Timeless Advice About Authenticity

How is 2014 shaping up for you?  Are you conscious of working against the easy flow some people seem to enjoy, in which they embrace their values and their authentic sense of self?  If you find yourself out of step with the life you should be living there is action you can take: action which can help restore your flow and develop greater authenticity in work and life.

How do you identify the type of authenticity Goal to focus on?

You might want to focus on several key areas at first, but need to do a little work to identify which ones are causing you to feel inauthentic.  Why not test your levels of authentic happiness here courtesy of Dr Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania (free registration necessary).  This exercise will help you pin point which of the 24 key areas you can usefully focus on.

OK you’ve got your focus, now what do you do?

You could try Continuing Professional Development, which has the potential to start moving you in the right direction.

In the UK alone it is estimated, by the CPD Certification Service  that more than 4 million professionals working in all sections of UK society are members of one of the numerous professional bodies, undertaking a minimum of 30 – 40 hours of CPD each year.  How much could you gain in confidence and skills by pursuing a goal in your key area through some CPD?

What are your options if you are not a professional?

Perhaps you feel you don’t qualify as a professional and there are no formal CPD options you can pursue.  How would you feel about exploring your lifelong learning options instead?

In 1997 the Canadian Commission on behalf of UNESCO  created the Learning Together template of resources, still in use today, as it identifies learning under 4 pillars: To Know – To Do – To Be – To Live Together.  The Pillars are a great place to start your exploration of what it means to be a more fulfilled version of yourself.

3 Questions To Consider

• Whether you decide to grow by means of CPD or the 4 Pillars, which part of your life will you prioritise to improve your well-being?
• When will you take action to start to change your situation and live more authentically?
• How will you measure your success?

By all means take a look at the further ideas relating to your work and life goals in the Archive section here, on Facebook and Google+ too.  Or if you are a Linkedin user you can View Roger Dennison’s profile and connect with me there.