“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? … And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianne Williamson).
What a powerful statement! Do you think it is true? Do you think that your fears are not about failing but about succeeding? Do you listen to often to self doubt and let it dictate your actions?
Many business coaches would agree wholeheartedly with this statement, particularly in relation to female business owners. The vast majority of women (in business and other areas of life) struggle with giving themselves permission to succeed or be ‘the best’. Many have been conditioned to promote the interests of other people before their own.
This is not to say that we should not care for others. But Marianne Williamson’s quote can be aligned with the practical example of oxygen masks in a plane crash. Parents are instructed to place their oxygen masks on first before their children. Otherwise, if the parent passes out from lack of oxygen, they will be of no help to their children.
Likewise, if we, as female business owners ‘let our own light shine’, Marianne Williamson asserts that we will give others the same opportunities. So by fulfilling our potential, we not only help ourselves, we become role models to those around us.
Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender