Hiding Our Talents & Self Sabotage

PEOPLE PLEASING WOMANHow many of us hold ourselves back or belittle our talents to make others feel better? Or we think that if we act smaller than we truly are, they would feel better?

The well known quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…”    

by Marianne Williamson,  really speaks to the saboteur in all of us. If you have been led to believe you are not good enough for most of your life, you will perpetuate that state for as long as the belief lies unquestioned.
 
I have had this belief for 36 years, and at 37 I only now begin to have a glimmer of self-belief.
  

For many years I never quite knew what my talents were. I had been listening to a message I received as a 6 year old child, that my intuition was wrong, and that I was to spend my life trying to please others and do what I felt they expected of me. I had desires to be someone important, a business woman, a magazine creator, anything that gave me a sense of worth, but it was pretty unsteady worth, not rooted in strength.

Butterfly Hopping

My pattern was going from one dream and project to another. Butterfly hopping from one “This looks good” flower to the next. I never completed a task, a dream or a project. This was because deep inside me was that small child being told she was an embarrassment, and to fulfil that programme playing, I allowed myself to dream, to get excited, but never to follow through. I have had many beginnings in my life but no follow throughs.
 
So this left me with years of self-created disappointment and depression because of replaying the patterns. My moods swung from extreme highs to extreme lows. I feel somewhere inside me a voice was running the show “Dream The Dream – but it will not amount to anything so don’t finish it. That way you won’t be to blame as you choose to do something else.”
 
This pattern increased after my father died when I was 26. I had a lot of guilt, regret and self-blame come up. Even though I was not to blame; even though it was his decision on some level to leave the planet, I still had many emotions come up which I held onto for many years. My sister was 13 at the time and some of the guilt came from knowing she had not had him as long as I did, and I think I held myself back on some level because of that guilt. The guilt manifested as holding myself back because I did not feel worthy of greatness, did not feel worthy of letting my light shine. For some time it has felt that everyone was passing me by, even those younger than me. The illusionary age of 40 was lurking around the corner and I had many feelings of being unfulfilled because I was not letting my own talents out. I had felt for years like a champagne bottle that had been shaken up ready to pop but the cork was left in.  All because I believed the stories my mind was telling me.
 

So What Changed?

I met some lovely people on-line, one lady called Rachel Medhurst from Breakthrough Your Journey who introduced me to my first Nanowrimo. Nanowrimo is one month in November when many people get together to write a novel in 30 days. I know it sounds impossible but it spurred me to write my first novel. And yes that novel is not finished (grin – finished writing but needs editing), but it is a series of books so will take time. It was a great seed planted for me. Nanowrimo made me recognise my talent as a writer and that was the course I needed to focus on the most. 
 
I was then re-introduced to Ho’oponopono where I began to make peace with the memories that had created the past 36 years of patterns. This in itself began my first feeling of pride and accomplishment in my blog. I finally began to feel my writing was worthy of reading and so life provided me with new opportunities from there. My blog got busier; I began to get regular visitors and I began to make great connections on social networks. Furthermore, I started my first empowerment book for anyone who has experienced or is experiencing much of what can happen as we grow, evolve and change.
 
By the end of 2013 I will complete this book and self-publish. No more self sabotaging and self-defeating actions.
 

The World Reflects Back At Us The Deepest Belief We Have About Ourselves

HIDING FROM SUCCESS

Over the years it was very easy to believe that those around me did not take me seriously, and this is probably because I did not take myself seriously. Starting a project and not following through does not really shout “achiever”, and my ego was telling me I was an under-achiever, so life matched my own self expectations.
As humans, we tend to replay memories, thoughts, patterns, and we wonder why our reality reflects these. But we need not beat ourselves up for doing this either, because I feel genuinely that this too has a purpose. Mine was not feeling deserving of good in my life and that I was not good enough for outward success (see this post for more on success). As time went on while telling people about my ideas, I had a tape playing in the background telling me I was a fraud and that people were really thinking “Oh here is another one of Kelly’s projects”. Not an easy message to hear. Certainly not a message that will promote self-worth or self-esteem.
 
I was looking for approval from outside myself but what I really needed was self-approval and I had to begin somewhere.
 
Affirmations, visualisations were not doing it for me. And for anyone with the ‘sabotage’ tape playing, affirmations and visualisations won’t necessarily bring you that esteem you are seeking. They will merely paper over the cracks of the tapes playing. The tapes need to be addressed first.

Commitment

SELF SABOTAGE GOALS
With change like this it takes commitment and you need to be ready.
 
You may not be ready – this is okay.
 
I was not ready until now. I am a big believer that you cannot force change and that life naturally unfolds when we are ready. The divine in us knows the pace, the timing, the how we allow change to take place and what is for our highest good.
 


Do you feel you are holding yourself back?
Why do you think that is?
What memories are you replaying?
Is it time for change?
Are you ready?

 

Follow:
Kelly Martin
Kelly Martin

Kelly Martin, author of ‘When Everyone Shines But You’ is a dedicated writer and blogger who fearlessly explores life’s deepest questions. Faced with a decade of profound anxiety and grief following the loss of her father and her best friend Michael, Kelly embarked on a transformative journey guided by mindfulness, and she hasn’t looked back since. Through her insightful writing, engaging podcasts, and inspiring You Tube channel Kelly empowers others to unearth the hidden treasures within their pain, embracing the profound truth that they are ‘enough’ exactly as they are.

Find me on: Web | Twitter/X | Instagram | Facebook

6 Comments

  1. Andy Bowker
    June 15, 2013 / 7:02 am

    Yes! I can so relate to some of this! Starting but not finishing has been a repetitive pattern for me too. Great post. Keep up the good work and you will finish what you started.

  2. dream109
    June 15, 2013 / 9:02 am

    Great post, Kelly! I also relate to this. The funny thing was, I believed that I was confident in my writing, but never completed a project quite enough to take that step and try to get it published. I have three written novels, but only one is nearly edited. I find as I'm getting nearer the end, I'm procrastinating a lot more! You've inspired me, because you've made me have a breakthrough. I'm not as confident in my writing as I have been believing. I can see how far you've come and it has truly inspired me! Well done, great post 🙂

  3. June 15, 2013 / 10:35 am

    Thanks Andy, it is time I completed a project and well do xx

  4. June 15, 2013 / 10:37 am

    Thanks Rachel, we will all do it, this year is our year! Its interesting we have all come together, like energies attract, I believe as we all move forward in this we are helping others to do the same so they don't need to carry these patterns any-more. One thing I can do is spread myself too thinly, find too many things to do so I don't complete things, this is why I am having to pull myself back a bit and focus on key areas. And you have totally inspired me too.

  5. dream109
    June 15, 2013 / 12:36 pm

    Thanks, hun, it def is our year this year! Things are changing and patterns are breaking rapidly! 🙂 x

  6. June 15, 2013 / 12:52 pm

    Indeed! And I wish there was a like button on comments haha! Facebook commenting system is far to complex to install and limited.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.