If we could all just be the version of ourselves that we want to be, life would be a lot easier.
I have a theory that we're all just wearing masks every day.
I'll tell you this — I have about four personalities.
There's LinkedIn Scott, who is politically correct, professional, polished, and says all the right things. There's Patreon Scott, who curses, speaks raw, and says the things out loud that most people don't. There's real-life Scott, who is politically incorrect, curses way more often, challenges your thinking, and is way less extroverted than you'd think. And there's office Scott, who wants to build real-life relationships with people, and often feels like he's running for a political seat.
If these personalities could all be blended into one, 24/7, then Scott would never have gotten ahead in his career, ever. The cursing, the honesty, the raw dialogue, the humor — it wouldn't be a fit in the workplace.
You see, the workplace wasn't designed to fit with your real approach, nor is it designed to fit the way you actually live your real life. So every day, we get up and put on these masks, and we pretend to be someone we're sort of not. Or let's say we filter out all the parts of us that can't show up, to pretend to be something we're not quite.
The problem is, when you do that for too long, you start to forget where the mask ends and where you actually begin. You convince yourself that the filtered version is the one that belongs in every room. And over time, that gap between who you really are and who you have to be at work gets wider.
The irony is that the best leaders I know are the ones who bring more of their real selves into the mix. They stop overpolishing every interaction, and they let some of the human side through. They make jokes. They admit when they don't know something. They share stories that make them relatable instead of untouchable. And people trust them more because of it.
Now, I'm not saying you should start dropping F-bombs in the team meeting or unloading every personal opinion you have. But stop hiding the parts of you that make you memorable. Your perspective. Your humor. Your quirks. The way you actually think about problems. Those things are your edge. They're what make you stand out in a sea of people all trying to fit the same mold.
If you're constantly editing yourself to meet some imaginary standard of "professional," you'll play small. You'll get polite nods instead of real influence. You'll be seen as competent, but not magnetic. People won't remember you because you never gave them a reason to.
The goal is not to have one personality for work, one for home, and one for the internet. The goal is to have one version of you that you can bring into any room without wondering if you'll get "caught" being yourself. When you reach that point, life gets a lot lighter. And the crazy part is, people tend to follow the ones who have the courage to show up as they really are.