at money and possessions, we overlook an essential part of the process: how that wealth was accumulated. This is, in a sense, putting the cart before the horse.
Having a moral foundation is essential before embarking on any project of personal enrichment. Why? Because money without morality leads inevitably to affliction and, in many cases, even degradation. Simply put: no one can live happily without being in alignment with moral principles, even if they possess all the riches in the world.
Whether through work or the constant pursuit of performance, we can become trapped in a race that distracts us from simple, immediate happiness. The opportunity to cultivate virtue in all its forms is always present, but we often neglect it out of greed or ignorance.
Human beings are meant to live as human beings, not as machines programmed to perform at all costs. The excesses of a life lived at full speed manifest clearly: discomfort, a sense of losing oneself, an inability to live in the present moment, or even narcissistic delusions.
Often, we do not know we are in excess. And even if we did, we would see no way out, for several reasons: believing we cannot find happiness elsewhere, fearing the loss of admiration or esteem if we choose a different life, or feeling trapped in a situation we perceive as a dead end.
What often misleads us is thinking we know where we are. To escape this illusion, we must accept being lost—and even willingly lose ourselves—to find ourselves again. Authenticity necessarily implies humility: not pretending to know everything. It is looking in the mirror and admitting that we may not have all the answers.
Being sincere about what we feel and how we express it to the world is the first step toward expanding consciousness. The purpose of existence is to make the most of our time on earth in order to elevate our consciousness and access a deeper level of fulfillment.
Authenticity is a means, not an end. It is the tool that allows us to open ourselves to higher states of consciousness, such as love or joy, both of which are incompatible with lies and duplicity.
Observe which emotions animate you each day. Is it love, kindness, or softness? Or, on the contrary, bitterness, resentment, or the thirst for revenge? Every emotion is an indication of your level of consciousness at a given moment. Your overall level of consciousness is simply the long-term average of these emotions.
Try as much as possible to observe your emotions from an external point of view. Watch yourself—growth happens this way. Asking loved ones can also help, though not always, to understand where you stand on this scale of consciousness.
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