January 21 – Is validation too important? Are you out to prove something that is putting a greater emphasis on the need to prove it versus accomplishing it? Do you feel the need to have others confirm to you that you are good at what you do? Do you need validation from others to feel encouraged and energized towards your goals? If you don’ receive recognition or acknowledgement, do you lose vigor and enthusiasm for what you are trying to achieve?
While challenging yourself and gaining kudos from others has merit, if that is your main reason for achieving, it could be undermining what you are truly capable of doing. When the focus is more on validation, it can easily begin to feel like a constant "not ever good enough" mindset. This can wreak havoc on both your confidence and your ability to focus on what truly matters to you. Making it about the true why behind what you are trying to achieve must come from inside, not outside of you. Especially if you are striving to take something to a level no one has witnessed before, others’ doubts may be sabotaging you into doubting your own abilities.
Take an MM&I Moment to awaken to your inner validation mindset. Instead of allowing others to lead you down a self-conflicting pathway, reach deep inside to understand what validation means for you internally without anyone else having to weigh inn. Why do you feel the need to prove what you are doing to others? Is it to make an impression on someone or is it truly focused on proving something that has yet to have been done before? Why is it important to you to have others' blessings or support in what you do? Is it to give yourself permission to pursue it, or is it truly to help you achieve it through the contributions they can also make in the process? By putting things into perspective, with a focus on advancing what you are trying to do instead of questioning if it is something you should do, you are confirming that it is something you really want to be doing. Then your faith in what you are doing will guide you where you ultimately desire to go. You don’t need others’ permission to succeed.
Wide Awake Quote of the Week
“A true leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Yours in dreaming WIDE awake,
