You were probably asked what do you want to be when you grow up?
a thousand times as a kid.
But that thought process can be a professional trap, limiting your possibilities.
This post originally appeared onFast Company.
Were oftentimes falling back on authenticity as a way to stay inside our comfort zone.
This mindset eventually becomes a deterrent because you end up working in the same way years after years.
For some people, the notion of authenticity has to do with whats at the core, continues Ibarra.
For some people, the core is something abstract and has maybe something to do with moral principles.
A lot of time, introspecting is just keeping you in paralysis and analysis, she says.
Instead, the professor suggests being more playful about who you are.
Only through outsightexternal perspectives gained from direct experiences and experimentationscan you evolve in the way the best leaders do.
These challenges will break down the habitual ways that limit your possibilities.
Do all of these things before you feel ready.
Youll feel inauthentic and like an imposter at first, but you will eventually change how you see yourself.
No one pigeonholes us better than we ourselves do.
[People] are very much sheltered from other ways of thinking.
Thats the secret to discovering your true, authentic future self.
Why Being Authentic Is Holding You Back| Fast Company
Vivian Giang is a freelance writer.
Image bydoppelganger4(Shutterstock).
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