This has been a high-energy, crazy month. A couple of weeks ago, I gave five keynotes/trainings in different states.I was running through airports, across tarmacs, through parking garages, and sweating on the air shuttles at the Dallas airport, trying to catch my next plane. One of the places was Tucson, Arizona, where I gave a keynote for the Arizona Dept of Education Conference. I stayed at one of the most beautiful resorts, The JW Marriott Starr Pass, nestled in the desert mountains where the conference was being held. 

I was one of three keynote speakers at this event. The other two were Ron Clark and Hamish Brewer, the top names/speakers in education.

Knowing I was speaking alongside these two dynamo speakers was a bit intimating for this ol southern Indiana girl. My adrenaline was running a race through my body and blood all day. I usually speak in the morning, which means that adrenaline that has been building leaves my body. But this was an afternoon keynote, so I had all morning to stew about it.

And I was stewing and a nervous, damn wreck for some reason.  

Certain parts of my brain were saying,

“You aren’t nearly as good at Ron and Hamish.”

“You don’t belong in their realm.”

“People are going to be disappointed when they compare you to those two.”

“What if I have a panic attack on the stage?”

So I had to coach myself hard. And this pic of me smiling on the terrace before my keynote is really me feeling a bundle of nerves and worried about my “not-enoughness.”

So I stood on that terrace, got in my superwoman pose, and started a new dialogue.

And I was stewing and a nervous, damn wreck for some reason.  

Certain parts of my brain were saying,

“You aren’t nearly as good at Ron and Hamish.”

“You don’t belong in their realm.”

“People are going to be disappointed when they compare you to those two.”

“What if I have a panic attack on the stage?”

So I had to coach myself hard. And this pic of me smiling on the terrace before my keynote is really me feeling a bundle of nerves and worried about my “not-enoughness.”

So I stood on that terrace, got in my superwoman pose, and started a new dialogue.

“You are here to serve.”

“You have your own special sauce. You just have to be Kim.”

“You are gonna bring what you’ve got, and you know how to do this.”

“Girl….they invited you for a reason. Now go take up all the damn space in the room and do your thing”

And then I kept repeating.

“I can do hard things. I can do hard things. (With a bit of, “Why the hell do I always have to do hard things.). 

My point is that everyone struggles with their inner critic, but we’ve got to talk back to it. We focus so much on our “not-enoughness” and rarely remind ourselves that while this might not be easy and I might be uncomfortable, it doesn’t mean I’m incapable.

Remember, you, too, can do hard things. You are capable. You are allowed to believe In yourself and your worth.