The Inner Conversation

"I'm Not Enough"

The job posting asked for someone "dynamic" and "innovative." I stared at those words for ten minutes, mentally cataloging all the ways I didn't measure up. Not dynamic enough, not innovative enough, probably not experienced enough either. That application stayed in my drafts folder.

This is the voice I know best - the one that shows up:

• before I speak in meetings

• before I post something online

• before I try anything that matters

“You're not enough.” Not smart enough, not talented enough, not confident enough, not ready enough. It's the voice that’s kept me small when I wanted to be big, silent when I had something to say.

I used to think this voice was protecting me from embarrassment, from failure, from being exposed as a fraud. Now I realize it was protecting me from living.

The "not enough" story seems reasonable because it feels humble, even noble. 

• Who am I to think I deserve that opportunity? 

• Who am I to believe I have something valuable to offer? 

But humility and self-destruction aren't the same thing. True humility is knowing both your limitations and your strengths, not just obsessing over what you lack.

Here's what I've learned about enoughness: it's not something you achieve, it's something you decide. 

No amount of accomplishment, approval, or external validation will convince the "not enough" voice to quiet down. It will just move the goalposts. First you need the degree, then the promotion, then the recognition, then the next thing, always the next thing.

• I think about my friend Sarah, who started her consulting business while convinced she wasn't experienced enough. Her first client saved $50,000 because of her recommendations. 

• I think about my dad, who thought he wasn't smart enough for college and ended up graduating top of his class at 45. 

• I think about every person who ever created something beautiful while believing they weren't creative enough.

The world doesn't need you to be perfect. It needs you to be you - with your particular combination of experiences, perspectives, and imperfections. Your enough is not someone else's enough. Your contribution doesn't need to be revolutionary to be valuable.

You are not too much or too little. You are not ahead or behind. You are exactly the right amount of you, right now, with room to grow into more of yourself tomorrow.

The voice that says you're not enough is lying. But even if it were true – even if you really weren't enough in some cosmic sense - you'd still be worth showing up. You'd still deserve to take up space, to try things, to fail and try again.

• Start before you feel ready. 

• Speak before you feel confident. 

• Apply before you feel qualified. 

Not because you're perfect, but because you're human, and humans are allowed to grow in public.

You are enough to begin.

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