Own Your Greatness
“Sitting at tables believing that you’re lucky to be there and that your overly humble approach will advance your career, will only have you going unseen like the person sitting behind Tems at the Oscars. It puts you in the mindset that the other folks around the table are better than you and that you didn’t work your ass off to get here. Nahhh fam, talk yo shit…”
-Bimma Williams
You already know, or at the very least have an idea of, what you are GREAT at. There is something that you do better than everyone else–no one can do it better than you and the way you do it. But if you are like most people, you downplay and minimize your greatness.
We allow “humility”, lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, and past traumas from embracing our greatness and ultimately keeping us from fully living our authentic life.
I know this from firsthand experience.
In the early days of starting RLS Wealth, I looked up to a group of financial professionals that were innovative, leading the profession in a new direction, and making a big impact not only on their clients but on the financial advisor profession. I remember internal dialogues where I stated my intent to one day be at their level of impact, or at least one level below them–I hate that I limited myself by not seeing myself worthy of being on their level, or as Bimma references sitting at their table, and being willing to settle for “one level below them”.
As time went on and I worked hard building RLS Wealth I began to meet these individuals, become friends with them, and actually sit at the same table with them at dinners or on stage with them at conferences. And despite being at the actual table with them, I never allowed myself to feel as if I deserved to be there—I’d always downplay it with “somehow I’m on this panel or I don’t know how, but I got invited to this dinner”. I allowed being lucky to get the credit for being with those individuals, instead of recognizing I was there because I worked hard, did what I was great at, and earned my way to be at those tables and conferences.
While I don’t doubt my place in the financial advisor world, I find myself working through the same head games with the path my authentic life has led me down today. As I look to connect the spirit, mind, body, and money and help people find their authentic lives, I’m heading into new waters and have identified individuals in the areas outside of finance that fill the same roles as my friends and mentors in finance–I’m intent on earning my place at their level of impact. I’m thankful to have the experiences from the past to help me own my greatness today, accelerate getting to sit at these new tables, and share what I do better than anyone else.
It’s time for you to own YOUR greatness. Don’t allow your humility or limiting self-talk to keep you from fully living your authentic life and bringing your greatness to the world–we need it. The world needs you to do what you do best to your full capability, which means you have to own your greatness and avoid limiting it because you don’t believe you deserve to reach the highest levels of impact.
“...on the other hand don’t be arrogant and let it go to your head. King’s Disease is real.”
-Bimma Williams
I left the ending of Bimma’s quote until now because he brings up an important balance.
Owning your greatness does not mean becoming an overconfident jerk. You can realize and accept your greatness without becoming arrogant–you don’t need to talk about your greatness and turn people off from wanting to be around you. Owning your greatness is an internal feeling. It’s allowing yourself to be confident that you belong at the tables you sit at (and will sit at in the future) and sharing your greatness.
Go be great. Own your greatness. Don’t diminish the hard work you’ve put in. And most importantly, share your greatness because the world needs it.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
