Be True to Yourself

Seth Godin is an author of business books, a speaker and has founded several online marketing companies one of which, Yoyodyne, he successfully sold to Yahoo! In his blog he tells a story about Pablo Picasso declaring that he had occassionally painted fakes even though they were his work. You can read the brief article here.

There were a number of people who responded to this posting with their own interreptations as to what the great painter really meant. As I considered why someone would say they painted fakes of their own work the word "compromise" came to mind. The word means "to settle", "to expose or make vulnerable" or even "to make a dishonorable or shameful concession".

I'm not an artist but I suspect that unless an artist is a Picasso he or she must create some commercial work just to live and eat. Perhaps they don't feel it's their best effort or perhaps it's a work that doesn't represent who they are. Maybe they feel as if they've "sold out" just to get some fast cash.

How often do you or I compromise what we do for the sake of avoiding arguments or making less work for ourselves? On a daily basis I find I am not true to everything I really believe and say things or do things that make me feel like a "fake". Is it right or is it necessary?

There's no doubt it makes life easier for us if we don't dig in our heels and make a stand on every issue. In fact our life would be in conflict most of the time unless we do make compromises. But don't you feel sometimes that you're being asked to give up too much? Sometimes I get really tired of making concessions and get discouraged. In the end I guess we have to decide what are our "core" beliefs, those that really define who and what we are. These principles are the ones we must stand firm on. The trick is to really understand what they are. Think about it, write them down and live your life accordingly.