Being Authentic Means Embracing Your Limits and Feeling Free to Be Yourself

5 Questions for Amanda Lien, founder of Minutiae Content Co., a writing and strategy firm. She is also a resilient survivor of chronic Lyme Disease.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Being yourself isn’t a punishable offense! When I was a young person, I had a very clear idea in my mind of what I was going to do and who I was going to be when I grew up … only a lot of that revolved around how my life choices may look or seem to others.

Would people think I was successful enough? Pretty enough? Career-driven? Amid all these thoughts, I successfully convinced myself that the only thing to do was to conform, and in the process, I set aside a lot of who I was: A funny, geeky fangirl who loved reading stories and telling them, too!

This also meant that I struggled to be honest with myself and others about my limits. I was born with chronic Lyme disease, and living with a chronic illness meant that there were certain things that I couldn’t do, or had to do differently, compared to my peers. This caused me to believe that I needed to hide my illness entirely and, because chronic Lyme manifested in me as an invisible illness (meaning, someone looking at me wouldn’t be able to tell if I was sick), I was able to do so. 

It wasn’t until I was in college and started pursuing the work that would later help me build my own business that I figured out I was essentially doing what I had always loved – telling stories – but I was doing it in a way that actually felt aligned with who I am as a person.

I’ve always loved listening to people, hearing their stories, and paying attention to what speaks to them. The work I do allows me to do that – plus I get to write about it as well! Additionally, because I’ve since embraced my limits and my chronic illness diagnosis, I’ve become more comfortable advocating for myself and for others by speaking publicly about living with chronic Lyme.

All that being said, If I could go back in time, I’d tell my younger self that being authentically you (me? us?) is the best thing in the world; I feel more secure in my work, education, and relationships than I ever did back then, and I believe that mindset shift is a HUGE reason why!

You inspire women through your leadership and fearlessness, where did that come from? Who was your inspiration?

When I was a young teen, I was in ballet class multiple times a week; I was pretty gifted at the sport of dance and genuinely enjoyed my time in the studio …until it came time to practice turns. After having a pretty nasty fall a few years prior, I became a pretty hesitant turner; while my classmates were doing three, four or five pirouettes in a row, I couldn’t get up the guts to turn more than once.

When I was about 13, my dance teacher called me over to the corner of the room and asked me why I wasn’t turning, telling me she knew I was strong and quick, that I could easily out-turn many of the girls in class, so what was the deal?

I told her I didn’t think I could do it because I was too freaked out by the possibility of falling. Her response? “Sometimes you just have to do it and do it scared.” I always joke that it’s not that I’m fearless, but it’s that I’m really good at “doing it scared.”

I go confidently forth in the direction of whatever I feel is right, aligned, smart, or wise – no matter how much or how little confidence I have that things will work out. If I tried to list out all of the amazing human beings who have inspired me on my journey, we’d all be here forever, but I will say that the concept of “doing it scared” has been irreplaceable in its impact on my journey, both personally and professionally.

What advice Would you give to someone who says, “I could never do that!” What Do you say to help other get started on their journey and achieve success?

My biggest, best piece of advice is to move in silence. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share what you’re building and how you’re building it (because how else will people know to be invested in you and your work?), but it does mean that, at some point, you’re going to have to make a conscious decision to block out all the noise and focus on you and your journey.

Now more than ever, we live in an uber-connected world, one where everyone and their cat are posting online about the businesses they’re building, the side hustles they’re scaling and the money they’re making. I’m by no means judging anyone for whom that’s their way.

‘Comparison is the thief of joy,’ as they say. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who isn’t at least a little negatively impacted by seeing everyone else’s wins and measuring them against their own. Put your head down, work at your own pace, and enjoy the process. Everything else will fall into place more handily than you’d expect.

How do you stay motivated to keep going once you’ve met your goal?

I love the momentum that accompanies accomplishing a goal, and harnessing that momentum is what keeps me going! It’s exciting for me to be part of building something, whether for my business or for a client, and since so many of my goals are tied to client-facing milestones, keeping the motivation going is usually a no-brainer.

Do you have a mantra, or words you live by, that have helped you through tough times or kept you going?

“Even my worst days only have 24 hours.” When you live with a chronic illness like I do, you learn to let the bad days roll off your back, while reveling in the good ones – it’s the only way to stay sane!

On days when it feels like everything is going wrong, I take comfort in knowing that the 24 hours will end eventually and I’ll have a new set of hours in which to get more things right!

Anything else we haven’t already asked you, such as your secret to success or advice and tips you love to share with others?

There’s freedom in authenticity. To tie it all together, one of the most powerful things I’ve learned over the course of building my business and serving my clients is that there is a unique, unstoppable power in freeing yourself to be yourself.

When you build a business or a brand around your voice, and choose to stand firm in who you choose to be in public, you’ll find yourself with less stress and anxiety and more confidence in how and where you choose to tell your story.

Follow Amanda on Linked In: https://linkedin.com/in/amandajlien

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