Becoming Your Most Authentic and Confident Self
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Ashton Smith on Becoming Your Most Authentic and Confident Self
In a world of perfect Instagram photos, authenticity can be a hard thing to come by, but Ashton Smith, founder of The Authentic Woman series is breaking the norm. Sheās built a community of women on the idea of knowing your worth on a deeper level than you ever have before. From the photos that havenāt been retouched to the less than perfect stories and failures, sheās putting it all out there and calling it beautiful, and sheās talking with me about how to find your own authenticity and have more confidence in yourself.
Grab Ashtonās free Awakening Bundle
Check out the Authentic Woman series
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Her Entrepreneur Journey
Ashton didnāt really know what she wanted to do with her life, and didnāt really fit in during college. She says sheās a perfect blend of her entrepreneur father and her creative mother, so a lot of her journey went to trying to find a ways for those things to work together. She graduated with a business degree from NC State, got an office job, and continued to go through the motions, instead of searching her heart for what she really wanted. She finally decided she wanted something more than what she was doing and started a blog, which was later renamed The Authentic Woman series. Her goal was and still is to empower women to change the standard of beauty.
How can women be authentic in the midst of playing the comparison game in their business?
Itās always hard, but truly authenticity and sharing openly will cause whatever youāre doing to expand into a bigger space. it starts with taking the small steps. Obviously weāre going to have boundaries when sharing our story, but you have to weave your story into what youāre doing. You have to be willing to share about your stories and your insecurities. Maybe itās starting with deciding not to retouch your photos anymore.
Weāre always the first to put ourselves down, and decide that our stories donāt matter, but so many people need to hear them, and weāre the only ones who can speak up and share them. You have to give yourself permission to show up and be imperfect. You donāt want to share part of your story that youāre seeking approval and validation for. Youāve got to share the parts that youāre at peace with. What feels good to you and attainable right now to share? Just step a little bit out of your comfort zone.
When we are bold and brave enough to show upā¦ we give space for other women to show up and be authentic.
How do you maintain your confidence when everything is going wrong?
With The Authentic Woman, we focus a lot on self-worth, because it goes hand in hand with confidence. When you believe in your own self-worth, youāre inevitably going to have more confidence in your day-to-day life and in your business. Confidence is not an overnight experience, and it doesnāt always feel good. Itās a process and a series of choices that we make. If it happened overnight you wouldnāt be able to handle it.
Confidence is cultivated.
Showing up little by little, and continuing to put in the work, even when itās hard, is the only way to build up your confidence and belief in yourself.
You have to avoid the comparison game. Try to keep from consuming other peopleās content when youāre less confident in yourself or just had a failure. Youāve got to listen to what your heart needs and decide when things are going to lift you up versus when theyāre going to discourage you. Setting up those boundaries is a big part of staying confident in an online world.
Confidence is all about setting boundaries that serve you, continuing to show up, and taking action and moving through the things that make you afraid. The biggest way to drown out all the lies is to immerse yourself in the truth.
Have a thankful heart for everything youāve already accomplished, because youāve already reached at least one dream, and you can do it again!
Ready to share your story and show your authenticity, head over to The Authentic Womanās Instagram to see how you can support them and stay involved, or follow Ashton for tons of inspiration and realness.
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