Hi there,
It’s strange how self-doubt can cloud your mind’s sight.
You leave university or college with the whole world open to you — a world filled with possibilities, passion, and purpose. You might be 22 or 23, walking into your first job, brimming with excitement, certain of your potential, and eager to bring your best to the company that hired you.
Then comes the first wake-up call… It may not happen in the first month or even the first year. But eventually, you’ll encounter someone — often a manager or mentor — who questions everything you suggest. At first, you take it in your stride. You assume they know more than you. You’re still learning, after all. You trust them. They’re supposed to guide and shape you.
But then something shifts. Their words begin to chip away at your confidence. You start to question yourself. Maybe you can’t do what you thought you could. Maybe your passion isn’t enough. That’s the first crack in your dream armor.
For many, this kind of moment might happen once or twice in a career. But for highly motivated, intelligent, driven individuals, it can happen more — three, even four times. And every time, another crack forms.
The result? After 25 to 30 years, the armor that once protected your dream has shattered. You start believing you’re not cut out for the career you once loved. You settle for less fulfilling, lower-paying jobs — not because you lack talent, but because you’ve lost your belief in it.
Eventually, that bright, passionate 22-year-old becomes a distant memory, locked so far away that you forget who you once were… and can’t find your way back.
This is my story.
I lost myself between the ages of 34 and 45, after working under three different managers who each, in their own way, convinced me I wasn’t good enough. The last one broke me completely. I believed her when she said I didn’t belong in training, development, or coaching. That it wasn’t my calling after all. That I was fooling myself.
I walked away from that job — stable and well-paying — completely broken. I believed I had wasted 20 years chasing a lie. The humiliation of “failing” in something I once loved drove me to a very dark place. I even contemplated ending my life.
But there were glimmers of hope. During that 10-year storm, I spent two years working under an incredible CEO who believed in me. He reignited something in me — enough for me to start my own business. And even though the years that followed were brutal, they were not the end of my story.
The real turning point came when another mentor — kind, wise, and affirming — sat in on one of my lectures. His words validated what I had once believed about myself: I was made for this work. It took another three years to fully reclaim that confidence, but I did.
I’m back. I’m grounded. And I’m ready to walk in my calling again.
Have you ever had an experience like this?
Maybe you and I should sit down and talk. Your dream might be hiding under a few cracks too — but it doesn’t mean it’s gone.
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