“I’m just so unclear…”
One of my clients said this minutes after expressing her vision + values to me on a coaching call.
I could hear the self-doubt in her voice…
So I asked her to pause.
Then I repeated all of the beautiful + inspiring details she shared about her business back to her.
This reflection allowed her to see (and hear) all of the clarity that she already possessed.
She looked shocked, almost like she didn’t believe that all of those words were her own.
We spent the next 15-20 minutes looking closely at the cultural and social narratives that were making her feel unclear.
And we discovered pretty quickly that her lack of clarity came from fear.
Fear of being seen in progress…
Fear of getting it wrong, or messing up with a client…
And the fear of actually creating the success she’d been dreaming of.
In a racist patriarchal system, those fears were totally valid…
And also…
They were stealing joy/freedom/money right out from under her.
So instead of tip-toeing around her fear…
We got to work transforming it into courage.
We spent the last part of our session building up her courage muscles.
We took stock of her vast and deep skill sets, we revisited her big picture, and we tuned in with the spirit of her work…
I helped her see that she’s fully capable of building a business, charging for her services, embodying her vision and making an impact in her community.
Yes… Building an anti-capitalist, value-centered business requires you to be brave enough to step outside the status quo… and rebel against the business as usual BS.
Yes… It requires you to be bold enough to brag about how BOMB your services are…
And yes… it requires you to be courageous enough to be vulnerable + witnessed in your process.
If you’re gonna embody your vision, you have to move fear out of the driver seat.
To be clear, fear is NOT the villain here.
Most often, fear shows up as a response to feeling unsafe and or feeling triggered.
Fear is actually working REALLY hard to keep us alive.
But if we always allow fear to sit in the driver’s seat, we will never get where we want to go.
If we acknowledge fear and meet it with courage, it will guide us away from the patterns we want to break, and towards the culture we want to build.
As business owners, we get to make big decisions about our work all the time. And I know, at least for myself, that can bring up a lot of fear…
If you’ve been feeling fear around being imperfect in your business, or scaling to the next level, or changing directions… that’s okay.
We’re doing big work in the world and that shit is scary.
I want to remind you today, that you can meet that fear with courage.
All the strategy + systems + tools are great, but it’s courage that will help you own your unique brilliance.
So be courageous and bet on yourself.
When you believe in yourself, the clarity comes with more ease.
When you believe in yourself, the obstacles seem less daunting.
When you believe in yourself, you get to show up as the most authentic version of yourself… and THAT is what your people want and need.
Love + Liberation
Lauren Elizabeth