Dr Mykim Tran On How Authenticity and Vulnerability Pay Off and Help You Win Personally and Professionally
Increase self-understanding: Being authentic and vulnerable increases self-understanding, such as knowing more about your likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, happiness, sadness, etc. Therefore, authenticity and vulnerability can assist you in making better decisions. The more you share your true feelings and emotions and take action in what you believe is right for you, the more you will understand yourself.
Being vulnerable and authentic are some of today’s popular buzzwords. It may seem counterintuitive to be vulnerable, as many of us have been taught to project an air of confidence, be a boss, and act like we know everything. In Brene Brown’s words, “vulnerability takes courage.” So is vulnerability a strength or a weakness? Can someone be authentic without being vulnerable? How can being authentic and vulnerable help someone grow both personally and professionally? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, mental health professionals and business and life coaches who can share stories and examples of “How Authenticity and Vulnerability Pay Off and Help You Win Personally and Professionally.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mykim Tran.
Dr. Mykim Tran is a humanistic psychologist, entrepreneur, inspirational leader, keynote speaker, and author. She is on a mission to help individuals create authentic lifestyles filled with meaning, purpose, joy, and happiness. Dr. Tran is the founder and CEO of Wake-Up Foundation, a non-profit agency that transforms individuals into social change agents to promote stronger communities. Dr. Tran is also a national best-selling author of Self-Esteem Building: How to Live Your Life as YOU and has co-authored the book Secrets to Drama-Free Love, where she emphasizes the importance of self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self-love in cultivating healthy relationships. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in media communications from California State University, Sacramento, her master’s degree in psychology from Walden University, and her PhD in Humanistic Psychology from Saybrook University.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born in Vietnam. My family and I came to America in 1992. My passion ignited in my early 20s when I was inspired by motivational speakers and trainers making a social impact on the world. The two successful things I learned from them are personal development and passion. No matter what field or industry successful people are in, they all taught me the importance of personal development and passion. Once I understood why those two concepts are critical to life success, I immediately developed and applied them. Even today, I never lose sight of them. Personal development and passion have become my life’s foundation in helping me overcome challenges and thrive. Motivational speakers and trainers have become my mentors. I seek them out through events, groups, videos, podcasts, and books whenever I need guidance and motivation. Learning from and trusting them has led me to where I am today and who I have become.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Those with outward courage dare to die; those with inward courage dare to live.” Lao Tzu
I have learned to trust myself and follow my intuition throughout my life. I discovered that it takes courage to follow your intuition, to do what is best for you, and to follow your dreams. However, it always returns positive whenever I follow my intuition, no matter how difficult.
As a humanistic psychologist, I better understand why it takes courage to live authentically. First, you must have self-awareness and self-reflection to understand your beliefs and values and how to apply them to your life. Second, you must learn to block out external influences and listen to your intuition to succeed. Even though pursuing your path with the constant negative influences in society can be challenging, it will be a journey worth living. My goal is to discover the best path and support individuals to look from within, use their courage to live a life based on their beliefs and values, and use their passions to contribute to the world. When individuals can do that, I believe that is living.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
A podcast by Jim Rohn on the Importance of Personal Development. Jim Rohn was known as the father of personal development. In the podcast, he explained why personal development is critical for personal and professional success. The video resonates with me because personal development has increased my self-understanding and guided me to discover and develop a passionate career and life that I can be proud of. The more I work on my personal development, the more I can succeed personally and professionally. Personal development has also taught me what becoming a successful human being means. As a result, I have dedicated my life to studying and working to understand human potential, and personal development is one of its key ingredients.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s begin with a definition of terms so that each of us and our readers are on the same page. What exactly does being authentic mean?
Authenticity can be described in many terms, such as original, unique, or different. According to the literature on authenticity, it has four main components.
- Authenticity is discovering and following your core beliefs and values, guiding you to make the right decisions.
- Authenticity is about taking action in what you believe is right for you in the moment.
- Authenticity is about using your passions and creativity to promote well-being for everyone and everything. Engaging with your passions and creativity is an expression of your human spirit.
- Authenticity is when you are on a lifelong personal development journey to become a better version of yourself because authenticity has no destination.
What does being vulnerable mean? Can you explain?
Vulnerability is when you openly share your opinions and feelings without fear of judgment. You are also not afraid to share your positive and negative qualities and experiences with others. You do what is right for You. You are not scared of failure. You seek support to improve so you can move forward successfully.
What are the positive aspects of being authentic and vulnerable? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
One positive aspect of being authentic and vulnerable is courage-building. For example, in today’s society, everywhere you turn, someone or something is trying to change you into something that is not who you are. The media and society have made it difficult for you to be authentic. Society does not provide a strong encouragement for self-expression. Therefore, it takes courage for you to be authentic and vulnerable. The more authentic and vulnerable you are, the stronger your courage becomes. That courage will support you in overcoming challenges and doing great work for yourself, others, and society.
Are there negative aspects to authenticity and vulnerability? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
There are no negative aspects to being authentic and vulnerable. However, it can be challenging to get others’ approval at the beginning when you are being authentic and vulnerable. For instance, authenticity is about being different, but relationship building tends to initiate through similarity. It can be difficult for others to relate and support you sometimes when you are being authentic because of a lack of understanding of who you are. Therefore, the acceptance rate from others can be low for you when you are being authentic and vulnerable. This can negatively affect your well-being because we are social creatures, and building relationships is essential.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from being authentic and vulnerable?
Lack of self-confidence: Often, individuals are afraid to be authentic because of doubts and lack of self-confidence. Being authentic means understanding yourself. However, as a human being, you are born not knowing who you are. It is only through learning and applying that you will increase your self-understanding. It is a learn-as-you-go process. There will be times when you might doubt yourself whether what you do is authentic or not because it is a learning process. That is why it takes self-confidence to believe that what you do and think at the moment is your authenticity. However, many people lack the self-confidence to trust themselves and their authenticity. This lack of self-confidence can also make it difficult for individuals to be vulnerable because they are afraid of judgment and do not know how to handle the criticism successfully, which prevents them from being vulnerable.
Not knowing how to block out external influences: External factors will try to influence you daily. If you do not know how to block them out and listen to your intuition, it will be difficult for you to be authentic and vulnerable. Even if you know your authenticity, external noises will influence you to act differently if you do not know how to block them out. Many individuals lack the proper guidance to look within themselves and make decisions. Therefore, they often rely on the outside to guide their decision-making. However, authenticity and vulnerability come from within.
What are five ways that being authentic and vulnerable pay off, and help you win, both personally and professionally?
Increase self-understanding: Being authentic and vulnerable increases self-understanding, such as knowing more about your likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, happiness, sadness, etc. Therefore, authenticity and vulnerability can assist you in making better decisions. The more you share your true feelings and emotions and take action in what you believe is right for you, the more you will understand yourself.
A strong relationship with yourself: The more you understand yourself, the better relationship you can have with yourself. Building a strong relationship with yourself is crucial because you must deal with yourself daily. You cannot escape from you. You will make better decisions because you have a high level of self-trust. You will have less desire to impress others or get their approval. You are more free to do whatever and whenever you desire because you are not afraid of judgment and are strong in being alone. A strong relationship with yourself also decreases loneliness because you enjoy your company. Being vulnerable and authentic also increases your self-confidence. The higher your self-confidence, the more you are willing to be vulnerable and authentic. It becomes a cycle where self-confidence leads to vulnerability and authenticity, and authenticity and vulnerability lead to self-confidence.
Meaningful relationships with others: Being vulnerable and authentic allows others to better understand who you are. Therefore, others are more likely to trust you because you are genuine and not fake. Even though being vulnerable means others know your flaws and weaknesses, others can still appreciate you despite your negative qualities. The more others understand you, the more they will appreciate you. Building strong and meaningful relationships is about understanding. Being vulnerable and authentic will help you achieve that goal.
Develop a meaningful and fulfilling lifestyle. When you are being authentic, you use your passion and creativity to make a difference, and that is an expression of your human spirit. You do what is important and what you care about. These authentic behaviors help you create meaning and purpose. You develop a sense of belonging, and what you do matters. Being authentic also decreases loneliness because what you do fulfills your spirit and soul.
One of human greatness accomplishments: Being valuable and authentic will be one of your greatest accomplishments. Being vulnerable and authentic can be a liberating force to help you become a better version of yourself, which is one of the essences of human potential. It takes courage to be valuable and authentic because you are different than what society is trying to influence you to do. Therefore, you should be proud of yourself when you are being vulnerable and authentic.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would start a movement to encourage others to become more authentic. As a humanistic psychologist, my goal is to help others become the best version of themselves, and the authentic movement is the perfect path to fulfill that goal. Authenticity will help individuals develop kind and compassionate behaviors that will improve the world. Authenticity will promote a journey for individuals to create inner and outer peace.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I would like to have lunch with the Dalai Lama. I have always enjoyed and appreciated his work on spirituality, kindness, and compassion to create a better world for everyone and everything. I would like to hear and take away some of his wisdom.
How can our readers follow you online?
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561559257880
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mykimtranphd/
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
