Authenticity can be as difficult to achieve as inauthenticity is to recognize. When you’re living an inauthentic life you’re living a life that lacks true fulfillment. Whatever you gain inauthentically will leave you feeling as though you’ve come up short. But how do you know if your work is inauthentic?

  1. If you’re stuck. As much as writer’s block or artist’s block -or whatever block is specific to you- really stinks, if you treat it as a great big STOP sign it can be beneficial to your work. A creative block can be several signs, but for the purpose of this conversation, one of two… fear or a warning. When it’s fear you need to push through it. When it’s a warning sign you need to stop and reevaluate. Your creative block is trying to say “You’re off track. You’re not being true to who you are.” And you need to listen!
  2. If you’re letting influences outweigh your instincts. There’s nothing wrong with following trends or being inspired by someone else’s work, but when your instincts are being beaten out by influences your work won’t be true to who you are. Remember that there is always a market for great work whether it’s on trend or not. Let your instincts drive your creative process.
  3. If you’re apathetic. As a professional, if you’re neither terrified or crazy excited to publish your work chances are it’s not authentic. It’s impossible to be apathetic about your work if it is true to who you are. If you’re feeling apathetic you need to be honest with yourself about your work’s authenticity. Are you overly influenced? Are you cutting corners? Is a deadline causing you to settle for the sake of finishing on time? Ask yourself why you’re feeling apathetic, then rebuild your creative process to support authenticity.

Inauthenticity doesn’t always seem detrimental at first. It can simply feel like a little compromise here and there. But when you get that ball rolling the problem gets bigger and bigger. Eventually you can end up with work (an entire career!) that is stressful and dissatisfying.

What do you think about inauthenticity? Do you struggle with being true to yourself?