Your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert-Your host: Dr. Jason Wiggins
I focus on the motivational aspects with a high emphasize on motivating Gen Z and Millennials (GEN X will also find great value) and the employers who employ them for continuous improvement. This podcast focuses on motivating Gen Z and Millennials to empower to overcome obstacles within our everyday lived experiences. I have a passion for educating, speaking and guiding Gen Z and Millennials to achieve great things. Gen Z and Millennials have experienced so much in a short amount of time as the world continue to move faster. Self-Awareness and belief in our abilities provide a strong foundation for health, happiness and prosperity in a world that offers continuous challenges.
This is a motivational series for Gen Z and Millennials and those who aspire to do great things, while interested in understanding these two great generations and how we can aspire to be better because of the value of motivating through life experiences.
Life is hard, but when we challenge others or ourselves to be successful, then the world demonstrates the value of those who put in the effort. My hope is that each listener will find value and then share that value with others. I am a change leader that is passionate about life transformations and taking our passion and motivation to the next level. YOU CAN DO IT! Remembers Dreams without Goals are just Dreams.
Your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert-Your host: Dr. Jason Wiggins
Discovering And Sustaining The True YOU (Episode 167)
Imagine walking into a job interview feeling like you’re performing rather than being yourself. Join me, Dr. Jason Wiggins, as I share this personal story and unravel the pressures of conforming, especially within demanding environments like Hollywood. We explore the liberating journey of embracing authenticity, highlighting its crucial role in self-awareness, integrity, and personal growth. Discover how shedding societal expectations allows you to connect with your true self, and how vulnerability can be a stepping stone, not a stumbling block, on the path to fulfillment and resilience.
In our conversation, we delve into self-improvement through the lens of authenticity and effective communication. Much like the nurturing guidance a parent offers a child, transparency and mindfulness emerge as tools to navigate emotions and unveil inner strengths. Let's redefine leadership by celebrating vulnerabilities and recognizing how diverse strengths can lead to collective success. I'll also share insights on how living inauthentically can lead to unnecessary struggles, while being true to oneself can inspire genuine self-expression and fulfillment. Don’t miss out on these empowering messages—subscribe and share these insights to uplift those you care about.
Hello friends, welcome to your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert Podcast. I am your host, my name is Dr Jason Wiggins and it is fantastic to be here. I hope everybody is having a great day, a great weekend, as you prepare for the upcoming week. Today we got a great show. We're going to talk about how to be your authentic you, how to demonstrate that you are the person that you feel, that you envision yourself and that you are literally living your best life. But before we get started, I definitely want to share with you that our podcast is made for Gen Zs and millennials, to motivate you to get the best out of you, to see you continue to thrive in life while we can still have this podcast for any other group baby boomers, gen X, alphas so let's really ensure that we share the message of helping each other improve, and that is why we extend this podcast out, because, at the end of the day, it's about thriving as individuals. So let's start today by talking about being authentic. What does being authentic mean? We're going to talk about examples, we're going to talk about applications and we're going to talk about how it will ultimately make the better you.
Speaker 1:I always like to start out by sharing an example. An example and the best example I can always use is my vulnerability, which we'll talk about, my trials and tribulations. And, for example, I grew up not always liking myself, not always wanting to be the person I felt like I was, because I didn't know who I was. That's part of the growth pattern. But even into my, even into my adult years, I struggled when I went on the job interviews. Instead of being authentic to myself, being somebody that I know who I am, you even start pretending who you are. During an interview process, for example, I normally comb my hair the same way. Well, for the job interview, I combed it down, basically trying to show that I didn't have much flair, meaning I was more of a conservative approach. And it just wasn't me. I still got the job and as I worked at that job, I continued to change my hair back to the way it was.
Speaker 1:It's, for example, it's like dating. You know, you prepare yourself for a date, you put on this fancy show of who you want that person to think you are and you end up demonstrating that maybe that wasn't the real you, maybe they saw right through it, and then, obviously, the date might have been a failure. And if it was, anything that you know brought you continuous happiness, maybe you acted like yourself versus somebody you thought they wanted you to be. So that's the dating scene. I haven't been on the dating scene for a long time so I probably don't really have much knowledge of that.
Speaker 1:Hollywood, hollywood, hollywood is probably the most fake place you can imagine. Everybody's trying to live up to what everybody's expectation is of them, so authenticity in Hollywood is pretty much non-existence, which is why so many people at times can feel so lonely. At times can feel so lonely A good friend of mine. He is a producer and director for films in the LA San Diego area and he is one of the most authentic, genuine people I know. But if I put him right in the middle of Hollywood, he would be probably the center of what authenticity would be, should be, in Hollywood. So those are just some examples of being authentic, or I should say, not being authentic.
Speaker 1:And so what are the core values of being authentic? It's leading with your true self. It doesn't matter if you're tall, fat, skinny, you know. Whatever it may be, it's who you are, it's how you were embodied, it's how you've learned to develop. That doesn't mean we sit home, we eat Cheetos, we drink a beverage of choice without any care in the world. That's not what authenticity is. Authenticity is the value that you bring by bringing yourself to the table. So the value, the value is not eating Cheetos and drinking your favorite beverage of choice. It is about bringing your best valued assets, with your moral compass, your integrity, and bringing that to the table to demonstrate that this is the value, the strength that I bring, to being a productive citizen within your local region, for example. It's about demonstrating your vulnerabilities. I am extremely open to as you've noticed through these podcasts, I'm more than willing to share my vulnerability. Why? Because my vulnerability is my weakness. My weakness is the desire to improve, and if you can demonstrate the desire to improve, then you're going to demonstrate the ability to push on, to move forward, to be a productive human being. Forward, to be a productive human being.
Speaker 1:Now, another key part we talked about is being self-aware. You have to understand who you are, the values that you bring. Second is you want to be transparent. You want to be open with your communication. You want to say, hey, this is who I am, like it or not, and I think that's the kind of attitude that we need to demonstrate when we're talking to others, when we're trying to demonstrate our abilities. This is who I am, like it or not. I'm not refined. I am like it or not, I'm not refined. I'm not going to be somebody that I'm not. I'm going to stand here and take my lumps if I have to, but I'm going to do it with a moral compass. I'm going to do it by having ethical behavior. I'm not going to, you know, bypass what I think is important the value, the ethical dilemma of it.
Speaker 1:It's about ensuring that, no matter what situation you're in where it can be a situation that is very, very concerning and the last thing you want to be in but how do you act in that situation defines who we are as individuals. Do you act in an ethical and with integrity type of way, or do you compromise your integrity and your ethical behavior to do something that you know is wrong? But you're doing it to save face. You're doing it to make somebody think that you are better than who you are. It's okay to admit mistakes.
Speaker 1:So we have to be self-aware, we have to be transparent on who we are, have that open communication. It's like a parent to their child. It's about being transparent. It's about demonstrating what was wrong, how they can improve on what they're doing, and willing to be vulnerable during that. Hey to your child. We all make mistakes. I've made these mistakes and I'm trying to help you not have to make those same mistakes. So you are creating a genuine and transparent you, not only within yourself, but within your child, that you're helping them grow up.
Speaker 1:So it's just about the opportunity of being whole, being you, being the best you that you can be. And how do you do that? You practice mindfulness. You understand your emotions and your overall inner aspects. That's one way you begin to practice ensuring that you have the ability to be authentic and demonstrate that everywhere you go.
Speaker 1:Being authentic is not I'm authentic in this moment, but over here I'm not going to be authentic. Authentic does not have an age attached to it, an age you don't say hey, I'm 20, now I have to be authentic, even though sometimes, growing up and I experienced the same level of concern I felt like I was faking it. I felt like I wasn't being the person that I know I am. The person that I know I am is somebody that will listen to others. Take that advice and try to be a better person. Try to be a better citizen. Try to be a better person. Try to be a better citizen. Try to be a better spouse, try to be a better father. Whatever it is, we have the opportunity to continue to improve, so we have to accept the things that we're not. That is another application of being able to be better. So you have to accept yourself as who you are. You got to practice being mindful, understand your emotions and your inner self.
Speaker 1:Build resilience. What does that mean? Building resilience means, when times get tough, you have to bounce back, no matter what people are saying about you, no matter what maybe social media says about you, no matter what your friends say about you, no matter what your co-workers say about you, whatever it is. You have to take that and bounce back, which is part of that building resilience. And, more importantly, number four is discovering your strengths. Most of us have discovered our strengths at some point, but sometimes we forget about those strengths. How does that apply to us? How does that make us a better person? Our strengths are the key to our openness, our authenticness, our transparency and our ability to be vulnerable. Yes, being vulnerable is a strength. Being vulnerable is an opportunity to share how we can help others through what maybe we lack in certain capabilities.
Speaker 1:For example, if you're a manager, you're a leader of a corporation, of a small business, whatever it may be, being vulnerable is okay. Why? Because if you don't have some of those key strengths to help your business evolve and become better, then you hire others that have those key strengths that you don't have to help balance what you don't have. Some will say, okay, wait a minute, but what if they're better than me? What if I'm hiring somebody that's stronger than me? What if they replace me in my job? That usually doesn't happen. Why? Because ultimately, the person you hire is will make you, as a leader, look better. So I always like to say hire people that are smarter than you. Hire people that can maybe do the job better than you can. They're not going to take your job, you're just they're going to help make you look better and improve your overall business and your business structure and the goals that you have within the company.
Speaker 1:Therefore, you want to use those vulnerabilities in a way where they can apply to everyday life, where they can apply to your business, your family, because we are our greatest weakness. Our greatest weakness is whatever it is, with the ability to improve on it. Sometimes we focus so much on building our strengths. We know what our strengths are. We know that, what we're good at, so we try to refine and improve and make better. Now, going back to what we said earlier, our strengths are not eating Cheetos by drinking a beverage of choice. That is not our strength. That is where we are in a moment of weakness, or maybe on an authentic way, but it's not the authentic demonstration we want to show, because one of the most common ways people severely limit their potential and happiness in life is by living in an authentic version of themselves.
Speaker 1:I've been there, I've done it growing up. I try to be this, I try to be that. I may not be that person. That's not my mold, and I'm sure there's cases where you have tried to be somebody you're not, and that's not your mold. Like we said, is it dating? Is it a job interview? Is it around your spouse's family, or whatever it may be? That's how most people live, though, is they live an inauthentic life? Why? Because they're always trying to impress somebody else. You know what impressing is. Impressing is trying to make yourself look better than who you are. Here's a perfect example.
Speaker 1:Like I talked about in our last podcast, I like to play basketball. Well, the authentic basketball player in me is I may score here and there, but I'm probably going to miss a lot more than I make. I'm slower, I'm not. I can't keep up very well with the guys running up and down the court, but you know, every time you go out, you might have a good day. You might not have a good day. For example, this weekend when I played, I was 0 for 5 or 0 for 6 and didn't make a shot. Guess what? That is probably the authentic basketball player in me. It's not the one that makes four three-pointers in a row. So I realize what my strengths are in basketball. It is playing defense, it is hustling, grabbing rebounds. It is not scoring. I leave the scoring up to others, because that's where my vulnerability is.
Speaker 1:Therefore, what? What does it mean to be authentic? Well, authentic is required for being successful in any area of your life, and that is the key. So I truly believe that most people are confused about what it means to be authentic. So let's look at it this way being authentic is not accepting your shortcomings, bad habits or low standards because that's who you are. That goes back to eating Cheetos and drinking beverages of your choice. Let's be real.
Speaker 1:Authenticity has nothing to do with sitting on the couch and eating Cheetos and playing video games all day. It is about being comfortable about who you are while pursuing the best version of yourself. It puts you in a situation where you are no longer trying to meet the standards or expectations of anyone else. Instead, you are living again. You are living up to the standards and expectations you create for yourself, challenging yourself to become as great as a you that you could possibly stand because of the effort you put in, because of the beliefs you have and the values you have. So challenging yourself to become as great as a you as possible. That is the key.
Speaker 1:And again, how do you become authentic? It requires a moral compass, it requires integrity, it requires a clear conscience. It's about feeling good about yourself is living with a good moral compass, good integrity, and that's the number one way you should try to be authentic. Number two is own your own mistakes. Be vulnerable and fix them. We're human, meaning we're going to make plenty of mistakes. I'm going to make a mistake today, I'm sure of it, but that mistake in itself is not the issue when it comes to authenticity. It is the ability to accept responsibility, and then we take the actions to fix it. It takes hard work. When you screw up, you figure out a way to fix it.
Speaker 1:Number three is identify the core values and stand firm on them. Standing firm on them means that's where you find your true authenticity in life, as a husband, as a father, as an employee, as a leader, wherever you may stand within your future. So it's important. Why? Because people trust authenticity. People are loyal. When you are authentic to you, it shows you stand for something you truly believe in, and that is key. Do you stand for something that you truly believe in? And then authenticity. Authenticity is required for happiness. I have never met anybody that was truly happy, that wasn't authentic.
Speaker 1:Going back to Hollywood again, unfortunately. How many of those that are act fake are fake, are really authentic and they really value authenticity? Well, I would like to say a lot, but I would say maybe they started out being authentic, but then, as time goes on, you become inauthentic. Why? Because everything is fake around you, and that's what a lot of times being famous is about. You're living up to somebody else's standard, and that should not conceal the real you.
Speaker 1:So, today, what have we learned? We have learned that authenticity is something that everybody can have. It is about being the real you. It's about incorporating all your strengths that you have within your inner self, within your surrounding friends, family, to help you become the best version of you. It is not about sitting on your couch playing video games, eating Cheetos. You can do that for fun, enjoyment, but that should not be your standard on everyday life. So it is, again, it's about being the best version of you. And how do you do that? You start by saying this is who I am, these are my strengths, these are my core values, this is my vulnerabilities, these are the things that make me who I am, and that is how I will be the best version of myself.
Speaker 1:So, again, I hope everybody takes these words of advice and it helps you, and pass this message on to those that you value, that are important to you. If you haven't already, please save the podcast on your favorite platform so when we have, we record a new podcast, you'll be able to listen right away. Typically, we record these podcasts either on saturday or sundays on a weekly basis, so we are here and look forward to the next podcast this upcoming weekend. I want to thank everybody. Enjoy your day again. This is dr jason wiggins and I am your host of your motivational Gen Z and millennial expert podcast. Thank you, take care and we'll see you soon, bye, bye.
