Inbox (1): Are you good enough?

Hey you,

I got your last message and I just want to thank you for being so open an honest with me. I am so happy that we can be here for each other like this.

I feel like I am a lot like you in MANY ways. There is this side of me that is so sensitive to others, their judgements of me, their thoughts of me etc… Really, do you know how many blog posts I publish and then immediately think to myself, “OH MY GOSH, people are going to die laughing at me” … I have to quickly delete that thought from my mind and focus on WHY I post so freely on my blog. I love sharing pieces of my heart with so many people, even if there are some who don’t appreciate it along the way. Anyways, I absolutely understand where you are coming from and know that what people think is a really heavy thing holding you back right now. You’ve just got to learn to IGNORE those negative thoughts and shake ‘em off! :)
You said:
“I’m scared that I won’t be good enough for people to love my work, or that people won’t love me enough to hire me or believe in what I have to offer.”

My advice comes from my own experience and it is neither right or wrong, but it is what has worked for me and has helped me believe in myself and what I do .. so I feel that sharing it with you may help.

Inside of us there are two voices.

The voice of FEAR.
and
The voice of LOVE.

The voice of FEAR tells you that no one will love your work, that you aren’t good enough. It asks, “Who do you think you are to be attempting this?” The voice of FEAR laughs at your dreams, it belittles you, it makes you feel lacking and tells you that your talent is a joke. The voice of FEAR is your worst enemy.

The voice of LOVE understands the passion behind what you do. The voice of LOVE feeds you your dreams and desires. The voice of LOVE tells you that you could turn your passion into a profitable business. The voice of LOVE makes you always feel loved, even when you are the only one in the room. The voice of LOVE is comforting and supporting. The voice of LOVE is your best friend, it is the belief system that you can do this.

I’m not sure about you, but when I first started in photography I didn’t even think I had it in me to run a successful business. Looking back, I can see that I had it all along. And SO DO YOU. If the idea has been planted in your mind to be a successful photographer, if you’re thinking about it, if you think it COULD actually happen – then the voice of LOVE is there somewhere.

But so is the voice of FEAR.

I wonder, which voice will you listen to?

My question to you is this. What if Steve Jobs had listened to his voice of FEAR? What if LADY GAGA had listened to her voice of FEAR? What if Richard Branson had listened to his voice of FEAR? What if Marie Forleo had listened to her voice of FEAR?

Well, the world wouldn’t be as GREAT as it is today, that’s for sure.

Here’s the thing -

You can listen to your voice of fear and never live up to your true potential…

OR

You can listen to your voice of LOVE and let your light truly shine.

And yes,

People WILL laugh at you.
People WILL talk crap and say mean things.
People WILL hate on you.

But people will also admire you.
People will also be inspired by you.
People will respect you.
People’s lives will be CHANGED by you.
And the world will be a far better place because of you.

Would you rather experience being just liked by everyone, a vanilla flavour – neither here nor there?
Or would you rather experience letting your true colours shine, truly being LOVED even if it means that some people will HATE you along the way? Like that mango, banana mixed with cotton candy and marshmellow flavoured ice cream. People either love it or hate it.

That’s the question. Be liked by everyone (boring), or let your true colours shine and be hated AND loved along the way (exciting and authentic)? (that’s a tweetable!)

I don’t know what the right choice for you is. What I do know is that if you choose the option to be yourself, exciting and authentic, that the people who come to LOVE you will far outshine the people who come to hate you and through their love and support you will get so good at ignoring the haters that it will be as if they don’t exist :).

As my sister says, “fear is when what you want and what you are doing are not in sync”. I want you to THINK ABOUT THAT!

Instead of seeing fear as a negative, use it as inspiration and motivation to push yourself to where you will TRULY shine!

I am here today telling you that you ARE good enough in every single way. And no matter who makes fun of you, or who puts you down, or who doesn’t believe in you, YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are all you need, and YOU can make it happen.

LOVE yourself. KNOW that what you are doing MATTERS and that there is a reason you are drawn to it. And BELIEVE in the gift you have.

Mute the voice of self fear and max the volume of the voice of self love.

Biggest hugs,
Alex