Why I chose ‘worth’ for 2024
I want to share my intentions for 2024 and why it matters for you and our coaching.
My intention for 2024 is “Trust + Worth.”
As I shared in December, “Trust” has been hugely important as I scale my business and make other big life moves. It is a necessary reminder to keep trusting that if I’m following my intuition, things will continue to fall into place.
So what about “worth”? This one may be surprising to you, as it was for me.
As I thought about what I wanted to feel in 2024, two things kept coming to mind – abundance and ease. But as I dug into this, I realized that I needed to work on something deeper and more fundamental – feeling worthy of abundance and ease.
If you’re wondering what worth or self-worth is, you’re not alone. I didn’t fully understand what it was until late 2022. There are two definitions of self-worth:
The extent to which you value yourself
The belief that you deserve everything you desire
Self-worth is a stronger form version of self-esteem, which is confidence in your abilities and can often be tied to external markers or praise. Self-worth is the deep, inherent and internal belief that you are well, worthy.
I got a crash course in self-worth in late 2022. In the throes of the budget process at my old job, I learned that I wouldn’t get the headcount I had requested and my team’s budget would be cut. I looked at the year to come and realized that everything that had been burning me out would continue to burn me out.
I hadn't thought much about self-worth until that point, but I kept hearing this mental message loudly and clearly: “You'll be compromising your self-worth if you stay.” I knew I I had to value my wellbeing over powering through a tough work situation.
Fast forward to this fall: as I started envisioning what I wanted to accomplish and feel in 2024, I realized I had more work to do around self-worth.
As I thought about my business, I realized that I needed to replace thoughts such as “I am just starting my business and it is going to be a slow climb” with thoughts such as “I have my MBA, 15 years of top-notch professional training and leadership experience and 4 years of impact as a coach, which make me an excellent coach and warrant having an abundant business.”
Whew, that was the most uncomfortable sentence to write in this entire newsletter, but you can see how fully internalizing this will increase my self-worth, and in turn allow more ease and abundance into my business.
The more I've explored this, the more I believe all women everywhere can increase their self-worth.
Raise your hand if any of these thoughts sound familiar:
“I haven't done enough”
“I'm not the smartest, so I have to be the hardest-working”
“I have to prove myself (in a new role or with every new project)”
“They didn't tell me I did well, so I have no idea how I did" (and cue panic spiral…)
🙋 Yea, me too and same for most of my clients. These are the thoughts that make us feel like every day starts at zero, we have to hustle constantly and we haven't excelled unless we got an A+ (or accolades).
Imagine replacing these thoughts with:
“I am really f*ing competent”
“I will work hard, but not excessively, to prove myself”
“I know I add value, based on my cumulative education and experience”
“I did my best (and don't need someone to tell me that)”
The world would be a better place if we trusted our value and were therefore a little calmer. I'm being facetious, but think about how much more ease you would feel if you internalized the second set of statements and let them guide how you work.
This is not easy, as there are a whole host of reasons we've been conditioned to believe the first set of statements. We will explore this together over the course of the year.
If you want to start today, a simple place to begin is to pay attention to your low self-worth thoughts and replace them with a kinder and more honest perspective. Or check out my Boundaries Masterclass for more fodder.
A quick note as some of you may be thinking that higher self-worth will lead to feeling entitled or sacrificing your strong work ethic. It won't.
Increasing your self-worth isn't about resting on your laurels or phoning it in. Self-worth is about trusting and owning your value, so you can take the edge off. And, ultimately so your career feels more sustainable.
I'm going on a journey to increase my self-worth this year, and I hope you join me.
Here's to more self-worth for us all in 2024.
