We all want to be genuine, authentic - it is just that sometimes we don't know what that means.

Step 3
We are so good at focusing on what is not working that it can be a very powerful shift in perspective when we take a minute to look at what is working. Although you may spend much or your day at work feeling as though none of it really matters and it all stinks, there have to be times when you are able to express some of the real you.

Exercise:
Take out a piece of paper and fold it down the middle. On the left side write “activities” and on the right side write “why”. Now, spend about 5-10 minutes thinking about all of the things you have done outside of work that really allow you to express your authentic self. Don’t sensor yourself. Just write down every time you felt good in your own skin and you felt like you were being true to who you are. Then, when you are finished with the left, on the right side of each item you wrote down, describe why you felt like you were able to express your authentic self while doing that thing. What was it that made you feel good or genuine? Did it involve communicating with people, solving a problem, organizing ideas (or papers) being outside, making decisions, using your body to center yourself, talking, listening, observing, etc.?

Don’ worry about what this all means just yet – you don’t have to extrapolate this into a job today – but think about it and see if you can really get to the root of what feels good about what you were doing, saying or thinking. How important is that to you? Would you say that in order to find true happiness at work you would have to feel that 20% of the time? 50%? 75%? How do you think your energy would change? Your commitment to your career? Keep those questions in mind for Step 4.