Don’t pretend, just be!

“The only person stopping you from doing something is yourself, and looking for excuses all the time just gets in the way of obtaining your own goals. It's like the writer who keeps getting up and straightening the pictures in the room.”

These words of wisdom come from Chrissie Hynde, or Christine Ellen Hynde, the founding and only consistent member of the rock band The Pretenders - the band that churned out chart toppers such as “I Stand By You”, “Don’t Get Me Wrong”, and their first hit “Stop Your Sobbing”. Chrissie started her music journey in 1975 and expects to release her new solo album this year!How many of us can say we have stayed relevant and in the spotlight for more than four decades - which is why Chrissie is my fourth idol, joining the great company of a businesswoman, a politician and a philosopher from my previous Idol Series articles.Chrissie is, without a doubt, a person who knows what she loves – music and her guitar – and who unabashedly believes that what you love is the biggest gift you can give to yourself and people around you:

“You’re lucky if you find something that makes you feel like yourself; that’s the one time that you feel like you know who you are.”

This gift of knowing what you love, and what you are passionate about, is something that will always stay with you. As Chrissie once said:

“If you’re an artist, you need to work. It doesn’t matter how old you are, who you are. It doesn’t matter if you’re 12: if you draw, you draw. If you’re 85 and you paint, you paint.”

Reflecting on my love for transforming business units, companies and people – I believe that developing a passion for one’s work or pursuing one’s passion is not relevant only to artistes but to all of us.Let’s be honest – those who share my passion – how often do find yourself ‘transforming’ others around you in your free time, outside of your work? Your passion always stays with you, doesn’t it?And it only gets better with time. Bits of our personalities tend to rub off on everything we do. This may be accepted by some and rejected by others and that’s okay. Each of us is different, with different preferences and that’s a good thing. As Chrissie rightly says:

“The only thing I’ve ever offered the public is some music. If they like the music, that’s great. Turn on the radio. If they don’t like it, switch it off.”

After all, none of us can we liked and loved by everyone. Life would be too boring if that were the case.Thinking about all my four idols – the courageous Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, the self-reflecting, world-changing politician Mikhail Gorbachev, David Hume with his dilemma of passion over reason, and now Chrissie Hynde encouraging us to do what we like and not pretend – they all have one thing in common…a clear purpose in their lives.Through the years, they discovered what they love doing, what they are good at doing, how they can give back to their community – and they dedicated their lives to it – intentionally or not. And, none of them was about one off success only – all of them kept evolving their careers and lives, learning from failures and setbacks to get new ideas, perspectives and energy to go deliver on their set purpose.Life is short and none of us know not what lies ahead of us. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed to the fullest!

Not all of us have a guitar at home like Chrissie, but we can follow her advice nevertheless: “Realize your own potential and try to live out the expectations of your potential.”