If you don’t feel you’re making a difference in your work, this might be why. Every month, I get asked the same thing by people seeking coaching. “I’m nobody special,” they say,”who am I to think I could be making a difference in the world?”
You CAN make a difference
My response is always the same: “Who are you to think you can’t?”
Are you so special that the Universe (or God, or whatever higher power you believe in) gave you your talents and experiences just for your entertainment? What if they were gifted to you so you can go use them to make the world a better place?
Marianne Williamson’s influence
You may see some similarity with the Marianne Williamson quote at the top of this post. That’s no coincidence, that quote was instrumental in me stepping up to my own genius to pursue a career as a coach, en-couraging the potential of the people I work with (you can see the full quote in this post from nearly 3 years ago)
It was a shock to me, to realise that all throughout my corporate career, the times when I was adding the most value was when I was coaching team-members to step up and fulfill their potential. But I’d been resisting it. In fact, for the first few years out of corporate, I clung to the title “consultant”, denying my coaching talent.
Resisting genius
At the root of our resistance to brilliance, genius, greatness – whatever you like to call yours – is this idea that it’s big-headed to admit to being a bit special at something. You’re supposed to be all modest about it, and consider yourself lucky if you’re fortunate enough to be paid for something you find easy, and actually enjoy doing.
But it’s not luck, is it? It’s the result of you taking your natural talents, combining them consciously with your life and work experience, adding some hard work and study, and creating a unique blend of all of that. Something that only you can do, in the way that you do it. And yet you still think you mustn’t show off too much, don’t you?
Why you’re stuck
And that’s what’s keeping you stuck. That unnecessary modesty is holding you back from attracting the very people who need what only you can do. I could call it a false modesty, but I suspect you genuinely believe you’re nothing special, don’t you?
Our parents and teachers have a lot to answer for. With the best of intentions, they protected us from the risk of attack if we claimed our specialness. “Don’t be such a big-head, Johnny!” “Stop showing off Suzy, people don’t like that!”
For so many years you were told to be normal, average, and the same as everyone else. Particularly during those formative years between ages 7 and 14 where you learned how to interact safely with society. So it’s no surprise that you’ve ended up reluctant to declare how great you are – to believe yourself capable of making a difference!
Start making your difference
To get unstuck with your work, if you intend to live a life of fulfilling work, something that makes Monday mornings something you look forward to rather than dread, there’s something you need to do.
It’s time to step up and claim your genius. Own up to the remarkable talent you’ve been gifted. Mix it up with all of that delicious experience that makes you so unique. And then go use it in the service of the people who are desperate for what you will joyfully do for them.
Go serve your perfect customers.
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Stepping Up to your genius is the first of 3 steps to really live in your genius on a daily basis – you can find an outline of the other two in this post: 3 Steps to Joyful Genius
