<h1>The Importance of Authenticity</h1>

It's easy to look at the meteoric rise of talents like James Corden (of Carpool Karaoke fame) and attribute it to, well, "talent." And sure, maybe he's got that too. Maybe he's just "naturally gifted." But it's hard to ignore that he is also insanely authentic. Humans have been social creatures for hundreds of thousands of years, arguably millions if you count species like the Australopithecus or even our more ape-like ancestors. Humans are social creatures and because of that being able to perceive who is trustworthy and honest is an incredibly valuable skill.

<h1>Talent Will Only Get You So Far</h1>

So yes, James Corden is incredibly talented. He's got a great sense of humor and a decent voice to boot. But Los Angeles and New York are *filled* with people like that and unlike Corden they've got six-packs and perfect teeth too. But the overwhelming majority of them will never make it in show business (i.e. as content creators). That being the case these features alone do not explain his spectacular rise. 

<h1>Honesty, Transparency, Sincerity</h1>

I would argue that rise is due to his ***authenticity***. I define the components of authenticity as: ***honesty, transparency, and sincerity***. These have been my guiding principles since I began contributing to steemit.com, and I believe this to be the key to whatever success I am lucky enough to have had. But don't take my word for it, check Corden out for yourself and make up your own mind.

https://youtu.be/ckdsJ-LaCvM

UPDATE: @lifebyadam made some great points in his comment below on which I agree 100%. He points out the importance of ***humility*** as well, and I think that without a health dose of humility, one can never be as authentic as they could be. A certain amount of ego is required in order to motivate yourself to post content because you are hoping for people to *pay attention to **you***; but this makes humility even more important, not less. 

<h1>Skate to Where the Puck Will Be</h1>

@lifebyadam is absolutely right about the trend: people are sick and tired of FAS (Fake A$$ Sh!t). I believe that's one of the reasons people find steemit.com so exciting and compelling: because due to the anonymity and the financial rewards, people *can* be themselves ... and get paid for doing it. Thanks @lifebyadam for the great comment!