Dear Friend,

Growing up, I was completely fearless, intensely ambitious, and always believed I could do anything in this world. I possessed big, un-apologetic dreams, and my natural fire was obvious.

But the world rarely knows what to do with a bold, raw, and un-shrunk woman.

Many people deeply disliked my fearlessness. My larger-than-life character got me into trouble on many occasions because it made the rooms I walked into uncomfortable. To fix this, my mother made sure she punished me so that she could shape me into being manageable.

Her methods hurt me so deeply that out of pure survival, I made a devastating decision: I decided to completely alter myself so that she would approve of me. I tried to copy others, thinking, "If I could just look like them, act like them, and perform like them, I am sure I will be loved."

Tragically, in trying to be a managed version of someone else, I completely lost myself.

This is the hidden trauma of the high-achieving corporate executive. We learn very early in life that our authentic greatness is "too much" for the people around us, so we clip our own wings to fit someone else’s script. We carry this habit straight into our corporate careers, our marriages, and our business models. We spend decades altering our boundaries, chasing titles, and managing everyone else's expectations, desperately hoping that our performance will finally make us feel "good enough."

But as I wrote in Chapter One of my book, I Am More Than Enough: If you do not choose to fully know who you really are, this world will dictate for you. It will set a stage in front of you on which you are expected to give the performance of your life according to someone else’s script.

You were never created to be "manageable."

Your pre-ordained work is too massive to be squeezed into a rigid corporate box or an exhausting relationship that demands your silence. Accessing your true power starts the exact moment you choose to dismantle the worker mask, stop playing small to accommodate others, and return to your centre.

Living with Purpose,

Kebone

The Purpose Activist