Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…
Think about this. You’re so close to success and it only needs the final step to fall into place, and then… nothing happens.
I too have my own memories of this. I had so many great projects, yet I felt prevented from sharing them with others. And now I know why. I was doubting my ideas. I was held back by anxiety. My fear of not being loved; my fear of being rejected; and my fear of appearing arrogant.
I would interrupt myself mid-sentence and then my modesty would kick in…
I would remember the social codes of behaviour that were imposed on us since childhood and that explains why.
But finally I could face my fears. I could understand the fascinating mechanisms that led me to sabotage my own efforts. My facing up to those anxieties and inner beliefs helped me to solve those problems and let them go. Today, I don’t feel the need to impress, to prove myself or be “good enough” any more.
It’s taken me years.
Yet having spent this time working through these challenges, and facing my anxieties, I have come to identify clearly the methods I have used to overcome them. Now I want to use these same methods to help others overcome their own anxieties and to be most completely their best selves too!
My clients come to me from all walks of life. Yet they are so frequently unaware of their great strengths and areas of competence. They so frequently think themselves very ordinary. Yet I can see on meeting them, that beneath the surface that they project, they are each gifted and versatile individuals, hampered only by their modesty, their upbringing and their lack of self-esteem.
Where is their fair measure of ‘healthy pride’ and confidence in those fine abilities that with my trained eye, I can see so clearly?
In my work as people trust me I am able to put them in contact with their true selves. They will find within themselves powerful ressources they never knew they had.
As they come to grasp their qualities and competences, they are able to use them. Their self-esteem grows, and with it develops their unlimited potential. They are able to give confident voice to their ideas. They can carry themselves with a self-respect that brings the admiration of others.
What more can you desire, but to be your truest self, and for others to see you as you really are?
Your anxieties that were once your major preoccupation evaporate, and your fears are forgotten.
We all are drawn to the company of the confident, the enthusiastic and the inspired. It is people like these who inspire us, and open our minds. That is why, of course, we also go to the movies and we read novels and biographies: the stories of the great and the successful. Why are we so passionate about these heroes?
In these heroes we discover ourselves!
Working with me I will reveal to you the potential that deep down you already know you have – and probably much more than you know 😉
Free yourself from your fears and step into your Greatness! Your Greatness is a part of your person.
You’ll become the strong person others want to emulate.
Our fear of being inadequate
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be?
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”, Ch. 7, Section 3 (1992), p. 190. Much quoted since President Nelson Mandela used the quotation in his inaugural address.)
As an exercise, please watch the following video clip by clicking on the link below. I would ask you to wait until you have seen the clip before answering the three questions that follow. I find this works best if you write down your answers.
1. What benefit do you get from it, when you do not shine? (For ex.: You stay in your comfort zone, you don’t risk to be misunderstood etc.)
2. Imagine that for 10 years you’ve allowed yourself to live your greatness fully. Describe who would you be today? What people would you see around you?
3. What would your friends say about the following:Which of your qualities always carried you through difficult times in the past? When do they ask you for advice?
You might want to consider asking your friends what they think.
The way to greatness is full of feeling
When you are on your way towards the best version of yourself, you might encounter lots of unpleasant feelings and inner beliefs that have been holding you back for decades.
When you experience emotions and feelings, simply accept them. When you can’t accept them, accept that you don’t accept them. Experiencing your own anger and sorrow is a vital part of letting them go.
Working alone might not be easy. You may encounter an unconscious resistance to your progress. So often we don’t know what to do with all these feelings! What can make all the difference is the creation of a protected professional space.
You don’t have to face this alone. Look for a person that you trust and who can help you understand yourself more deeply and recognise and negotiate those inner blockages that impede your way.
Begin to shine and put the well-deserved crown on your head!
It will be a life on a new level, where you can live a deeper life and take other people with you.
Your greatness will allow others to be successful
Free yourself from fear and allow yourself to shine! By doing so, you bring happiness to those around you.
Give others that permission to be brilliant, by being brillant yourself!
Furthermore they will look for you and enjoy your presence, simply because they are happier in your presence!
By adopting this new attitude of allowing yourself to shine, this means also that you will never try to suppress the efforts of others to shine also. You won’t stand in the way of their shining, and their manifesting their own greatness.
If you feel envious or you feel you want to inhibit somebody or put them down, then slow down. Putting them down will instead put you down! Putting them down isn’t a solution.
When you reject the greatness of others, it is your greatness that you reject.
There are too many people who simply “accept their fate” and try to live without drawing attention to themselves.
They most likely have a painful past, full of rejection and their efforts were constantly thwarted. Ask yourself how much potential you lost in the past decades because you’ve being thwarted yourself?
Do you want to make more people unfulfilled in this way? Are there not enough damaged people around?
Use your greatness instead, be the light for others and help them to grow. Show them genuine appreciation for their efforts to express themselves! Commend them on their courage! We all know how hard it is to remain great, when we are surrounded by the envious, by people who refuse to believe in themselves.
By giving them the space they need, you give yourself space also, in the same moment of giving it. Afterwards, it will further inspire you to live out your greatness.
Appreciating others, you fortify yourself and allow yourself to live your full greatness.
Your manifesto
A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. (Wiktionary)
How dare you not to be brillant?
Talk with people you trust and who would assist you on this amazing path. This will help you to achieve your goal faster and in a more effective way.
If you free yourself from your fear, your presence automatically liberates others!
This is your precious gift.
Others are waiting for your permission.
Give it to them!
