On a phone call two days ago with a friend that I studied NLP with, we were talking about an upcoming talk about self-awareness that I’m giving at the end of September. The underlying theme of parts of our conversations is the mindset of corporate employees. This is a strong area of expertise for my friend, which I loan from her in order to expand my knowledge and its application.
Except that in this conversation, something she said triggered me into a deep funk. She doesn’t even know because I know it’s not what she said or how she spoke. It’s what I said to myself unconsciously.
We were talking about perceptions of the marketing material reflecting what the audience will benefit from. She said a particular phrase, a quick, splashy, sensational title that immediately had me excited.
And then in an instant later, I said to myself: “God, Caz, you’re so stupid. You know this. Everything you created last week is wrong.”
Deeper: “No one will sign up for your talk. You clearly don’t know your market. You should just keep your mouth shut.”
Deeper still: “You know nothing. You don’t really have value to give.”
I didn’t even know these were my thoughts at the time. It took deep reflection and journalling yesterday to find out why I had woken in a state of deep depression. I recognised the feelings of doubt, of insecurities and low self-worth. I recognised that I was having an internal battle but I knew not why.
It took taking time out to give myself space to write honestly to find that trigger moment. But, mostly, it took the self-awareness to know that something wasn’t right about the way I was thinking about myself and to respect myself enough to listen to what my unconscious mind had to say.
When I boiled it down, I could see that the trigger was a simple case of being made aware that I wasn’t particularly skilled with the copy on the marketing material.
This is why I’m talking about self-awareness. It’s an important topic. It’s an important skill for all of us to hone. Without it, we walk this earth in a cloud of obscurity never really sure of which way to go. When you know your inner voice, when you know how to listen and really hear what she/he has to say, you’ll always have a clear path to follow!
Today, I am able to hit the ground running. I know I bring phenomenal value. I know that I am a strong, confident woman with a great deal to provide this world of ours. And, more than all of this, I know, I am enough.
Your EQL Coach,