I recently watched a TED talk by Julie Taymor, a brilliant film, theater, and opera director. Among the vast array of her works, she translated The Lion King from film to the theater production on Broadway.

I’m paraphrasing a bit, but one of the profound things she said was, “You must be true to who you are and what you believe – AND – at the same time you must be aware and sensitive to the fact that the audience is out there, watching and listening to you. That is the line that artists and performers must walk.”

I believe that in this theater called life, we are all artists and performers.

We all walk that line. And how well we do it speaks to our authenticity, to knowing and being who we truly are, and doing it in ways that move others. It is the essence of our personal Brands.

So many of us have adopted facades for so long that we have come to believe that our masquerades are reality. The world knows otherwise. Take a look inside. See the real you. Don’t be afraid of it. Let it out. Most of the world already knows about it anyway.