A Letter To Those Who Think 'That's Not For People Like Me'
This letter was first sent to my Monthly Mail subscribers, and it resonated so much with them that I thought I'd publish it here too - to get more letters like this to your inbox, you can subscribe here.
Come join me out here on the balcony. Not just the physical one (although you’d be very welcome), but the metaphorical one too – a romanticised space, jutting out on a limb from the ‘normal’ structure where faith and trust is needed that when you step out there it will hold you aloft and not send you falling to the floor. Everyone wants a balcony – they feel like croissants and coffee, long afternoons with a book, romance and freedom. And yet, so many of us don’t cross the threshold. We worry that balconies aren’t for people like us, they’re things only to dream on – and what would people think if we threw up a balcony on the outside of our suburban semi?
If you haven’t guessed yet, this unexpectedly extended balcony metaphor is for our online dreams. Those wishes, plans and ideas that are our mental companions, joining us on long walks and in the bath as we think of how wonderful our life would be if only we could enact them. But why ‘if only’? Because alongside the dreams and ideas are the stories we tell ourselves rationalising all the reasons why we can’t have that life.What are your stories?
I’ll tell you mine – whenever I tell myself I can’t do something, it’s always because“that’s not for people like me”. Deciding to live and work in a different way to my parents wasn’t for people like me. Daring to make more money than I would in a salaried job wasn’t for people like me. Going on one of those fancy organised business retreats abroad still isn’t, in my mind, for people like me.Who even is ‘people like me’? For me, I’m not cool, successful, likeable, generally ‘together’ enough to do those things I really want to. But if that’s the case, isn’t ‘people like me’ just, well, everyone? Don’t we all have those hang ups and unfriendly voices? And if that’s the case, then those things you want to do must be for people like you, because otherwise they’re not for anyone.
I want you to believe this and say it with me: “there is nothing in this world that is not for you”. There is no coach you’re not cool enough for, no programme you’re not good enough for, no idea you’re not successful enough for. If you want it, you can have it.The only person holding us back from stepping onto our balcony is ourselves. No one else is worried about what you’re doing because they’re too busy agonising over whether to step out onto their balcony. The empowering thing is knowing that this is in your hands. The next empowering thing is taking that step.For me it was closing my eyes as I clicked the button confirming my 6 months coaching with Jen 18 months ago. It was writing ‘Creative Business Coach’ in my Instagram bio. Next it will be booking the flights to one of those fancy retreats.
So now, over to you. What empowering action are you going to take this month to get you onto that balcony? Maybe you’re going to tell your Instagram followers what you really want to do.Maybe you’re going to put the website you’ve been fiddling around with actually live.Or maybe you’re going to take one of my e-courses.Whatever you decide to do, please just do it. Take the step. Come out here onto the balcony - there’s such a lovely view.
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