It’s Okay To Get Personal

Get personal.

For some of us, that’s hard to do. I’ve been writing my weekly newspaper column since May 2001. People who read it feel they know me. They do.

It was exactly because I dared to get personal. That doesn’t mean spouting opinions or rhetoric. Getting personal means to share yourself and be vulnerable.

One of my early columns that endeared me to readers was telling the tale of how my two sons and I, they were grade schoolers at the time, had a lovely evening of strolling to the ice cream parlor with a stop at the park. When they invited me to swing with them and take the swing between them, I was mentally logging this as a Memorable Mommy Moment. My elder BoyWonder then proclaimed the middle swing was best for me because it had the widest seat and I had the widest butt.

In writing a weekly column for over decade, some columns are surface level and some are deeply personal. The ones I hesitate sending to my editors because I think I may have revealed too much are always the ones that get the most reader response. My beloveds write in and say: “You write best when you write from the heart.”

That is what I get my clients to do now. One executive business coach is surprising herself with how personal and spiritual her book is evolving, and she stops herself. I tell her the same: You write best when you write from the heart.

We can share our expertise and our message, and we do it best when we get personal. It’s not a business book, but why do you think Eat, Pray, Love became such a resonant best seller? Elizabeth Gilbert got deeply personal.

A recent blog post of mine where I wrote about how I now have “movie love” with the man I call Prince Charming crossed the line into personal and vulnerable. Another author wants to use it in his upcoming webinar on authentic relationships. When we get personal, others relate, and that is how we best help people.

That’s the goal. To help others.

Have I shared embarrassing moments in my writing? Sure. When I returned home from living a year in France, a local man who had enjoyed my columns during my year abroad asked me to speak to his men’s group about being a stranger in a strange land.

My fear of public speaking reared its ugly head that day and my first speaking engagement was a train wreck. I was mortified. So I wrote about it. Another reader then asked me to speak to her woman’s group. That makes no sense but it’s a funny story I often share. That day went much better and led to another gig which led to another and so on. I now love to speak and a group of 500 delights me as much as a room of 15.

When I speak, I get personal. There’s laughter, sometimes tears, and always a great time. I’m not polished and perfect, I’m just me giving them the best presentation in my power. People want facts, figures, and results. They also want a real human who connects.

I once got a client because she saw a Facebook post of me sharing it was a Hairbrush Microphone kind of day. That made her laugh and she decided I was the kind of person she could work with. Personal connection.

So when you go about your daily life, in business and in pleasure, get personal. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Allow yourself to have fun. Allow yourself to pursue your dreams.

It may start with the urge to splash in a puddle. Don’t squash that urge. When you see that the earth doesn’t swallow you up for expressing yourself, you’ll gain confidence to do it more.

The world needs you expressing you in the way that only you can do. You doing so helps another to express too. Let’s start a chain of expression, communication, and connection. It starts with getting personal.

Let me know your thoughts. Do you hold back? Do you wish you could let yourself out to play more? Post your comments. (Yes, it’s okay to get personal.)