Give yourself permission to be enough
In the pursue of any new career,- or any new role in life, for that matter- you may hold all the right credentials and educational background and still not feeling “competent” or “knowledgeable” or “ready” enough. On the flip side you may use the absence of those credentials as a ‘reasonable’ excuse so that you don’t utilize your innate talents and life’s experience on a specific subject/field to pursue a career in that field.
You see, skills and competence alone is not enough for you to actually feel enough. Admiration, acceptance and approval from others is also not able make you change the way you see yourself. Self-trust and belief in your own abilities and competence is what actually needed to feel and accept yourself as enough and even successful in whatever you choose to pursue. In other words, you need to give yourself permission and genuine reassurance that you are enough, capable and deserving of anything you desire!
The latter will determine your ability to allow yourself to feel comfortable and secure with what you know and also what you don’t know, without the fear of judgement or disapproval (by yourself or others). Otherwise, feelings of imposter and even sabotaging your own growth and success is almost inevitable. Why?
Because even when you’ve set and achieved your goals, unless you believe deep inside that you deserve those achievements, sooner or later you’ll sabotage yourself in order to prove yourself right, i.e. that you’re unworthy of them.
Yes, for a new career you, ideally, want both; the experience and the credentials. This is what defines you as a complete professional in our world. Yet, we need also to keep in mind that the requirement whcich make a ‘complete professional’ is another human-made concept of defining who’s eligible for what. Nothing wrong with that concept and it serves a clear and valid purpose in protecting us from exposing ourselves to harmful experiences. However, using that concept as a blockage to prevent you from actively exercising your interest and talents as a new (immature) professional is a common symptom for many of us.
In reality, being a professional in something cannot guarantee you success or a useful/positive experience for your clients. How many of us haven’t we trusted a well known professional or expert (in something) only to be disappointed or dissatisfied with their service in the end?
This lack of self-trust and the persistence of self-doubt in our competence or abilities is commonly known as the “imposter syndrome”. Yet, its roots run deep within our subconscious and are directly linked to our own self-image.
Regardless of how much you have achieved and you’re still achieving in life, your self-image defines how much of this success will last and actually feel true and real to you.
If success, is what you’re seeking in whatever you pursue in life, know that what you’re actually seeking is self-awareness, self acceptance and self-reliance. In that quest, (re)defining your self-image is the key to unlock an authentic, fulfilling and long-lasting successful life.
Give yourself permission to be enough; allow yourself to see, listen to, love and accept all aspects of you. And then, move from there…what you’ll discover is that from that place any decision will feel truly aligned and the pursue of any goal almost effortless. Have patience, and self compassion in the process. It is not about “all or nothing”. Every little step counts.
