Are you afraid of your brilliance?

Is it ‘I’m not good enough’ OR ‘I’m so f***ng powerful that if I revealed my true self I’d knock their bloody socks off!’

Which one are you today? (Psst, it’s ok for you to say number 2..)

I think we are familiar with the ‘I’m not good enough’ commentary, but is it always the case?

See, I realised a long time ago that I was deep down scared of revealing my brilliance. It would look like ‘dressing down’, not wanting to stand out too much or draw attention. Saving that outfit and bright lipstick for ‘best’. It would show up as playing down my achievements, cringing when the compliments came, not putting myself forward for opportunities that could promote myself or my work.

Yes, sometimes we fear we are not good enough, but often it can feel very vulnerable to step out and show our greatness too. And what’s the impact of that? What does it do to you? Do you feel resentful, restricted, frustrated that you’ve diluted yourself - a watered down version of you.

The thing is, it’s human nature to want to belong, to want to relate and connect with others. When you’re friends are complaining about something, you want to be able to say ‘me too’, but what if you don’t have that complaint? What if you want to share something that’s going really well for you? You can feel on the outside, and that’s uncomfortable.

But remember - yes, ‘misery likes company’, but so does greatness.

When you let yourself shine, it gives other people permission to shine too. It’s magnetic and the best kind of connection. It’s the warm fuzzy feelings all round. We need more people like that in the world, to remind us that as well as being messy, insecure and flawed we are equally brilliant too!

So I encourage you today - please don’t water down your wonderfulness, it’s heartbreaking. Whatever small thing that feels good in you share it with someone - see what happens…..