There’s a feeling I’ve regularly experiencing lately. The best word I can use to describe it is “pride”.
Pride sometimes is seen as negative, especially when it’s about comparing yourself with others. Usually pride is used to compensate for one’s shortcomings, and then creates a story of why they’re better than someone else.
On a recent call, during a discussion of pride, a colleague from Germany shared her experience with the history of her country and what can happen with nationalistic pride.
I acknowledge those examples, but I’m left with “pride” still being the closest word I have to describe this feeling I get regularly.
It’s a pride in myself. A self-validation. When I take action that’s in line with my core self, I’m proud of myself. It has nothing to do with comparing myself to anyone.
This past week I let my audaciousness fly when I scheduled a “pirate radio” Brilliance session in the middle of Rich Litvin’s 4PC Accelerator. He had a bunch of “Brilliance Sessions” hosted by members of his community. I tapped into my unique background as a underground DJ, with experience in “Pirate Radio” and made a bold announcement that I would be hosting my own unauthorized Brilliance Session, with no permission requested or given.
The mere act of my announcement was demonstrating my brilliance.
I was proud of myself for coming up with the idea in the first place, the promotional pitch I crafted, and the courage to pull the trigger and announce it on his community app.
I also put myself in the position of hosting a Brilliance Session with 2 days notice, when the other hosts had been crafting their talks for weeks or months.
I chose to do zero planning, and instead made the decision that my Brilliance would be so deep in my core, it can be something I can just speak about with no prep.
And so I did.
I was proud of what I did and how I did it. It was audacious and true to myself. I didn’t need anyone to tell me I did a good job.
I have an incredible story to add to my collection of incredible stories.
This was a feeling that was missing for many years when I was a tortured imposter and had zero pride for the work I did, no matter how much money I was making.
Something has changed in me, and that makes me feel good about myself.
