I’ve been desiring to write this for so long however I’m still learning to juggle all of my roles, dreams and responsibilities so it had to go on the back burner for a while.
It’s hard.
When you have dreams and ambitions for yourself, when you have deep burning desires of wanting to express yourself more fully, to show up more fully in life but have limited resources of time and energy.
The past few months have been challenging, my daughter is 2 and a half and I can count on one hand the number of times she has slept through the night, I’m growing my business while at the same time cutting back on 1-1 clients as my childcare is only 12 hours per week by choice, so I’m working from home and around my family, trying to ensure myself and Colm stay deeply connected and have quality time together, make sure Sarah has all of her needs met physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, I’ve been trying to eat well, drink plenty of water, get the dog out for a walk every day, keep the house clean, have dinners made, pay bills, spend time with family and friends, exercise, keep an eye on finances and budgets, do up the house, spend time on my learning and development as a coach and personally, have fun and be happy.
I feel like I’ve been doing a half arsed job with everything and my inner perfectionist has been having a field day.
Recently, I found myself glued to my phone regularly, just scrolling down and down and down. As my mood and energy went down and down with it! When I look at facebook or LinkedIn or instagram, I fall quickly into comparison- looking at the grace and polished-ness of other coaches, mothers, entrepreneurs, wives, sisters- basically anyone who is giving off the impression that they’ve got it together. I get envious of their clothes, their washed and brushed hair, their confidence, their success, their happiness and I start to think ‘I suck, big time’, I’m not good enough, I can’t do this, I’m not a good mama, I’m not a good person’.
I was at a full day CPD training a few weeks ago and the facilitator asked everyone to raise their hands if they have the thought ‘I am not good enough’ and every single person in the room raised their hand. It surprised me- I personally knew many people in the room and greatly admire them. She posed the same experiment for the thought ‘I can’t do it’ and again, every single person in the room raised their hands. It was interesting. ‘There are no new thoughts- They’re all recycled ‘ she said. There is nothing that you have thought about yourself that the majority of people within a 5 mile radius hasn’t thought about themselves as well. ‘Thoughts aren’t personal. They just appear, like raindrops. Would you argue with a raindrop?’ It’s the fact that we attach to and start to buy into this particular thought that becomes problematic.
I’m naturally an introvert, I’m shy, I’m quiet. I love long walks on the beach at night time when no one else is around. I love my own company. I love having meaningful conversations one on one. I love silence, candlelight, writing, singing in the car and dancing in my kitchen. I mostly go around in jeans, a vest top and a pair of skechers with my hair pulled in a ponytail and no makeup. I love to read, I love to teach, I love to engage with groups with purpose and connection. I love to learn and watch TV programmes that teach me something new. I love to be open minded. I love to be free. I know myself, quite well and I do love who I am.
But when I start to think the thought ‘I am not enough’, I swiftly go into comparison and spiral quickly. I start to think ‘I should’ be doing what other people are doing, I should be more polished, I shouldn’t write blogs like this one, I should just get it together and make sure other people can see I have it together and put on a good show!
We don’t compare when we feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we don’t allow ourselves to attack our own worthiness. When we feel good about ourselves, we look for the good in others and the world around us. Comparison kills happiness, creativity and resourcefulness. It gets us stuck in a negative spiral and then we start to really believe the thought ‘I am not enough’ because in that moment we feel so empty, lacking and paralysed to be able to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and take a step forward.
So, how do we change this? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to walk myself through this practice!
Attitude of gratitude…
One of the quickest ways to help you lift yourself up and out of lack mindset is to practice shifting into abundance mindset. This basically means opening your eyes to what you do have in your life- perhaps you have an abundance of friends, an abundance of energy or passion for a particular topic, you have a roof over your head and food in your press, you have your skills- your ability to read and write and how much pleasure you can receive just from that, you have the beauty of the world around you. When we start opening our eyes to what we already have, it can help us shift our attention from what we lack. I will admit though, the first time I tried to do this, I found it very difficult to do because I was deeply rooted in lack mindset. Myself and Colm used to turn it into a game, asking each other ‘What was the best thing about your day? or ‘name three things you’re grateful for right now?’ – we’d do it in bed before we went to sleep and it felt really good.
The chance is that what you’re truly desiring to feel is probably present in your life right now in some shape or form but you’re not noticing it. Do you pay attention to what lights you up? Do you know what makes you feel good? When we start to acknowledge areas in our lives where we are truly abundant, things start to shift and we can ask ourselves ‘Where else do I already have what I want?’ ‘What is already part of my day to day life that I love?’
I hope this has resonated with you and that you take something from it! I’m writing this as a kick in the ass for myself but I’m guessing it may resonate with you too! As always, I’d love to hear from you!
With love and much warmth,
Paula
Originally published at myquarterlifecoach.com