Your Authentic Self

Your Authentic Self (or mine) is your inner ‘you’, a unique blend of four equal components: passions, values, talents and skills.

A passion is any activity that gets us excited, something that while we are engaged in that specific activity, we lose track of time. It may be an activity that fills us with pride or a sense of accomplishment but the ‘bigger’ feelings are satisfaction and pleasure. Passions are usually specific: photography, greyhound rescue, adult literacy, Gothic architecture.

Your values help identify who you are. They are what makes ‘you’, ‘you’. The authors of the book The Lemming Conspiracy define values as ‘what you hold most personally meaningful in your life‘. Values are specific to you but sound bigger to others i.e Satisfaction Contractor; Restorative Countryside; Spontaneous Creation; Organic Diva; Childhood Whimsy. To learn more pick up Chocolate for the Soul.

Talents are the pieces of your personality that come to you naturally. You may have worked to sharpen them but they are the things that you have always been able to do well. Perhaps you are a fast reader or catch onto any sport without much effort.

Skills are the areas that you have worked to develop. Being a good listener is a skill. They are not talents but areas that you have sharpened and honed so they are strong within you. Being an extremely organized person is a skill.