Full disclosure: I love my dogs. Smallz is my best friend. Sophie is my sidekick. As I type this, they are snoring peacefully beside me, each touching me, as is their preference.
BUT if you were to come over to my house,
I would quickly put them up in my room.
I’d hide them.
Why? Because they aren’t very well behaved. They want a LOT of attention. They jump all over the furniture AND our guests. They drool a bit, shed some and they simply act like dogs that have had no home training.
— Sharing this feels oddly cathartic. It IS my dirty little secret, but I reason it this way: Better to have spoiled dogs than spoiled kids. —
Anyway, as I was working out this morning, I thought of the many women that I have coached who had been treating their own souls a bit like I treat my dogs, but worse.
And I danced with a bit of soul abuse and soul hiding myself. Thinking that when people were looking, or close enough to look…
I’d push my soul —
the rawest
bloodiest
grittiest
country-est,
southern-est,
christian-est,
parts of me —
Into a back room.
You know, so I’d be taken seriously. 😊
FORTUNATELY for me, I was unable to pull it off… unable to sustain the goal of hiding even the smallest BITS of me, keeping the most authentic parts of me hidden from view… putting forward ONLY the parts that were SURE to be applauded, and never judged or sneered at. It was an impossible feat for someone like me. (And equally impossible for you.)
FORTUNATELY for me, I realized that there was NO WAY TO LEAD without being judged, criticized, gossiped about. So, I just accepted this as “expected behavior” from people who are doing less than me.
FORTUNATELY for me I’ve always led a simple life and so I reasoned I’d succeed on my OWN terms or go back to waiting tables. And I was EXCELLENT at waiting tables.
FORTUnATELY, I figured out pretty early that DISPLAYING — vs. hiding, fixing, starving — these parts of me actually GREW my income, success and influence, and not the other way around.
But far too many women entrepreneurs are still quickly putting their souls into the back room when anyone stops by…
Hiding the parts that aren’t universally applauded,
Shaming the GRITTIEST parts of her,
Starving the RAWEST parts of her,
“Fixing up” the most AUTHENTIC and beautiful parts of her…
all in the name of business success,
and WHAT A SHAME…
when it has always been
these “unacceptable” parts of her,
the parts that maybe make her feel hard to love…
the parts that make her an inconvenient invite to THAT dinner party,
the parts that make her feel weird
Or different
or “an acquired taste”
that the market was starving for all along.
So, show me the raw, the bloody, the gritty, the silly, the intense… don’t shove ANY OF IT into the back room
because every single time you dial down ANY PART of your soul, you are doing your brand, your income, your business a disservice.
But also
more importantly
because you are doing your VERY SOUL a cruel injustice… subtlety telling her
that she’s not enough,
not acceptable,
not “behaved,”
not the RIGHT type of girl.
And I can’t think of anything more heartbreaking…
IF you are READY to go all in on your goals
AND determined to reach them
while BARING all of your soul…
Message me about joining Women Who WOW.
