Are you the cat — or the copycat? Are you the trendsetter, or do you follow the trend?

Originality is in listening to yourself. Everything else — the advice, the opinions, the feedback — is just that: things to consider. Not commands. Not gospel.

Of course, if someone comes to you with an idea and it resonates — genuinely resonates — you can run with it. Build on it. Make it yours. But the key word is resonates. You have to decide for yourself whether you actually think it's a good idea, or whether you're simply trusting someone else's judgment instead of forming your own.

The stronger the decision you can make from within yourself, the better it is.

There's a particular irony in the way social media managers — voices that dominate our feeds — preach authentic voice while everyone nods along and copies the same talking points. "Be authentic." "Use your authentic voice." It's become noise. It's a shout into a room where everyone is performing the same version of honesty.

But here's where it gets interesting: authentic doesn't mean raw and unfiltered. It doesn't mean you can't build a character. What if you think of a persona — a version of yourself you want to inhabit online — and you become that character? Are you less authentic?

No. You're authentic to your creative self. Because you created the story. You created the character. You are the one choosing how to go out into the world and express yourself through it. That is still you. That is still authentic.

People have been lied to a lot. Maybe that's why the word "authentic" gets weaponised — everyone screaming it without really sitting with what it means. What we actually need isn't a trend to chase. We need to be true to our artistic self — and trust that whatever comes out of that truth is the creativity. Real creativity. Not a copy.