The following is excerpted from Brené Brown's recent ‘Dare to Lead’ podcast with Dr. Pippa Grange, sports psychologist and culture coach.
BB: “… in your experience working with CEOs, elite athletes, and teams, how much of what you see that’s getting in the way is driven by shame and the fear of not being good enough, loved enough, accepted enough.”
PG: “I think most of it. I think most of it is driven by the fear of not being good enough and shame, and I think that we don’t hang around long enough with those uncomfortable feelings to really understand how much power they have, how much agency they have in our lives and how much space we give them at our table.”
Listening to this reminded me of just how deeply the energy of “not enough-ness” is programmed into our psyches. It can show up in varying and different ways for each of us...
- Feelings of unworthiness, shame, insufficiency
- Thinking that you have to perform and be ‘on’ or be right all the time
- Feeling like you can’t disappoint or even disagree with certain people
- Never being satisfied with how much you do or accomplish
However it arises, “not enough-ness” is usually challenging and often even painful to overcome. Which is why many of us don’t even try as Dr. Grange suggested.
Awareness and identification of these patterns is certainly the first step. The more difficult next step is to sit with, process and transcend all the ways in which our “not enough-ness” shows up in our lives. For those who are ready and willing to do this self-healing work, there are many paths that can be taken.
One of the tools that I’ve found to be both powerful and accessible is tapping (also known as Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT). It's become part of my toolbox when I need to process stressful thoughts and feelings in order to make peace with the moment and myself. So when two days ago I saw an 8-day "You Are Enough!" Challenge from the Tapping Solution, it definitely peaked my interest.
Then yesterday, I heard the ‘Dare to Lead’ podcast with Dr. Grange. And this morning, a daily newsletter that I subscribe to shared the following message:
"YOU ARE ENOUGH
YOU HAVE ENOUGH
YOU ARE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED"
The whisper had become a shout (a loving shout, but a shout nonetheless!) I find that the Universe sends me messages in threes. If something comes into my awareness 3 times within a short time frame, I know I’m being guided to explore further and/or share it.
So needless to say dear friends, I’ve signed up for this 8-day “You Are Enough!” Tapping Challenge AND I’m feeling guided to share with you in case it speaks to you as well. 🙂
Participation does require downloading the Tapping Solutions app onto your phone so you can receive the 8-days of guided tapping. When you download the app, you’ll have a choice between a premium and a FREE option — either choice allows you to take part in the 8-day challenge. The app also offers an introduction for beginners so even if you’ve never done any tapping before, you can still join and benefit!
If you go through your own bouts with “not enough-ness”, I encourage you to check this out. Let’s retrain our minds and remind ourselves that...
WE ARE ENOUGH
WE HAVE ENOUGH
WE ARE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED!