Don't imitate, look for authenticity

Many people, in order to enter a certain social group or to begin to resemble the model of the person they aspire to become, begin to imitate the behavior and social projection of others. The need to imitate other people in order to feel good about ourselves is an attitude that reflects part of our emotional deficiencies. Authenticity is a highly valued trait, so we must know how to take care of it in order to form our own personality, which does not try to resemble the behavior patterns of others.

It is important to know how to differentiate admiration from imitation. We are free to learn from others whom we admire, but imitating them can turn us into people without character or authentic traits. During the development of this guide we will be addressing some of the basic issues that revolve around authenticity as a characteristic of great value in all people and the importance of avoiding imitation in order to create our own personality.

Personality cannot be imitated

Regardless of how much you want to resemble that person you admire, your personality is a reflection of a series of elements particular to you. It is impossible for you to match someone else's personality; if you try to act like them you will only be creating a layer of fiction between who you really are and the image you project.

Imitating someone in order to copy their characteristic traits does not make you like that person. Authenticity will always prevail over imitations, people will notice when they are in front of someone truly authentic and when they are not.

Admire vs. imitate

Admiring a person and learning from them has nothing to do with imitating them. If someone is of special interest to you, whether it's their social characteristics, skills or intelligence, you can take the time to learn from them and show admiration for them. Imitation begins at the point where we begin to misrepresent our behavior, either consciously or subconsciously.

If we are not consistent between what we project and what our inner self actually expresses, it is likely that we are imitating the behavior patterns of those we look up to. Lean on those you admire to learn from their skills and characteristics in order to improve your own and build a better version of yourself, not just another copy of someone else.

Authenticity cannot be forced

Authenticity comes naturally, it is not something we can force or tailor to our convenience. If you have the need to think about the way you project yourself, chances are that this projection of yourself is neither real nor honest. Let yourself go and do not try to assume patterns of behavior of others in order to fit into a particular social group, only being natural in your actions can fully perceive your authenticity and value you for who you really are.

Being authentic it is likely that we will not fit in all the social groups we want, this is not something that should discourage us, in the end the reason why we do not fit in is because these social groups are not consistent with our belief system, thoughts and ethical values. If we force our way into these groups, we will most likely end up facing disagreements that will lead us to break away sooner or later. By being authentic we will attract people who are compatible with us, without the need to force a personality that is not our own.