Being your authentic self isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the secret to true happiness and success, and honestly, it’s been April Shprintz’s biggest ROI on everything. In this episode, April is ditching the hustle-and-grind myths to talk about shedding those “Barbie” versions of ourselves we’ve learned to be. Let’s think back to ages 3 to 6, when you were most yourself—what lit you up? What did you get in trouble for? Turns out, those “troublemaker” moments might just be your superpowers. We’ll dive into reconnecting with that genuine, unfiltered version of you and why remembering what excited you as a kid is the first step to stepping into your true power. Get ready to rediscover the real you and watch your life become way more fun, exciting, and successful.
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Become Your Authentic Self
Beyond Buzzwords: The ROI Of Your Authentic Self
In this episode, I’m going to talk about a topic that seems pretty popular. People are definitely using this. Authenticity, be your authentic self. These are buzzwords. It’s also a very real thing. Learning how to be the real and true you is candidly the secret to having a happier, more successful life. It’s a well-kept secret because lots of people will say it’s about your morning routine. It’ll say it’s about your hustle, your grind, all the work you put in.
Candidly, nothing has given me a better ROI on happiness and success, and I mean money and friends and relationships and anything and everything I wanted than being my authentic self, which is crazy when you think about it. Actually, I hadn’t thought about it until I just said it right now, but it really has. What do I even mean about that, like being your authentic self?
Unmasking Your Childhood Superpowers
Let’s be clear, we all know from a very young age that other people expect us to be something. When you’re a little kid, your parents or whoever takes care of you or your teachers or adults, etc., they expect certain behavior. For you to be quiet, for you to sit still, for you to listen, for you to not break the rules, for you to not be too loud, to not be too crazy, whatever it is.
From a very young age, we are socialized to be what other people think is correct. Share on XFrom a very young age, we are socialized to be what other people think is correct. How many of us, I know, I’m certainly one of them, was very often not correct? We were not doing the thing that other people wanted us to do. For me, I was too loud, I walked too fast, I stomped too much. I was too emotional, I was too bossy. I was too everything.
I learned throughout life to tone it down. A lot of us learn to change how we are. Let’s think about folks who have ADHD. They are incredible creative thinkers who just see things differently than most people do. By the way, most of the most successful people have ADHD. When you get into a school system that’s not equipped to handle it and deal with it, and the teachers have to teach a certain way and aren’t allowed to do things differently, they will make that child wrong because they don’t think the way that everyone else thinks necessarily. I say everyone else, but you know that everybody thinks differently. That’s something that’s pointed out that doesn’t fit. You move too much or you want to go and do different things, or you’re not doing this in a linear way.
Whatever it is, people have told all of us in some way, shape or form throughout our life that being something different than what we actually are will get us accolades, praise, achievements, or just approval. You learn for most of your life to be something other than what you are. A lot of times, when you go to work on your mindset to work on personal growth, you find out that you have to unlearn that and learn how to be your authentic self because people can feel the difference.
A lot of times, when you go to work on your mindset to work on personal growth, you find out that you have to unlearn that and learn how to be your authentic self because people can feel the difference. Share on XI know for me, I used to joke that it was like Barbies, and I don’t know why it was Barbies maybe because I was a little girl and I grew up playing with them. I don’t know. Different Aprils like I had to be work April, or I had to be friend April or daughter April, or girlfriend April or wife April, whatever and they were all these different versions of me that I thought other people wanted that were varying levels of actually like myself.
Reconnect And Reignite: Finding The Real You Today
What I found was when I stepped in to who I really was and started being me, saying what I thought, doing what I thought was right, following my gut, not minimizing myself or playing smaller, that’s when life got really fun, really exciting, and really successful. Now you might say, “I don’t even know how to do that, April. That sounds great, but how do you even do that? Here’s what you do. Think to yourself when you were a kid, when you felt the most like you, what did you love to do then? What made you so happy? It’s usually going to be between ages like 3 and 6. When were you the most excited? When did you feel the most like yourself?
For me, it was age four. I want you to think about what did you get in trouble for the most? The things that you got in trouble for as a kid when you were most like you are probably your superpowers. They’re probably the things that you do better than anyone else, even to this day. Funnily enough, I used to get in trouble for trying to teach the class when I was a young kid. Like, “You don’t know, April. Sit down, let the teacher do her thing.”
Each and every one of us got here on this planet knowing exactly who we were, and we unlearned it. Now we've learned to be who other people want us to be, and we need to unlearn that too, because that's how you'll be the happiest and the most… Share on XInterestingly, when I really stepped into who I was, I found that I was coaching and teaching people all the time. I want you to do just those two things to become your authentic self. There are more steps, but these are the most important ones. Number one, remember when you felt the most yourself and think about the things that you liked and you wanted then.
Try and start doing them now. What did you enjoy? What was fun to you? Try and reconnect with that version of yourself. If that’s hard and you can’t remember that, you can probably remember the things you got in trouble for, those will also point to who you really are. Each and every one of us got here on this planet knowing exactly who we were, and we unlearned it. Now we’ve learned to be who other people want us to be, and we need to unlearn that too, because that’s how you’ll be the happiest and the most successful, I promise. Give it a try. Let me know how it works out for you. I’m so interested to meet the real you. Here’s to your success.
