In 1999 I heard Jeff Olsen (now the CEO of Nerium), make a statement that literally changed the direction of my life. Invariably several times a year I am reminded how TRUE it is. 

"Time either reveals or exposes who we really are."

The first time I heard that phrase; the “imposter” in me knew I would eventually be exposed as a fraud. I was in over my head professionally, was dishonest about my personal life, and looked like I had it together, when on the inside I was falling apart.

His little saying sparked my desire to study human potential, and to learn how to actually BE the kind of person I pretended I was. Novel concept, I know.

The phrase soon became a professional mantra and then a personal challenge. I wanted the passing of time to REVEAL who I was, rather than expose who I had pretended to be.

In order to achieve that, I had to do learn how to do several things:

1. Be honest with myself, about myself. This was the most difficult step.
2. Be honest with others, about myself, all of the time.
3. Be obsessive about addressing any areas in my life where my actions did not match my intent. (This began my research on what is now Success Excelerator™.)
4. Forgive EVERYONE, no matter what the wrong.
5. Forgive myself, no matter what the wrong. This was more difficult than I thought.
6. Never judge others, no matter what, because the judgment of others takes the focus off of self-assessment. If we want the passing of time to reveal who we are, we must not judge others or ourselves. It gets in the way of our own self-discovery and self-improvement.
7. To not be offended when others judged me, no matter what. Although comments could hurt my feelings, I had to release the hurt rather than attach to the comment, which was usually a misperception by the person who judged me. Think about it: If someone says something about you, and you know it’s not true, why would you be offended?
8. To not rush to defend myself when criticized or judged, because if I truly believed that time would reveal the truth, then I didn’t need to be worried about clearing it up now.
9. To accept that “we attract what we need to heal” therefore, any situation that showed up in my life was to be used as a mirror for self-discovery. Specifically, I would ask: How did I respond? Why did I attract this experience? What it is in me that needed to be healed?
10. And finally, to know that everything happens for a reason. We’re not being punished, we are simply being prepared.

So, will time reveal or expose who you are?