Do you ever feel like you’re not enough? As an entrepreneur, as a parent, as a person?

That used to be one of my biggest struggles.

What held me back from really putting myself out there as an entrepreneur and taking the steps to make myself visible was that I felt like I didn’t have enough to say. I struggled with feeling like my ideas weren’t good enough or original enough to share. And, I often second-guessed myself and wondered if people would actually find value in what I say and how I help them.

Then I called B.S. on myself. When I reached the point that my desire to help others was stronger than my fear of what others would think, I stepped into fully owning my value, no matter what.

I feel like this is so important to talk about because when you feel like you’re not good enough (in whatever way that is), then you beat yourself up all the time and you take away your own power… and you feeling disempowered benefits no one. Sometimes you may feel like other people are out there taking away your power....

But the truth is that we take away our own power when we feel like we’re not enough…

And some of us are doing that to ourselves A LOT.

We may fear that we don’t have something that’s “good enough” to share with the world.

In the context of the entrepreneurs I work with, the mental struggle that often goes on is: “Will people pay me to work with them?”or “I don’t think people will pay higher fees to work with me because I’m not a well-known expert. I’m not an expert at all!”

So much of what we see in the news media and in underlying societal beliefs is that if we’re not the superstar, then that means we’re not enough… and that puts us in the position to “compare and despair.” All the self-doubt is exhausting!

We’re always on the losing end of what we imagine their perfect lives to be.

If you’re feeling like you’re not enough, or that the message that you have is not valuable enough, or that you’re not enough of an “expert”, or you don’t have enough letters after your name before you start sharing your work with the world, then stop.

Stop beating yourself up that way. You are already enough.

Another layer of this “not enoughness” can show up if you’re also a parent. I’ve resolved to not fall into the “mom guilt” trap, and yet the little voice in the back of my mind sometimes chimes in and tells me that I’m being a bad mom because I’m working on my business instead of spending my time with my kids at that moment. It’s the mom guilt dilemma.

There can be a lot of judgement from others and yourself around wanting to pursue your dreams if you’re a mom, especially if it’s considered to be an irrational dream to those around you. Even your family, spouse, and friends might perceive it to be kind of weird and non-traditional to want to start your own business instead of having a corporate job. But I believe that if you’re feeling pulled to do something - if you’ve got a fire burning in your heart to serve the world in a particular way - it’s a sign that you’re meant to do it.

Even if you feel like you only have a few followers in the beginning, you never know how important what you say and what you do may be for somebody.

You don’t have to be a top expert to make a big impact in the world. You never know how important what you share may be to somebody. It might literally be life-saving and life-changing.

I’m working on really integrating this and living it each day and I encourage you to do the same.

Share your thoughts!

Do you struggle with not feeling good enough? When you do, what strategies do you use to move past it?

Share in the comments below!