Stop Downplaying Yourself: Learning to Own Your Strengths
There is something I've noticed about women. We can often tell another woman exactly what makes her special. We'll encourage her. We'll remind her how strong she is. We'll tell her she deserves more. But when someone turns that same attention toward us, suddenly we become uncomfortable. “Oh, I'm nothing special.” “Anybody could have done it.” “I just got lucky.” We shrink our accomplishments before anyone else gets the opportunity to acknowledge them. Humility Doesn't Require Hiding Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that acknowledging our strengths meant we were bragging. But humility and self-confidence can exist together. You can recognize that you're talented without believing you're better than everyone else. You can be proud of something you've accomplished while still appreciating the people who helped you. You can acknowledge your growth without pretending you have everything figured out. Confidence doesn't have to be loud. Somet...