Today, I wish for every woman to find the confidence to show up exactly as you are in all that you do.
Throughout history, women have been diminished. Feminine powers were considered dangerous, our character seen as unstable, our role as inferior.
Luckily times are changing for which I’m grateful. The right to vote, work and make decisions about our own body and own life — all of this is just recent history or even current battle in some places.
Changing woman’s rights is one thing. Changing beliefs is another.
Gender stigma still plays a huge part in ‘roles’ we fulfill. At home and at work.
While I believe all genders suffer from stigmatized expectations, I see that women in particular feel like they have to proof themselves ‘worthy’.
The problem with that is the base assumption of not being good enough just how you are. You need to be different. So you put on a mask and display behavior that fits the expectation you think people have of you.
Are we overcompensating for a past in which our capabilities were questioned? Maybe.
What I do know is that it is exhausting and nerve-wracking. The impostor syndrome is a phenomenon that hits women and particularly women of color the hardest. In this article, psychotherapist Brian Daniel Norton explains: “When you experience systemic oppression or are directly or indirectly told your whole life that you are less-than or undeserving of success and you begin to achieve things in a way that goes against a long-standing narrative in the mind, imposter syndrome will occur.”
Dear woman, you are enough.
We are powerful and strong in our own feminine way. We have so much wisdom to bring to the world. It’s time we claim our space and rebalance our societies and workplaces.
We don’t need to fix ourselves in order to fit in. As Michelle Penelope King says: fix workplaces, not women.
Let’s connect to our inner power and bring it forward into a new world. How? Simply through being ourselves. Through showing up from our authenticity, our essence, in everything we do. Take off the mask.
As I said earlier, changing woman’s rights is one thing, but changing beliefs about gender is another. It requires time and powerful examples to change our beliefs. Therefore it’s critical to have role models. And we are all role models. Our daughters look at us while growing up.
To me Michelle Obama is hugely inspiring. She shows up with authentic charisma. The way she walks, talks, and looks — it’s an expression of who she naturally is.
When we lead our (work)life from confidence in our true self, we have the power to inspire others. And luckily, more and more powerful female leaders are showing us the way. Like Jacinda Ardern, who is not afraid to show her tears as an expression of her compassion and who brought her newborn baby to a UN leadership event.
Today, I wish you’ll find your confidence to show up exactly as you are in all that you do. Happy international woman’s day!