What Would You Say If You Truly Didn't Care Who You Lost?

Have you ever caught yourself silencing your own truth out of fear? That moment when you realize you've been performing authenticity instead of truly living it?

After nearly doubling my podcast downloads when I began sharing more personally, I discovered something unsettling – even in my "authentic" sharing, I was still measuring my words, still asking "Will this be too deep? Will I lose people?"

What if the people we might repel by being fully ourselves are exactly the ones we need to release? What if our authentic voice – the one that might make others uncomfortable – is actually our greatest gift?

Every time we dim our voice to keep others here, we abandon ourselves. The Caribbean community's aversion to emotional openness creates additional challenges, but perhaps the real purpose is finding courage to speak our truth whether anyone's listening or not.

If you're ready to stop performing conformity and release the shackles of "you think too deeply," this episode offers permission – permission to speak what's real for you. The world needs truth-tellers right now. Your voice matters, especially if it makes people uncomfortable.

Ready to dive deeper? If this resonates and you're ready to do the deep work of emotional authenticity - learning to feel your feelings without being overwhelmed, finding your voice without needing external validation - explore my Emotional Sobriety Workshop and other offerings at www.liftoneself.com

This isn't about quick fixes. This is about learning to be fully yourself in a world that profits from your conformity.

Chapters

• 0:00 What Would You Say?
• 2:06 The Trap of Performing Authenticity
• 4:20 Taking a Mindful Moment
• 6:12 Speaking Truth Without Fear
• 8:05 Permission to Be Fully Yourself

Transcript

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 0:00

What would you say if you truly didn't care who you lost Like for real? Let me ask you this how many times do you notice silence in your expression because of fear of how it will be received? How many times do you notice the judgments you feel from the way you're thinking? I'm asking because I've been caught in my own trap again. How many times are you being silenced by your own narrative, by the fear of how others will receive your truth, by this terror of destroying the carefully crafted image you've built, the one that keeps you small, keeps you easy to swallow, keeps you acceptable? Or perhaps you have spoken truth and many began withdrawing and name-calling, so then truth-telling becomes loneliness.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 0:53

I've been doing this podcast since May 2021, sharing conversations with guests hiding behind these conversations. I know many of you may be saying you were hiding. Yes, I was, and when I came back from Barbados in March, after integrating the grief of Natalie, I decided to begin sharing what's on my heart in these bite-sized pieces, and something interesting happened my downloads nearly doubled in the last 90 days than what I've built in four years. People are listening, people are connecting with something, but you know what I realized? Even in my authentic sharing, I'm still editing myself, still measuring my words, still asking will this be too deep? Will I lose people? Am I being too much? The fear of allowing myself to be still strangles me at times, and that's when it hit me. I'm performing authenticity instead of living it fully. It can be challenging speaking of emotions when the Caribbean community is so adverse to being open about it. It can be challenging being a visionary when people are not there yet.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 2:05

Before we go deeper, let's take a mindful moment together. Wherever you are right now, just pause, take a breath with me. Notice what's happening in your body, as you've been listening. Are your shoulders tight? Is your jaw clenched? Are you holding your breath? Maybe you weren't even listening to me, it was just background noise. Whatever it is, just notice without judgment. Now breathe in slowly and breathe out even slower. Feel your feet on the ground, feel the weight of your body where you're sitting or standing, feel that gravity. Ask yourself what am I feeling right now, what sensations are present, what emotions are here? You don't need to change anything, just acknowledge what's there. This is your moment to interrupt any pattern of rushing, of performing, of being who you think you should be. Just breathe, just be, just notice no-transcript.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 3:27

Maybe the point is learning to speak my truth, whether anyone's listening or not, whether it makes you comfortable or not, whether it fits your idea of who I should be or not. Because here's what I'm discovering. Every time I dim my voice to keep you here, I abandon myself. Every time I soften my edges so you won't leave, I betray the wisdom trying to flow through me. The truth is, this podcast journey is lonely as heck. It's a lot of work with very little acknowledgement. I've had one sponsor knocking at my door. Thank you, magic Mind, which I still use because it works. Yet no real financial return, just me speaking into the void, hoping something lands. But maybe that's not the point.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 4:20

What if the people I might repel by being fully myself are exactly the ones I need to release? What if my authentic voice, the one that might make you uncomfortable, might challenge you, might be too intense or too deep or too real? What if that voice is actually my gift? The amount of times I've heard Nat, you think too deeply, or it's not that deep, nat has been a shackle placed on me that I'm releasing. What would you say if you truly didn't care who you lost? I'm done performing conformity. I'm done shrinking so you'll stay.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 4:59

If my truth is too much for you, be curious to what is too much For those of you who are hungry for something real, something unfiltered, something that might actually change you, welcome to who I really am. This is me unedited. This is my voice, without the safety net. What would you say if your truth didn't care who you lost? I guess we're about to find out. And if this resonates with you, if you've been holding back your own truth, dimming your own voice, performing your own version of conformity, give yourself permission, permission to speak what's real for you, permission to stop editing yourself for others' comfort.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 5:45

The world needs truth-tellers right now. The world needs you in your authentic, unique way of being. The world needs us feeling our emotions, speaking our depth, refusing to shrink. Your voice matters. Your truth matters, even if it makes people uncomfortable, especially if it makes people uncomfortable. Speak your truth. If you're ready to dive deeper into this work of emotional authenticity, of learning to feel your feelings without being overwhelmed by them, of finding your voice without needing external validation, I invite you to check out my Emotional Sobriety Workshop and the other work I offer at wwwliftoneselfcom.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 6:31

This isn't about quick fixes or surface level changes. This is about the deep work of learning to be fully ourselves in a world that profits from your conformity, and if this episode resonates with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear this message. Like and subscribe to the podcast, not for my ego, but because these conversations matter. The more people who hear this message Like and subscribe to the podcast not for my ego, but because these conversations matter the more people who hear this, the more permission we collectively give each other to be real. Stop waiting for permission that will never come. Give it to yourself.

NatNatBe - LiftOneSelf: 7:07

You know what I actually feel a tingle of excitement and a little bit of feeling inauthentic about sharing this. And how dare I? And real permission all mixed into one? And I also see the narrative of people rolling their eyes and saying, oh, here's Natalie again just needing validation. So it's interesting to be in the space of recording this podcast and building on it with more of my authenticity, speaking my story into it, using AI to help me reform the language so that it's easier to be understood, while still being authentic to myself. And I saw the narrative of well, this isn't authentic if you're using AI to craft your message. Yet it's not about having raw edits all the time. It's about being intentional with that truth. I wonder if I should put this part in the podcast. Yet you know what I think I will. I think this is what I'm going to show you in authenticity. I will always continue to ask how authentic can I be? Yet I have to put a pause on that and just allow myself to be. May you also give yourself the permission to be.