Today, more than at anytime during my lifetime, people can sense when someone is not being authentic. One of the primary reasons is because people today are less trusting. Not only are we less trusting as a society, we are more discerning as individuals because of our accumulated negative experiences. Our internal integrity meter, that tells us if someone is being fake or real, is very sensitive.
今天的时代比以往任何时候都对真诚敏感。其中一个主要原因是当今的人们缺乏信任。这不仅从整个社会层面上来说是如此,而且个人在经历了许许多多缺乏信任和真诚后,对这一问题更加深有感触。我们内心对真诚的衡量标准让我们对虚假或是真实变得非常敏感。
Over the last three years, most of us have had our teeth kicked in. Because of Wall Street’s greed and our government’s lack of oversight, our home values have plummeted, our investment portfolios have tanked, and millions of people have lost their jobs.
过去三年,我们大多数人都有过痛苦的经历。由于资本家的贪婪和政府缺乏监督,导致我们的房屋价值暴跌,我们的投资组合陷入困境,数百万人失去了工作。
This has given all of us a greater sense of who can and who cannot be trusted. We immediately perceive when people are focused on their best interests and not ours. We discern when someone is trying to pull something over our eyes with their sales pitch. Bottom line—we can tell when someone is not being real or authentic with us.
这让大家对于谁能信谁不能信更加心中有数。当人们把精力放在自己最感兴趣的事情而不是我们身上时,我们能立马感知到;一遇到销售员就知道他们会运用 他们的销售口才推销产品。结果就是——我们能一眼看出别人真心与否。
What Authenticity Is Not
真诚不是这样的
Being authentic is not akin to “that’s just who I am.” It is not a free pass to interrupt people, demand your own way, or disregard the use of discretion because that’s how you really are deep down inside. It does not mean you can dress like a bum, tell people how you really feel about them or not be friendly over the phone because you are just being you.
真诚并不是“本来的面目”。不要因为说这就是我的本性所在而随意打断别人说话,以自己的方式行事,不让别人有自己的判断;这也并不意味着你可以不修边幅,想什么说什么或者在电话里很不友好。
If anything, your desire to be authentic should be all the more reason to rid yourself of the behaviors that others would find unattractive or offensive and instead work towards becoming the best you can be.
如果你想表现出真诚,就更应该改掉那些不受别人欢迎的冒犯性举动,努力展现出自己最好的一面。