If you want to get the Princess, you need to BE YOURSELF!

In the movie Aladdin, from back in the early ’90′s, Robin Williams plays a genie  who advises Aladdin in his attempt to win the heart of the Princess. Aladdin keeps messing up with her by telling false stories about who he is, instead of just being himself. There is a great scene in that movie when the genie shouts in Aladdin’s ear “TELL HER THE TRUTH!”

It’s so funny how we so often try to automatically be what we perceive others want us to be. We do it in really every relationship that we have. Sometimes, we are doing it to be polite and of course, that’s a good thing. But we can also do it to the point that it becomes habitual and then we can no longer see we are doing it and then lose sight of ourselves.

A case in point is a story that a friend told me recently about her daughter. This young woman had moved to a new city to live with her sister for the summer, and she wanted to have a job while she’s there. Her sister set up an interview at a local restaurant for a server position. The sister works at one of the three locations and was attempting to help her get a job at one of the other two. So, the girl went for her interview and when she was filling out the personality questionnaire, she was trying to figure out what answers management would be looking for and answered them as best she could from that perspective.

The upshot, after being interviewed by three different people, was that she was not offered a server position, she was told they would want her to be a greeter. I’m told that she was crushed, and felt that they were telling her she is not smart enough to be a server at their restaurant. She was very upset for a couple of days and then decided to interview at the third location.

This time she had a different attitude, a lot because of the emotional impact from that first experience. This time, when she filled out the personality questionnaire, she just answered questions from her authentic self and not from trying to figure out what they wanted. She had let herself move into a place of believing that she would get a job somewhere, and it didn’t really matter what they thought of her – she would find the right fit. Sounds like a much better place to come from, right?

Well, you’ve probably guessed the outcome. She was hired. She was actually hired on the spot! And she got the position she really wanted the most. She was ecstatic!! The lesson was not lost on her; she understood how her true power came from just being herself, and she is truly enough just as she is.

It’s such a great lesson for all of us. Rather than cultivating a persona that is what we deem to be acceptable to others, we need to honor ourselves by being our real self, and never losing sight of who that is.

Find a copy of Aladdin, and watch it. It’s such a great story about that concept – plus it will make you laugh. A LOT!!