People who are highly authentic often exhibit these 12 genuine behaviors

Highly authentic people are refreshing and energizing. 

They make all our lives better and challenge us to become a better version of ourselves:

More genuine, free, honest and unchained. 

But what exactly are these characteristics and behaviors that set apart highly authentic people? 

Let’s dive in and take a look! 

1) Opening up

Highly authentic individuals are able to be vulnerable without feeling weak. 

They open up to friends, family and their romantic partner about how they’re doing and about the challenges and opportunities in their lives. 

They share their dreams, fears and weaknesses, because they aren’t putting on a show for anybody: they’re being true to themselves. 

As spiritual teacher and social worker Brené Brown, Ph.D. notes:

“In our culture, we associate vulnerability with emotions we want to avoid such as fear, shame, and uncertainty. Yet we too often lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy, belonging, creativity, authenticity, and love.”

2) Listening with an open mind

Truly genuine people practice active listening and don’t judge preemptively. 

They are willing to hear somebody out even when they don’t agree and have an interest in hearing perspectives and experiences whether or not it’s their usual field of interest. 

They listen with an open mind, which draws folks towards them and makes them well-liked, loyal friends, partners and work colleagues. 

Sometimes we all just need somebody who will listen without jumping to judgment. 

3) Respecting different points of view

Those who are highly authentic genuinely respect different points of view, even when they don’t agree. 

They will often be direct in calling out things they don’t agree with or even making fun of points of view they find stupid:

But they don’t attack people on a personal level, even when they strongly disagree. They attack the ideas instead. 

And that makes all the difference.

Which brings me to the next point:

4) Caring about the lives of others

Highly authentic people care about the lives of others. They don’t do this for show or to prove they are a “good person.”

In fact in many cases truly genuine folks don’t necessarily consider themselves particularly good and definitely not notable. 

But they do care. 

And they show that in a hundred small and big ways every day.

“Let’s keep it simple: genuine empathy is about making a sincere and unconditional effort – that is, an effort that expects nothing in return – to see things from the perspective of another,” writes One Big Idea.

5) Honesty and transparency 

The truly authentic individual isn’t scared of the truth, and they’re consistent about it. 

They know that sometimes it’s easier to hide their mistakes or tell a white lie, but they do their best to remain transparent and honest:

They know that when the ball comes back around to their court they’d rather people be honest with them, so they stick to a tell-the-truth policy. 

They also do their best to let other people in on what’s going on and remain as transparent as possible. This makes them well trusted and well-liked. 

Speaking of honesty and transparency:

6) Accountability when they make a mistake

Authentic people don’t go for excuses or try to hide behind a victim mentality. 

They admit when they’ve made a mistake, and instead of focusing on who else is to blame or the mitigating factors, they do their best to focus on what comes next:

That may be an apology, efforts to make up for what they did, or reflection to ensure it doesn’t happen again. 

This is a habit of authentic people we can all learn from, namely the habit of not being ashamed to admit we messed up. 

As Darren Finkelstein puts it:

“When you hold yourself accountable for your decisions, you effectively teach yourself the value of hard work. Taking ownership of your actions is the basic building block of a responsible personality.”

7) Admitting and working on their own flaws

Authentic people care what others think, but they don’t base their self-image or self-worth on that.

They aren’t trying to project a perfect image or only get filtered photos up online. They don’t always smile or always say the right thing. 

Like any of us, they have blind spots, flaws, weaknesses, bad habits and plenty of shortcomings. 

But they acknowledge that and want to work on it. They aren’t trying to hide their shortcomings or pretend to be perfect. They’re open about wanting to improve and about life being a journey. 

And that’s damn refreshing. 

8) Sticking to their own values 

Those who are true to themselves stick to their own values. 

They won’t let anybody fit them into a straitjacket in terms of what’s right and wrong or what code of ethics they should live by:

They have strong principles and values, and they stick to them. 

This includes in their inner life, where they find a spiritual or religious path that works for them, or at least pursue the questions and quest that they find meaningful. 

Nobody’s cookie cutter version of the world is going to hack it. Not for a truly authentic person.

9) Staying in the present moment as much as possible

Authentic people do their best not to dwell on the past or live in future idealization or anxiety. 

They know that our power lies in the present, and they respond accordingly. 

Like any of us, they sometimes fall short in this goal. But they keep working at it. 

As one of my favorite sayings puts it:

“The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do!”

10) Giving trust and being consistently reliable 

Authentic people do their best to be reliable. 

It’s nothing more than what they expect and hope for in others. So they do their best to provide and live up to that ideal themselves. 

This means punctuality, keeping their word and doing their best to complete the work and projects that they sign onto. 

As Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Michelle Joy, MA, MFT writes:

“When you say that you will do something for someone, then do it. People rely on a promise and seeing it through is the hallmark of a trustworthy person.

“Hand things in on time. Be where you say you’ll be punctually. Arrive when you say you will.”

11) Seeking out work and projects with fellow authentic people

Authentic people like to work and collaborate with other genuine folks. 

They aren’t into fake smiles and temporary or transactional partnerships that fall apart at the first sign of trouble. 

They prefer finding folks who are willing to go the distance and actually have some backbone and consistency in their principles. 

This means that authentic folks end up being quite selective in who they end up partnering with in their professional life (and personal life).

12) Calling out people’s BS when necessary

Being an authentic person isn’t all sunshine and roses:

Authenticity can mean tough love as well. 

And authentic folks are not afraid to call out people’s bullshit when necessary. They aren’t confrontational or egotistical about it, by any means: but they will stand up for basic common sense and their point of view. 

Sometimes letting people know that you won’t be jerked around or taken advantage of is both necessary and empowering. 

As Michael Grothaus recounts of a week in which he called out people’s bullshit:

“All of this—all of these little wins, no matter how small—made me feel really good because I was taking back power…

“…One other thing my little experiment revealed is it made me much more conscious of my own bullshit. I started to examine what I was saying to other people with a more critical eye and began to notice I seemed to bullshit just as much as I encountered it.”