Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem.

You were made to be something rather than to appear as something, and the two pull apart more often than you would like. Maintaining an appearance takes real energy, and every hour spent on it is an hour not spent on the thing being represented. The audience is also much less attentive than you imagine.

Find one place this week where you are keeping up an impression rather than the substance behind it. Put the effort into the substance and let the impression fall where it falls. If the gap is wide, close it by improving the reality rather than the presentation.