A Paradox of Authenticity 🪆

Categorically there can’t be a right way to be authentic. As soon as you start following someone else’s rules, you’re no longer genuinely representing you. To be sure, there are more and less authentic expressions, but even this ranking is contextual, changing per moment and relationship. Learning to be more authentic is like learning how to read, rather than memorizing the contents of a particular book.

That said, we all need role models, examples, and lots of room to make mistakes. Sometimes the best way to learn is through imitation. This is one reason why the Relateful Company doesn’t teach relating rules, but instead encourages people to aim toward certain ideals, run experiments, and be open to in-the-moment feedback. We want to cultivate the process that generates fresh authentic expression, from the inside out. This is also why we feature a ton of different leaders on Level Up ⬆—your natural relateful expression-reception may differ greatly from mine, but might be similar to Fabiola or a combo of Liz and Philip for instance.

With love, Jordan