The Real You at Work: Finding Freedom Beyond the Mask
How shift from feeling stuck to building the career, business, and life you truly want
- The Cage, image credit author
How different are you when you’re working compared to the real you? The one your family knows, or the one who laughs with friends when no one’s judging? How much of your energy goes into keeping up the act that pays your bills?
Before I started working for myself, I felt like I was trapped in a cage. I wore a suit to the office every day and a mask I couldn’t take off. On the outside, I was confident, sharp, and driven. Inside, I was anxious, unsure, and trying to prove that I belonged.
Like many professionals early in their careers, I thought success meant playing the part—looking the part—at any cost. I didn’t realize how much energy it took to maintain that image. I spent years performing instead of living.
I battled Imposter Syndrome. I worried constantly about being “found out.” I compared myself to others, chased titles, and worked harder than everyone around me to feel safe. I told myself I was ambitious, but the truth is, I was afraid.
The stress never let up. I tried to please bosses, coworkers, and clients while ignoring my own needs. I became skilled at adapting to others' expectations, but I lost touch with who I truly was.
By my late twenties, I was burned out and disconnected. I had the appearance of success but none of the peace. That’s when I knew something had to change.
That’s when I began to shift my perspective and find the time and creative freedom I always wanted by going into business for myself.
I was only 30, and today, my shift made all the difference.
S – Self-Awareness
The first step was realizing that my stress wasn’t random. It was feedback. I was living out of alignment with my true self. I began to notice the discrepancy between how I behaved at work and who I was at home. That awareness was uncomfortable, but it was the beginning of freedom.
H – Higher Understanding
Next, I began to see that every struggle had meaning. My frustration, exhaustion, and disconnection weren’t signs of failure—they were signs that my soul was calling for something more. I stopped blaming my job or my bosses and began looking at what life was trying to teach me.
I – Introspection
I slowed down. I began reading self-help books, writing, journaling, meditating, and asking more profound questions. Who am I when I’m not trying to prove myself? What do I truly value? What kind of work feels like a natural expression of my gifts? This inner work helped me reconnect with the purpose I had buried under layers of ambition and fear.
F – Focused Intention
Once I gained clarity, I decided to live and work in a different way. I set the intention to follow my curiosity, use my creativity, and build a life that felt authentic. That decision led me to start my first business. It was scary, but it was also liberating.
T – Transformation and Trust
Transformation begins when you step into the unknown and trust that you’ll grow through it. The early years of self-employment were challenging. I faced new types of stress, but this time, the stress had meaning. It fueled growth instead of burnout. I was building something real, something aligned with my purpose.
“Most of our tensions and frustrations stem from compulsive needs to act the role of someone we are not.” - Dr. Hans Selye, the father of stress research
That was my life before I shifted—pretending to be who I thought I had to be instead of embracing who I really was.
When I stopped acting and started aligning, everything changed. The pressure didn’t disappear, but it transformed. Instead of crushing me, it shaped me. My work no longer drained me. Work energized me.
That’s what the Clarity S.H.I.F.T. Method® was born from—my own journey of self-awareness, higher understanding, introspection, focused intention, and transformation.
Loving My Work Guiding Others
It’s why I love guiding the younger versions of myself today: the driven, high-performing professionals who are silently struggling behind polished LinkedIn profiles and polite smiles. I help them peel off the mask, reconnect with their purpose, and rediscover the freedom that comes from being their true selves.
Because I know what it feels like to fake it to make a living. I know what it’s like to wake up successful on the outside but empty on the inside. And I know the courage it takes to stop pretending and start living with purpose.
When you finally choose authenticity over approval, your entire life shifts. Your work becomes an expression of who you are, not a performance of who you think you should be. Your stress becomes a signal for growth, not a sentence of exhaustion.
The truth is, freedom doesn’t come from quitting your job or running your own business. It comes from being true to yourself wherever you are.
If you’re tired of wearing the mask, maybe it’s time to S.H.I.F.T.
Because when you do, your work—and your life—stop feeling like an act and start feeling like the truth.
I mentor motivated Millennial and Gen Z leaders to escape soul-sucking careers and become purpose-driven founders, creators, and successful entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.CliffordJones.com.