One of the hardest parts of being a non-profit founder for me has been learning to enjoy the journey. The work feels so urgent. The results feel so important that at times, it has been hard for me to celebrate not just the small, but even the big victories. On more than one occasion, my friends, family and therapist have had to address my perspective because I was not seeing things correctly. The wild thing is, I do not have this problem with seeing anyone else’s greatness. My girlfriends call me regularly when they are “trippin” or feeling down. I do not let them indulge in any negative self-talk even though I am tempted to do it myself. Most times, I realize the same sermon I am preaching to them, I need to hear and believe.
Why do we all have the same problem? My close friends and I work in different industries, live in different cities across the country and have different personalities, but one thing that we seem to have in common is that we were the high achieving, straight As, “perfect” (oldest or only) daughters who grew up to become the high performing professional women who get things done at our jobs. But entrepreneurship is a different animal. It gets at your insecurities in a way that working for others cannot.
For the past few months, I found myself sharing the same motivational speech with several of my friends. Although I think it is far from the whole answer, I can say that many of us have referred to this pep talk as a part of our renewed fervor to get out of our own way and bet on ourselves. I want to share a version of it with some of you, I hope you find it helpful:
“Girl, you care too much about being an expert. There are people who do not have any experience and have no business doing what they are doing but they have a platform and are making thousands of dollars because they went for it. They have not bought into the idea that they must be an expert to do the thing. They just believe that what they have to offer is valuable (whether it is or is not) and they go for it. We are surrounded by audacious non-experts (and at times audacious fools) who are thriving. We’ve been taught that we need this training and this certification and this stamp of approval to move forward. We’ve bought into the program, and we’ve been paralyzed by the need for something outside of ourselves to tell us what is enough. We have all this education, experience, training and ability. Girl, you don’t need anything else to step out!
Girl you are more than enough. You are better than 95% of the people in your area of expertise. Even if something is not in your area of expertise, you are still better than 80% of the people who attempt it because that is how you roll. You are just good at what you do.
It’s time to let go of that ruler you keep measuring yourself by because it is smothering your soul. Why are you surprised that people believe in what you are doing? Why wouldn’t they believe in you? It’s time for you to trust yourself. Girl, you don’t have to worry about looking like a fool because you are not one. But you need to believe like one.”
My organization Womanish Projects is hosting a Sisterhood Rally in Cincinnati, OH on September 14th at Eden Park to create more experiences where women can get together, share what they are doing, find and encourage other sisters. We want to celebrate you as you embark on your journeys of betting on yourselves and believing that you are more than enough.
You can register at https://www.womanishprojects.org/sisterhood-rally
Submitted by Charmaine Webster, Founder & President of Womanish Projects
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