Below is the transcript of episode 4 of the One Last Thought podcast, titled "Do It for the Story" and I wanted to share it as a blog post, as there is so much value to be gained by these powerful thoughts shared by Alex Perry and Brian Ford. Enjoy.
I would love to tell you that I was the person who has been able to just be myself and live in my own skin and be super happy about that. But that's not true.
It is important to remain true to yourself.
I think it's easy to say, "be you" and it's much harder for people to go out there and do it. But what I know is this, yes, it's challenging, and it's the most rewarding thing ever.
Because everyone is put on this planet for their own reason to accomplish their own mission. And the second that we get distracted from that, the second that we start thinking that our way and what we prefer isn't good enough, that's the second we stop losing the creativity that drives innovation to help us continue to improve.
I've really struggled to find my own voice I've struggled to get up in front of people and talk I've struggled with feeling like I had to fit in with the status quo but then I couldn't.
I know with social media and how technology is just continuing to progress at a rate and direction that none of us expected, we need to remember that we are human and that within our humanity, there are errors. There are challenges there are tribulations, and to accept that we are imperfect.
I'm always amazed at the people who say I just run out there and I'm just myself. I'm like, that's amazing. I didn't live that way, so teach me more about how you got there.
Social media is doing this really interesting thing where people are putting themselves and their faces in the best light that they possibly could trying to share and fool others about their current state.
I have spent many years and a lot of uncomfortable moments trying to either be someone else be like someone else fit in with the crowd, be comfortable in my own skin when I walked into a room, and always feeling just a little bit like my teeth were on edge. Like I just wasn't there because I wasn't living up to some imaginary standard of someone else's behavior that I set up in my mind.
I know that the you that you are the person that you are, there is no one else like you.
When I was in this time trying to realize what my potential was, is I adopted this mentality called "do it for the story".
My hope is that by saying be you that you will hear this and that you will know that I see you, I see you sitting there going, "but I can't be me or I'm afraid to be me or what if somebody says something about how I am" I'm here to tell you that yeah, it is scary. And yes, you can do it. And I have faith in all of that.
It's about choosing to say 'yes' to situations or different opportunities that come about for no reason other than to see what happens. And to pursue those opportunities without expectation of what will happen.
This is it. This is the one shot and there's no one else like you in the world.
And what I found is that putting myself out there for no reason, but with the frame of mind to appreciate the opportunity when it comes to pursuing it, when it comes, has created unbelievable things in my life. It has really helped me tap into my own humanity and my own capabilities of what life can bring to me.
You can do it and you can take little steps toward it. When you take those little steps you get stronger, you get stronger in who you are. And I know this to be true because I live this every day.
So, I'd encourage everyone whether it's do it for the story or not, to find their own self, to be confident in that self and to make sure that you remain true to that self.
When you need someone to help bring that out of you remember that there are many of us out there who get up every morning and go, "Okay, I've got to get up and I've got to be me." And that's led to some painfully difficult lessons in my life. But it also led to the greatest joy.
It discourages people from pursuing who they authentically are. Instead, they feel like they need to accommodate or mold to the person that society expects them to be. And what this does is actually setting an expectation that the casual observer cannot live up to because it is impossible. It is an impossible social media stigma.
Not the way THEY do it, but this is the way I want to do it. And then holding firm in that even when it's uncomfortable, weird, awkward and you feel shaky on your feet.
It is important to remain true to yourself.
So be brave, take that step and be you. I can't wait to see where you land because of it.
