Be yourself vs Trust yourself

Be yourself is the worst advice you can give a nervous person. Whether I am preparing for a big presentation, giving a best man speech, or sitting down to record a podcast, that advice just does not help.

I had not recorded a podcast episode in months. As I was setting up my mic and adjusting the camera, I could feel myself getting nervous. Which did not make sense. I have done this many times before.

But in that moment, being myself meant being the version of me that had not done research in a while, had not practiced my intro or outro, had not hit record in months. That version did not feel ready.

Then something shifted when I remembered why I started doing this in the first place. I love talking to people. I love asking questions. I love learning something about someone I would not have known otherwise. And someone out there might need this conversation.

That thought pulled me out of my head. And when my guest showed genuine interest and trust in me to hold a great conversation, it gave me back the confidence I had not fully found in myself yet. Somewhere in those first few minutes, the muscle memory returned.

Be yourself is a snapshot. Trust yourself is about what got you here. The reps, the hard work, the sweat. The cumulative version of you, not just who you are in this one nervous moment.

Nerves will come and go. But your experience does not.