Cory Lebovitz

I love celebrity impressions.  There is something so humorous about watching one actor try and play another actor.  In fact, one of my favorite Tonight Show segments is a bit called the Wheel of Impressions.  Here is a classic – Jimmy Fallon and Kevin Spacey doing impressions with a Halloween theme.  A good impression is a powerful tool.  Playing someone you are not can yield you a big payday in Hollywood.  In fact, acting as a profession can provide you a great income…however acting as a lifestyle will provide insecurity for your soul.

Unfortunately, most of us struggle with insecurity. Perhaps it is a result of a tabloid and social media hungry culture, or perhaps it is just a reality of human nature. Insecurity has a way of showing up most often in our interactions with others.  Many of us walk around with a fear of being truly known, because we believe if people truly knew us they would not accept us.  We become so averse to showing people our true self, so we project to those around us something other than our true self…fueling our insecurity.

You see insecurity is the gap between what people see of us and who we really are. The greater the gap between your projected self and your true self; the greater your insecurity will be.

There are 2 main ways we cultivate insecurity in our soul.  Consider which one is the greater struggle for you:

• Overreaching – this is when you act better than you really are; you project yourself to be more competent, experienced, spiritual or intelligent than you really are.

• Sandbagging – this is when you act worse than you really are; you project yourself to be less competent, experienced or intelligent than you really are.

Whether you attempt to make yourself look better or worse, energy is wasted to project a persona that is different from your true selves. You cannot help but struggle with insecurity and the concern that you will be found out.

Projecting yourself to be someone you are not can feel a bit like a victimless crime. Often we believe that projecting a false self will actually help those around us. Impersonating someone you are not will eventually create a lot of hurt in your world:

It hurts your results – it’s like building a house on a foundation of sand and thinking you are building on concrete. The best results are possible when a team of people invest themselves fully – not holding anything back but being honest about what they can and cannot do.

It hurts your teammates – people want to know the real you. We take 2 hours to disengage from life and watch actors play a role in a movie. We spend holidays, celebrations and meaningful time with real people. Eventually people around you can tell when you are hiding and unwilling to show your true self.

It hurts your soul – Attempting to hide who you really are (for better or for worse) creates a battle within – it is a discontent with your identity. How can your soul experience peace when you would rather be someone else?

It rejects the intentional creation of God – When you act like someone you are not it is a way of saying, “God you got this one wrong!” We read in places such as Psalm 139 that God was very intentional when He created us. If God made us with great intentionality, why do we believe we need to make adjustments?

Just be yourself. Conquer insecurity today by closing the gap between who people see and who you really are.