“You don’t know what you do know.”

I wish that I could remember where I’d heard this, but it’s noted in my little book of ideas. (If it was you who mentioned it, I hope that you don’t mind me borrowing it?!)

It’s not in most people’s nature to blow their own trumpet and think grandiose thoughts of themselves. Conversely, it’s fair to say that most people potentially underestimate our ability, experiences, accomplishments and knowledge acquired overtime, that when grouped together, is substantial, useful and actually pretty blimmen powerful.

In other words, sometimes we simply aren’t aware of our value.

If you’re one of those people that experiences self-doubt (I do at some point most days), it’s a worthwhile exercise to take some quiet time and have a really good think about what you offer and therefore think about how that translates into what you can still achieve in business and life. For once, just think about the good stuff and focus on the positives & highlights vs the lowlights & worrying about bad stuff that in truth, most likely will never actually happen.

In short, I’d really encourage you to back yourself.

During that quiet time, promise me that you’ll make a few notes but also, agree with yourself that you’ll take some action and not simply forget your newly found or rather rediscovered wins. I truly reckon that you will surprise yourself.

See how you go with the following.

Reflect on past successes (and then celebrate those wins, even now)
No matter how small. All of these are indications of your immense capability, in all sorts of situations. From this point on, promise yourself that you’ll celebrate even the smallest wins. Recognising progress is part of moving forward, creating momentum and getting closer to what you’d like your Legacy to be.

Embrace learning
Think about what you learned from making those (oh so many!) mistakes and even failures. (Don’t these happen daily to some degree? And really, so what?) How can you take this and apply it to another situation that ensures either you or another person doesn’t make that same mistake.

Seek feedback
Scary, confronting and anxiety inducing BUT needed, because actually, others will see talents and opportunities that you either can’t see about yourself or don’t have the confidence to pursue.

Is your worry about yourself real?
As Mark Twain evidently said “Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe. I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened”. And as a good mate Geoff said to me recently, “Worry is like a rocking chair. It takes a lot of energy and gets you nowhere”. I need to remind myself of this daily.

Who do you already know and/or who do you need to know?
When you think about it, you probably know a lot of people. Those people know people. That means you can know those people too. Just ask. However make sure that you something to say when the door opens. Be open and respectful, but this doesn’t mean you have to change your own mind.

Now that you’ve given yourself the chance to ‘audit’ the reality of your life rather than just think passing thoughts which can create self-doubt, I hope that you can see where else you can go. Keep your list close to remind yourself that you should explore a few uncharted territories and utilise the wealth of amazing experiences and insights that only you have accumulated up until now that is worth so much!

See, you actually do know what you do know after all! As some might say ‘You got this!’.

Go well and Carpe Diem.