Friday Fuel: What If Being More You Was the Advantage?

I’m still giving a little Dolly Parton energy this week as you head into the weekend: be unmistakably you.

She may have quoted this but if not, it was definitely part of her essence. Be unmistakably you. Not the quieter version. Not the more acceptable version. Not the version that has become very good at fitting the role, the organisation or everyone else’s expectations.

The real version. The one with your strengths, your values, your ambition, your quirks and your own definition of success.

Three questions to sit with this weekend:

1. Where in my career am I most fully myself, and where am I still editing or making myself smaller to fit?
2. What am I doing right now that feels most energising, meaningful and naturally “me”?
3. If I trusted that being more of myself was an advantage, not a risk, what career choice might I make differently? This is my favourite question!

You don’t need a five-year plan by Sunday night. Just a little more honesty about what fits and what doesn’t.

Again, Rhinestones are optional. Being yourself isn’t.