Overachievers: You Might Want to Read This Twice
Yesterday, I coached a client — let’s call her Katie — on navigating a major transition.
While coaching with me, she’d rebounded from a layoff and landed a Director role (after interviewing for a Manager role, no less).
She successfully anchored strong and secured a competitive salary package.
So far, so good, right?
But then the doubts set in.
Her nerves got loud.
“What if I disappoint them?”
“What if I disappoint myself?”
And honestly? That’s a completely normal human response to success.
Big decisions have ramifications — for your self-concept, your career trajectory, your family’s lifestyle. It makes sense that a part of you would say, “Wait… can I actually do this?”
So I said:
“What if you gave yourself permission to suck at this?”
Katie, a fellow contrarian with a penchant for hyperbolic reframes, lit up with a big smile.
“Yes! That would be so liberating,” she laughed. “Some people talk a big game, under-deliver, and just move on to the next job. Meanwhile, I’m out here trying to be perfect.”
Just to be clear—the point isn’t to underperform out of spite or let your values slide.
The point is:
You’re allowed to feel both proud and petrified. Brave and unsure.
You don’t have to resolve that tension. You get to be real inside it. That’s one of the most honest, human things you can do.
But when you’re a double minority or a woman of color, it’s easy to internalize the myth that “normal” is reserved for the dominant majority—not you. That you have to be twice as good just to earn half the safety, and that you’re not allowed to inhabit the liminal space of emotional discomfort while growing your career.
And that sh** is exhausting—the recipe for burnout.
What if the most radical move isn’t to be exceptional—but to be human?
To be human is to trust:
You can feel excited and nervous—thrilled by the opportunity and still have your stomach drop.
You can know you have the skills, experience, and receipts—and still second-guess whether you belong, while moving yourself forward one step at a time anyway.
You can be brilliant and afraid, wise and uncomfortable, capable and overwhelmed—all simultaneously.
Your complexity, contradictions, and wholeness are not liabilities—they’re signs that you’re fully alive and human.
The paradox of being human is the medicine. In coaching, I’ll support you in learning how to self-administer it.
If this resonates—if you’re tired of over-functioning, over-proving, and quietly burning out in the name of “success”—let’s talk.
✨ I offer free 1:1 hour-long consultations for women who are ready to lead with more self-trust—and less self-abandonment.
You bring your story. I’ll bring the tools, clarity, and coaching to help you move forward with power and peace.
