I'm not smart enough, pretty enough, skinny enough. I'm not qualified. I don't fit in. I'm too much, or maybe not enough. I don't know. I'm not strong. I'm not fast enough.

I'M NOT.
I CAN'T.
I SHOULDN'T.

Can you hear it? Do you feel the weight of those words? I do. And if I'm being completely honest it kind of makes my head want to explode. The negative talk. The self doubt.

Sis, I sat in a room full of qualified intelligent women last week and do you know what the one common theme I saw was?

We can't get out of our own freaking heads. We psych ourselves out before we even show up. We think of all the ways we AREN'T something and we let that control our response and our reaction. We let it limit our decisions and our choices. Nevermind the 27 million other things we do AMAZINGLY, let's focus on the five areas we lack.

Are you kidding me?

We can talk all we want about leaning in and finding a seat at the table, but guess what sis? You can't find a seat if you don't - GET UP.

(Photo Credit: via Canva)

I don't care that someone told you NO. I don't care that someone told you CAN'T or you SHOULDN'T. Since when were we letting the opinions of others stop us anyway? Stop treating NO like a two letter word. Stop treating NO like it's finite. Complete. An irreversible decision.

No doesn't mean no, it means NOT YET.

So you didn't get the deal. So you didn't make the cut. Get the job. So you didn't get into the school you wanted. So you got passed up on a promotion or an opportunity. So you haven't lost weight. So the number isn't where you want it to be. So you didn't run as fast or as far. So you didn't make lead chair in ‪the orchestra‬.

Whatever it is, WHO CARES. It doesn't mean - sit down. It doesn't mean you can't or you shouldn't keep trying. If anything it's all the more reason to get back up because let me tell you. No one ever grew or appreciated what they had and the successes achieved without a little failure.

We all lack things. That's the beauty of being human, but don't ever let that hold you back. Don't let your own fears paralyze you into not moving forward. OWN it. Start believing in the woman staring back at you.

Will you seem stubborn? Maybe. Overconfident? Oh, I'm sure. But if realizing and recognizing your own worth and capabilities is viewed to others as overconfident - let um talk sis. Stop putting limitations on your future. After all, you can't move forward if you don't GET UP.