Belief & Doubt: What if you believed you could?

Reader,

A friend recently asked me about a new business I’m working on. She asked: “Could it be big?”

“I think it could,” I said.

“Well, do you want it to be big?”

Oh, that was a different question.

The first let me talk about the idea. The second asked me to say what I wanted.

I’m working on something new that brings together so much of what I care about: possibility, ambition, and helping women create more of what they want in life and work. I’ll share more soon.

I’m noticing what happens when I imagine how much it could become.

Excitement. Ideas. Then questions.

Can I build this while continuing to serve my clients well? Can I expand my capabilities? Can we create the partnership and the support that this business will need?

I believe in the idea 100%. My friend’s question made me look at how much I believe in myself to build it.

In the last two weeks, I’ve spoken to two audiences of high achievers. People with experience, accomplishments, and plenty of evidence that they can do difficult things. Many said they feel the weight of their work and that they struggle to see what else is possible for them.

I understand that feeling. You can be confident in the work you do every day and still doubt your ability to create something you haven’t done before.

Some days, I can see the future of this business so clearly I want to shout it from the rooftops. Other days, one unanswered question makes me wonder whether I’m getting ahead of myself.

Where did all of my belief go?

I start looking for the feeling I think I’m supposed to have. Full focus. Certainty. The conviction that I can make this happen. When I don’t feel it, doubt gets loud.

Who am I to think I can pull this off? What if I take on too much? What if I disappoint people who are counting on me?

Suddenly, the thing I was excited about feels like something I need to protect myself from. There's no middle ground for my inner critic.

Somewhere along the way, I made feeling certain a requirement for believing in myself.

Maybe you have, too. Many of us were taught to work hard, prepare, get the answer right, and prove ourselves. I don’t remember being taught how to believe in myself while I was still figuring something out.

I know how to put in the work. Letting myself want something before I know whether I can make it happen feels much more exposing.

Because once I admit how much I want it, I have something to lose.

I recently reread this from Brianna Wiest’s The Pivot Year:

“May this be the season you learn to believe in yourself.”

I love the word learn.

I can work with learn.

I don’t have to wake up tomorrow with every doubt resolved. I can start paying attention to what helps me trust myself and what makes me dismiss a possibility before I’ve explored it.

I'm learning how to become a curious believer.

Someone who is willing to say, “I want this. I’m scared. What do I need to learn?”

During my treatment for leukemia, I finally gave myself time to ask what I wanted beyond my resume and titles. I began to see how much I still had to offer and to imagine what I could do with it.

I’m grateful for what I learned. I wish I’d given myself room to ask those questions sooner.

You learn through curiosity. You can ask what you want while life is good. Something doesn’t have to go wrong for you to make a change.

That matters to me now, as I build something I care deeply about.

When I worry about how I’ll manage it all, instead of polarizing doubt, I try to investigate the answers. What support would I need? What would I need to learn or do differently?

I want to give myself the chance to find out.

If there’s something you keep imagining and then quietly talking yourself out of, ask:

What could I learn that would help me believe this is possible for me?

Maybe there’s one conversation you’ve been putting off because having it would make the possibility feel real.

Start there. You’re allowed to ask questions before you know what you’ll decide.

My friend asked whether I wanted it to be big.

Yes. I do.

It feels vulnerable to say that here, before I know how it will all come together.

I’m learning to let myself want it anyway.

Need a shot of espresso for your next team meeting or leadership offsite? Reply to this email and let's talk about creating a Possibility Sprint to create an amazing 2027.

With so much possibility!