Showing Up & Showing Off Are Not the Same

What is the difference between showing up and showing off?

Have you ever felt stifled or held back when you want to say something in the moment or do something different?

But you feel you shouldn’t say it or do the thing you want to?

The next thought will likely be one where you imagine what the other person will say or do and imagine being judged.

You don’t say or do what you want to when all you’re really wanting to do is show up…

So, what holds us back from showing up?

The answer is the underlying belief that others may judge you as a ‘show-off.’

Over the years of considering how humans act in different situations, I’ve found that we allow ourselves to be influenced by others in various situations.

When really, all we want to do is show up and feel good.

What is the difference between the two?

Showing off:

• Acting arrogantly.
• Putting people down.
• Making others feel like they are less than you.
• Projecting your jealousies onto others (being jealous is just an imagined comparison of you wanting to be in someone else’s shoes, and the reality is that it’s not you).
• Behaving like you’re better than everyone else.
• Reacting from a place of insecurity.
• Being self-critical about mistakes, failures, errors, and when judged.
• Displaying a lack of humility or vulnerability

Showing up, on the other hand, is all about:

• Being your best self when you speak and connect with other people.
• Bravely facing your fears IN THE MOMENT and working through them.
• Practice authenticity by being who you are.
• Understanding and embracing your own vulnerabilities, yet being strong enough to deal with them in the moment.
• Being aware of the importance of this pattern: failing and learning, failing and learning, failing and learning.
• Having fun, laughing, and not taking yourself or others so seriously.
• Having faith in yourself because you recognize the hardships you have come through.
• Knowing that you are being the example of your best potential.

All it means is that you have gotten better at doing something you have learned how to do, and now there is no going back.

So, this comes down to whether we show up or show off.

It’s only a matter of perception and nothing much more.

Perception matters

One person may perceive you as showing off when you are actually showing up.

Perception is what you need to be aware of and is crucial to helping yourself show up.

Life is all about being yourself and not living your life being affected by other people’s fears and projections.

Life is not about modeling their beliefs and ideas.

Be yourself, and no matter how challenging, show yourself how exceptional you are.

Do it once, and do it again.

Then do it repeatedly until you become the version of yourself that is hiding deep down.

How would you ideally like to show up in the world?

What things stop you?

Thanks for reading, and, as always, your dreams are part of your journey.

Dare to make them come true!

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