You have substantial value to offer the world

One of the most common doubts I encounter in those I work with is “What if what I have to offer the world is not enough?”

Because folks seek me out in order to discover what work they want to create in the world, their deepest fear is that they will actually discover they have nothing of value to offer. Hidden within the dark recesses of their mind is shame around their own unworthiness, which pains my heart deeply. As it does theirs.

By the end of our journey together, we laugh about this. We laugh hard. Because when they finally recognize and embody the magnitude of their extraordinary value, they can see for themselves how unwarranted their fear was.

But this blurred self-seeing is common. Far too common. Too many people walk this earth believing they are insubstantial. It’s made me ponder about how did we, as a humanity, get this way?

The conditioning that teaches us we’re not enough

We didn’t enter into this lifetime believing we are not enough. It’s a learned condition. From the earliest age, our self-worth is chipped away, one precious fragment at a time, forcing us to build a facade around our tender hearts so that we may withstand the rigours of life. It is this protective overlay that prevents us from true self-seeing. There are several chisels that effect this kind of damage.

Family and generational trauma
When we are young, if our primary caregivers are trapped in their own distorted sense of self, they will project those false stories onto us. Because, as children, we don’t have much objectivity, we tend to accept these projections as true. If, as adults, we don’t break free from these detrimental patterns, they can continue to be passed down from generation to generation.

Conventional schooling
Institutional forms of education will have us believe that we come into this world with “nothing” and that we have to grind our way through the traditional school system to gain knowledge and skills that then make us “employable” to the world. However, this is another distortion of the truth.

Media barrage
Most forms of “news” feed off of the energy of negativity. For the sensationalism of generating outlandish headlines, media outlets will promote the lowest common denominator of human behaviour, encouraging us to believe that the world is unsafe and people are not to be trusted. Because we are one humanity, this depravity seeps into our own consciousness.

Commercialism
There is nothing wrong with wanting beautiful things in our lives, but where it gets problematic is when we have become convinced that without these beautiful things, we are lacking. It is the job of mainstream advertising to generate a false perception of lack within ourselves in order to promote sales and gain profits, even if it comes at the cost of human dignity.

Societal norms
When we are outcast, whether it’s from a social circle, a workplace environment, or even our own family, we are taught it’s not safe to be who we are. However, it is built into the DNA of being human to want to belong. Unfortunately, to satisfy this need, we will contort who we are so as to fit in rather than risk being ostracized for standing out.

Externalized measures of success
We are a society that is fixated on productivity. We measure success by outputs. “If we can’t count it, it doesn’t count” is our mantra. But this point of view reduces us humans to little more than insignificant cogs in the machine. While it is important to be a part of something larger than just ourselves, it is also important to know that our individual existence matters and that our evolutionary journey is worthwhile.

All of the above pressure us to abandon ourselves and seek validation in the outer world. But we will never find what we seek out there, for it only lives within. Your value is not determined by what you know, what you’ve earned, or what society judges as valid, but by who you are.

You were born valuable

When people confide in me their fear of discovering their own “insubstantialness”, I don’t let them in on my secret. My secret is that I already know their value. I can see who they are without all the overlays of conditioning that have clouded the lens of their self-seeing. The reason I don’t say anything is because my opinion doesn’t matter. It’s only meaningful when they realize it for themselves. My job is simply to help them see what I already see.

We do that by first shifting the lens of their search from outside of themselves to within. What this means in regard to work is instead of looking to find a place where they fit in, we look to reveal what it is they are here to bring to the world.

When a person can see how their inherent existence is of benefit to the world, they gain confidence. It instills a correctness to their being that makes them feel more substantial, as if they are fully inhabiting their humanity for the first time.

Your essence
You have an energetic quality that is distinctively your own. When you show up in the world as your true self, it not only influences how you feel about yourself, it also positively affects how other people feel when they are around you.

Your perspective
You have a singular lens on the world like no other. Through this window, you gather extraordinary insights into the human experience and provide a facet of reality that is an essential part of the whole.

Your strengths
You have a unique set of inherent abilities and traits. You don’t have to learn them, you don’t have to hone them, you already are them. The key to fulfillment in your work is to apply your strengths in service to others.

Your gifts
You have tremendous benefits to offer. When you apply your strengths in service to others, they receive multiple blessings. All of the advantages and support they receive are your gifts.

Your talents
You have natural physical aptitudes where you thrive. Your “zone of genius” is when you position your work in a way that allows you to use your talents to the benefit of the world. Bonus: this is what makes work fun.

Your imagination
You have the ability to dream up new worlds. Your openness to receive yet-to-be-realized potentials is unlimited and allows for the expansion of reality as we know it.

Your creativity
You have the capacity to birth new ideas into the world. When you tap into your creative life-force energy and direct it towards realizing your ideas, not only do you create a new reality for yourself, you create a new reality on Earth. Yes, you have that much impact, so choose wisely.

…

It’s worth repeating that none of the above needs to be practiced, honed, refined, or even discovered. It is already who you are. To see your inherent value, you only need to release that which is concealing your true nature.

It’s both comical and frustrating that the journey of being human is one of forgetting who we are, and then remembering. (And then forgetting again, and remembering again.) To discover your inspired work is one of the many paths to assist you in your remembering. The task of inner work is to help remove the false overlays so that you can see yourself clearly.

It’s one thing to be able to see your value, you must also be willing to claim it. You must allow your wonder to be seen and experienced. When you do, you can get on with making the valuable contribution that only you can make.

It’s a dark night in humanity’s evolutionary journey, but what better time for your star to shine than at night? Your value is needed. You are needed. It’s why you are here on Earth at this particular time.

When I look up to the celestial sky and see your twinkling star, I wish you could see what I see. I see your goodness. I see your light. I see how your value contributes to the entirety of our existence. Now it’s your job to see it, too.