I am someone who would fit the description of: what you see is what you get. I tell it like it is (much to others’ chagrin at times) – good, bad, or indifferent — with as much tact as I can. I also believe that it is worth the time to give others an unsolicited pat on the back, particularly if something they did or said had a positive impact on me. I do it because it feels right to me not because I expect anything in return (and I know how GOOD it feels when someone does it to me). Funny thing is, though, it seems the more authentic I am, the more good things flow my way. I think there may be a connection there.
For instance, last fall, I discovered all the great work Patsi and Denise over at Build a Better Blog were doing to help businesses succeed using blogging as a marketing tool. While I was planning and developing this site, I found one of their eBooks to be of great value to me. So, after launching coaching4lesbians.com, I let them know about it. I was simply being authentic and expressing my gratitude.
As an unexpected result, they asked if they could use my comments as testimonial and they featured that on their site. I found it very cool, and a great win-win for us both – a success story for them and a little exposure for me.
Bottom line is…this little serendipitous experience reminded me that it doesn’t have to be hard work or the equivalent of an archaeological dig to have positive results flow into my life. Simply focus on being me, being authentic and what I “do” will often speak for itself.
Have you ever had something unexpectedly good happen to you? Were you being your authentic self at the time? Was there a connection? Let me know by sharing in the comments…