Who determines your value?

Sometimes, I think about the ingrained mental habits I had in my corporate life and wonder how I continued to do something so detrimental to my well-being for so long. This #throwbackthursday, I’m pondering my old tendency to let others determine my value. 

Like many of you, I’m a type A high-achiever. I love to set goals and meet them. I also tend to work pretty fast and efficiently. I could get things done in a fraction of the time it would take someone else to do the same work. And I would do it well. I never half-assed it, but I also didn’t let the need for perfection slow me down. 

No matter how well-executed a given goal or task, I wouldn’t fully give myself credit for it unless someone else recognized my effort. And let’s be honest - how often is the average person truly recognized for the value of the work they do in our professional culture? 

Waiting for someone to tell you that you’re good enough is a losing proposition. You have to know it. Period. You have to know your value even if you don’t get that validation from the people who should be appreciating your contribution. Here’s why it’s so important: 

If you need others to validate your worth, it’s incredibly difficult to take healthy risks. Your mind wants “proof” (in the form of validation) that you have what it takes to try something new. So if you don’t get it, where does that leave you? Stuck where you are. 

You are the most powerful decider of your own value.