I’ll be honest with you; I want your approval. I want you to like me. I’m pretty sure you want me to like you, too.
The thing is, what are we willing to do in order to get the approval of others? We’re living in the age of performance, whether it be TikTok influencers, Twitter gurus, or even me writing this blog- everyone is performing. Even how we sculpt our social media profiles is just an image of the ideal us, the person that we wish we could be. We get to edit and curate the image of us we present. We put the memories and thoughts we want to share. Yet, it’s all a grand performance on the digital stage.
The question is- what is lost? What are we in danger of sacrificing? In order to build a following, do we sacrifice the values that we built our organizations on or worse the values we live our life by? When we lose ourselves in the pursuit of influence, popularity, and power we are at risk of losing the very thing that made us to begin with.
So, how do we maintain and live out our values in a world of performance? Do we get off the stage? In the digital age, personally and professionally that’s a hard and almost impossible task. I believe the best thing to do is take a step back, look at your performance, and ask yourself, “Is this who I am? Or is this a mask?” If it is a mask, is it the one you intentionally created and are comfortable with, or is it one that has been corrupted by outside influences and compromise?
“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything” - Alexander Hamilton