Owning my new career successes

Hi,
I’ve recently gone freelance, and in the last 2 months everything has really picked up. It’s very exciting! This is something I have wanted for so long… and in a short space of time, I’ve definitely experienced rapid growth. Getting a 2 day a week editing gig that I love, then getting writing commissions from other publications and great feedback from editors / readers. Plus a funded place on a book proposal course to help write the book I’ve been thinking about for years……
The thing is, this is the first time in a while that I’ve experienced such major external success around my career. I’ve had a long time feeling stuck, tried various things, and had setbacks along the way. And something I notice is that although I’m very good at celebrating my wins to myself and the way I speak to myself, it’s a different story when I’m talking to friends or strangers.
When they ask me how work is going, I say things like: ‘Yes, really well thank you… BUT………’ Then go into saying how it’s quite a lot atm, I’m juggling various different projects, and that I’m feeling overwhelmed. FYI that is also true, but I notice that I’m minimising my success to others, too.
This is something I’ve done in the past. For example, I studied at literally the best uni you can study at in the UK and got a first. And I’ve always minimised it – when people ask what it was like or say wow… I say oh yeah, it was amazing, but so hard…. When I know that I want to own it: I worked hard to get there from a lower income background and did well because I made that happen.
I also did it in early parts of my career, specifically around working for a big publication for years, which I always put myself down for in conversations with others, like it wasn’t a big deal. When really again it was – I made that happen through networking and going out there and proving myself.
This time around, I would love to be able to really own my success and be seen in it in an external way.
Do you have any tips about how I can practice changing my mindset and stop putting myself down / minimisinig it / almost focussing on the ‘negatives’ (which I wonder if I do to make others feel better or more comfortable?).
Thanks so much

 

 

Answer:

Yay for all your wins! Keep noting them.  Humans do things that make them feel better and more comfortable.  How does minimizing yourself serve you? Be open and curious. See what you discover.  Then I would offer that you love yourself right where you are while opening up to becoming more of you.  What does that voice inside you say about wanting to own your success and be able to be seen and speak about yourself? Listen to that voice. Maximize it! This is all part of a process. What if you believed you would absolutely get there?