Are you the type of person who always feels like you’re not doing enough — or you yourself are not “enough”? That can feel disempowering, doesn’t it?
Today I want to give you an exercise for working through those feelings, because they are all too familiar for me, too!
This is a 3-step process for how to effectively work through feeling like "not enough."
Step 1: Acknowledging that it’s not really about where you’re at right now that’s the problem — it’s your perspective and mindset that’s the issue.
FOR EXAMPLE: “I’m only an indie author & not traditionally published - if I was, then it’d be “oh it doesn’t count because it’s not a big company” - if it was, then it’d be “I haven’t sold enough books” — if I did, it’d be “I’m not on a bestseller list” — if I did, it’d be “I don’t have a movie/TV deal” — if I did, it’d be “I haven’t won an award” etc etc.
(FYI, I write romcom novels on the side, when I'm not teaching about anti-hustle productivity or doing coaching calls with you!)
The point is, it’s not really about where I’m at in this moment — it’s about how I’m thinking about where I’m at in this moment. That’s something internal, which we can work through! It’s an internal bottleneck, NOT an eternal obstacle. That’s a really important distinction to make.
(Internal bottlenecks can absolutely be exacerbated by external obstacles, but that’s a topic for another day!)
What do we do about it? The next step here, after we acknowledge that it’s a mindset block...
Step 2: Centre yourself and regain some perspective.
The question to ask is, “What would my past self who WASN’T here think about where I currently am?”
In this example about writing novels, the thought process began with “I’m only an indie author and not traditionally published.” Well, my past self hadn’t even written a book yet, let alone published it! They’d be SO impressed by this.
You can see how this brings in an appreciation and gratitude and perspective to the situation.
Step 3: Channel the “not enough-ness” into something productive.
Rather than that mentality of “I’m Just at this stage or I’m ONLY that thing,” we want to channel the thought into something USEFUL: to identify, “Okay, I’m right here — removing the dismissive “just” or “only” qualification — now, based on what is true (e.g. I am an indie author, and I am not traditionally published)... What goals do I want to work toward, and if that is ACTUALLY what I want, then what steps can I take to move in that direction, etc.
Once you have that clarity and strategy, you regain your power because you can take action on it and DO something about it.
(At this point, you might also have some work to do around figuring out what it is that you DO truly want — more on that in THIS vlog)
To recap, those 3 steps:
- Acknowledge that it’s not really about where you’re at right now that’s the problem — it’s your perspective and mindset that’s the issue.
- Centre yourself and regain perspective.
- Channel the “not enough-ness” into something productive.
Now, I am an internationally board-certified Success & Life Coach, and my clients get incredible results with the mindset work we do. We identify and unpack your internal bottlenecks — just like this example of working through feelings of “not enough-ness” — and process them together in a coaching session.
The thought processes, belief systems, internal mindset shifts, and intentional actions you take are all going to be customized to your unique situation so that you get the most benefits from this experience.
Book a coaching session with me and we can work on this together: