When asked his views on being authentic, I heard a Fortune 50 CEO tell this story to a group of high potential leaders in his company:

When I was in my early twenties, I went skydiving with some friends. As we checked in, the attendant asked how much I weighed. Conscious of the girls in our group, I fudged the number I gave by a little bit. I didn’t think it was a big deal…until I hit the ground. Hard. Being honest may be uncomfortable for a moment, but it prevents a lot more pain in the end.

Authenticity prevents pain in the long run and provides a foundation for building trust. The first question people subconsciously ask when assessing the trustability of another person is:

“Are you for real?”

The answer to that question affects every other element of trustworthiness. If you don’t come across as honest to me, then how can I trust your benevolence isn’t just flattery, your competence isn’t just an act, or your dependability isn’t just a scam?

On the other hand, if I regard you as authentic in the first place, then I’m prepared to accept your benevolence, competence, or dependability are genuine.

It seems simple, but everyday we are tempted to hide the truth behind a “more desirable” facade. Sometimes we create these facades ourselves, sometimes they’re given to us and we don’t make the effort to correct anyone. Either way, we’re playing a dangerous game.

These temptations often show up in one of two ways:

• An Overestimation of who we are, what we know, or what we can do.
• An Underestimation of who we are, what we know, or what we can do.

Its unfair to ask someone to trust me, if I don’t trust myself. Trusting ourselves accurately—trusting who we are, what we know, and what we can do (not who we aren’t, what we don’t know, or what we can’t do)—is the first step in becoming worthy of the trust of others.

For Reflection: In what ways do you tend to project an overestimation or underestimation yourself?

Update: 32,906 words 

I’ve written 32,906 manuscript words out of a goal of 60,000. That puts me about 55% complete with the first draft, which is 7% more than last week.

Over halfway on the first draft! It’s definitely an ugly first draft, but I’m getting my butt in the chair and churning out a lump of clay I can shape later. The most difficult challenges so far have been keeping my desire to edit at bay and faithfully keeping to my routine.