I am NOT Enough!

“As humans we’re really good at saying what we’re not. We’re not good enough, smart enough. And we kind of suck at saying what we are. I am worthy, I am strong, I am brave, and I am enough.” - Ben Crowe – Mindset Coach

Understanding that I may appear somewhat bias, but at Proteus we have recently developed a brand new workshop called Creating A Whole New Mindset that we believe, is the game changer for individual and workplace transformation.

Why? Because our mindsets are everything! Both our individual and workplace mindsets collectively drive the way that we see and make sense of the world. This in turn dictates how we lead and behave, both now and into our future.

Before we launch any new product into the marketplace, we typically test-run a live session with a few key Proteus team members. However on this occasion, given that the core concepts that we distilled into this program were centred around helping people to proactively re-calibrate their mindsets, we decided to facilitate this workshop across the entire Proteus team as part of a Staff Development Day.

This was a strategic move to ensure that all of our team had the right training and skillsets to be able to work on having a positive, proactive and resilient mindset.

The Stories That We Tell Ourselves - Servant or Master?

A critical piece in transforming our mindsets, behaviours and subsequent outcomes is being conscious of the stories that we tell ourselves.

This is because it's not the stuff that happens to us but rather, it's the story that we are telling ourselves about that stuff. Remember, it is only stuff!

We can either be a victim to our circumstances or we can choose to have personal agency to respond and transform any challenges that come our way. This in turn creates a better outcome without the drama and without catastrophising the event.

The ability to be able to catch our story in those moments, along with being mindful of our internal dialogue is a critical skill for positive transformation. The dialogue that we have with ourselves (our inner voice), will either be our servant or our master!

Your Internal Dialogue – Biggest Supporter or Inner Critic?

In theory, our internal dialogue should be our Superpower because it’s our biggest supporter. We should be the master of our inner voice where we orchestrate and cultivate a curious mindset, for learning and growth. Here, we paradoxically stay humble while not mentally beating ourselves up.

Unfortunately though, we are hardwired to look for threats. We see the world as scarce and dangerous, where we default to ruminating on negative thoughts and past bad experiences.

Left unchallenged, our internal dialogue companion will become our worst enemy and lifelong ‘inner critic’– yikes!

This is where we feel unworthy, through our “I’m Not Enough” stories.

What was fascinating throughout our Proteus development session was that every staff member in the room had their version of “I’m not enough”, even the most senior, smartest and experienced people who do public speaking for a living. Like, I’m not ‘qualified enough’, ‘intelligent enough’, ‘wise enough’, etc.

For our ‘non-educators’ attending this session and newer, less senior people, this was not only an amazing revelation but an incredible relief! We all discovered that no-one is immune from their inner critic getting the better of them. How very human!

When we reframe our focus to being ‘worthy’, it completely changes who we are when we show up, and what we can become in the future. Our language changes to “I am now worthy of fitting in. I am worthy of love and radical acceptance. I am worthy of flourishing and being able to make a difference!”

The irony is that when we adopt this Mindset Superpower approach of “I Am Enough”, we move from worrying about ourselves, to being fully present and of service to others.

Wishing you a wonderful week of reminding yourself that you are enough.

Richard Dore
CEO - Director of Partnerships
Proteus Leadership