Show Up and Be Authentic
Show Up and Be Authentic
The last few months have been a whirlwind. I had a bit of trepidation when scheduling all these FI related get togethers in such short a period of time. Who would have known that I would attend two CampFIs and FinCon all within such a short period of time. The experiences have been both joyful and at times overwhelming. But none of this would have happened if I didn’t take the risk of signing up. Sometimes you just have to leap before you look. You have to show up and be authentic.
This doesn’t always feel good. There are times you will stand in a corner by yourself and stare at the wall waiting for something to happen. But there are also times when it seems like the world is swirling at your feet.
Hold on tight. Let the magic happen.
Show Up
There are so many reasons not to attend these type of events, They are far away. Expensive. You disrupt your work routine. There is no time to work out. Watching your food and alcohol intake is not the easiest either. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
You can talk yourself out of almost anything. But very little happens to those who don’t take risks. You are not going to build community, form strong collaborations, or meet eye to eye with amazing people from the safety of your couch.
You have to show up and be authentic. You have to put up with the delayed flights, insecure meal plans, and lack of sleep. There is no way around it.
Magic happens and relationships form when you are face to face.
Some of my best content and ideas comes from these meetings. Often from an unexpected face or a new acquaintance.
Be Authentic
There are so many things I want to be that I am not. This blog would take off if I could write about run of the mill how to personal finance. My readership would grow if I just promoted better, and wrote material that would be easy to use for guest posts on bigger blogs. There are a million ways in which I could mimic the behavior that I see in all the successful people around me.
But none of that would be me.
It would be a shell of me that probably wouldn’t play well on the blog, and certainly would come off as fake in person. You can’t hide who you are when you come to these meetings and get togethers. Your inner personality will shine through regardless of what type of persona you try to portray.
Thus, you must show up and be authentic. You must throw caution to the wind and hope you are embraced for exactly who you are.
There is no substitution for authenticity. It is the key ingredient that others are looking for not only when seeking out content, but also when building relationships.
Final Thoughts
I have put a lot of thought into who I am and how I want to be perceived in the personal finance community. Meeting in real life at CampFI and FinCon has taught me that I have fairly little control over these things. I am who I am, and there is no use pretending otherwise.
In order to move forward, I have to stand up and embrace my own unique quirkiness. I have to show up and be authentic.
Would you expect any less of me?
Have already begun planning for next years events. Please join me:
I will be speaking at:
I will be attending:
CampFI Rocky Mountain July 5-8
Hey Doc G! I’m glad you showed up at FinCon and enjoyed your company there. Like they say… “showing up is half the battle”. Or is it “90% of success is just showing up”? Either way it’s important to show up. 🙂
And like you mentioned, authenticity is crucial. Without authenticity, you’re nothing. A mere impostor. (Or is it imposter?) Anyways, people are smart. They can see right through people who are fake or trying to be someone they are not. Plus success is predicated on building trusting relationships, which you can’t build if you’re not authentic. Additionally, I think we have to be true to ourselves to be truly happy and fulfilled. Authenticity is everything.
I might consider CampFI Southwest. It’s close to home. And I already know some friends who are going. Plus you will be there, so it’ll be great to see you again :).
Definitely come to campFI southwest. It will be a blast.
As I said on my recap it was awesome hanging out in FLA and I can’t wait to do it again. And thanks for going on the early run with me too!
It was great. Can’t wait till next year.
Being authentic is something I really admire in you, DocG. And because of it, when I met you in person I felt I already knew you — and I did! I think we all struggle with it because when we see what others are doing, there is that pull to compare yourself and see if you measure up. My recent find of the concept of JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out, is helping me to step back and practice not doing everything that everyone else is doing. But it is a work-in-progress.
Thanks for the links on CampFI. I just signed up for the Rocky Mountain one, which will be my first. I relate to the “leap before you look” concept and I am headed to the Greece Chautauqua in a couple of weeks. That one makes me feel a little queasy, which is silly, but I’m traveling alone as this is my thing and not so much my husband’s. He really enjoys the subject and we have great discussions on these topics. I’m glad he is also authentic in that he knows that this isn’t his thing.
I am so jealous of the Chautauqua. Should be a lot of fun.
Good post. “Authentic” is critical. So is a means to measure success and some inkling of how much success to expect. If you go for “maximum success all the time” the cost will be authenticity. (think Tony Robbins) You will leave the stage of truth telling and enter the stage of audience manipulation. Do not play to a straw man and do not pretend to know what you don’t. What you don’t know however can be learned and become something you do know. Value added. It’ll be interesting to watch you grow this business as you grow yourself. I went to a Jordan B. Peterson “concert” a couple weeks ago with my wife and enjoyed it immensely. His stories are authentic, clear and tightly logical, and therefore engaging. This was worth my time and the cost of admission even though I can see most of it for free on youtube. I liked it enough I would go to another. Maybe a style you could emulate and adapt toward a goal of success.
I think I am most authentically me when i story tell. So you may be right on that one. I’ll check it out.
Your authenticity comes through in your writing everyday. You are taking me on a journey with your daily posts in a style that is very unique from other blogs. Plesae don’t change anything.
We bought tickets for FinCon next year. We really want to do a CampFI, but felt that one FI event a year would be enough right now for us. So hopefully CampFI in 2020!
Thanks for your kind words. Hope to meet you in person.