Hello Weekend!

Yes, I know. It’s Monday. I have not lost my marbles. But I wanted you to time travel with me in today’s blog. Let’s go back to last Friday and the end of your work week. I am curious.

How is the “weekend” version of yourself different than your “work” version?

I am not talking about wearing sweats instead of slacks or that you ran Saturday errands. I am talking about how you feel or how you act on the weekend compared to how you feel or act at work.

Is there a different YOU at work?

When you reflect on last week, did you notice times where you felt inauthentic?

• Maybe you said what you thought someone wanted to hear instead of what raising the concern that has been bugging you.

• Maybe it was in how you presented yourself all day. Together. Calm. Smiling. When in fact you felt anxious, like you were on a stage performing.

• Maybe you changed your outfit before heading to work because you thought the fancy blouse and suit jacket would give an air of “I belong in this room”. (OK, I admit it. I did that this week and felt the yuck in doing it! As soon as I could, I took off the fancy blouse and put on my Queen of Hearts t-shirt. It looked great with the suit jacket, and I felt like me!)

In your reflection, did you notice any patterns? Was there a particular person that had you being less than authentic? Did it happen in relation to a particular project or task? Is there a way that you generally present that is less than your genuine self … are you smiling when mad or pretend to be interested when you could care less?

Try this:

This work week, spend a few moments noticing the people, the time of day or the activities that have you doing (or not doing) or saying (or not saying) things that are even a bit left of your True North.

Ask yourself, “If I was more in alignment with my authentic self, if I brought more of me into this situation, what would I have said or done instead?”

The more you bring your Authentic Self into every moment, the better every moment feels.

Put that Queen of Hearts t-shirt on under your suit jacket and show ‘em what you got.