Personally, I would have to say a big fat yes! There’s been several times in my life where lack of confidence and self-belief has held me back. And it still does… if I let it. I see it in many of my clients and the women around me too. No matter how bloody brilliant they are! Isn’t it interesting how we often see the brilliance in others but not always in ourselves.

Is lack of confidence and self-belief holding you back? If so, what’s it stopping you from doing? What’s the cost of listening to those pesky inner voices that seem to do a really good job of making us feel ‘not quite good enough’?

What’s this all about? Why do so many women lack confidence and self-belief? I suspect it’s partly the result of many years of cultural conditioning and living and working in a masculine paradigm. Hey up! Here she goes again… off on one of her feminist rants?!! Actually, whilst we’re on the subject of feminism, when exactly did that become a ‘dirty word’? If you look up the definition of feminism in the dictionary it states ‘the belief in full social, economic and political equality for women’. And I say hell yes to that!

Moving swiftly back to the point at hand, what I mean by a masculine paradigm is that we live and work in a society that favours and rewards the more masculine values and qualities. Things like logic, competition, achievement and assertiveness. And often view the more feminine values and qualities like intuition, collaboration, trust and empathy as less important or even weak! I strongly believe we need BOTH to be valued as EQUALLY important for the future balance of our society. The problem we face as women, is when our naturally feminine strengths are not recognised or valued in our workplaces, or in society, it can affect our confidence, our self-belief and eventually our health and well-being. I know, I’ve been there.

And this is why I do what I do! My mission is to empower women. To help women who feel held back by lack of self-belief to get real clarity on their unique value, so that they feel more confident and energised about making a greater impact. As themselves… and as women! The first thing we need to do to support this paradigm shift is to recognise our own natural feminine (and masculine) strengths. We owe it to ourselves, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, our colleagues, and to all future generations of women.

I passionately believe that we all have our ‘superpowers’. Things that we are naturally good at. Many of us don’t even realise what our ‘superpowers’ are as we just think everyone can do them! What do you think are your natural strengths? Have a think about consistent feedback you’ve had from people throughout your life. What do people really value in you? What do people come to you for time and time again? We all have our ‘superpowers’. Every single one of us. Without exception.

My very first coach shared this Anais Nin quote with me and it’s always stayed with me… “And the time came when the risk to remain in a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

I wonder what would you change or do differently if you had more confidence and self-belief? If you allowed yourself to blossom…