19/03/2026
It’s interesting how easily we can slip back into old stories about ourselves, even when we know better.
I started a new job recently. It isn’t something I’m passionate about, but it provides the financial stability that allows me to bring peace, freedom and integrity to my passion – Soul Harmony by Beverley.
I went into it thinking it was something I would be able to do in my sleep – no stress, perfect. The reality was very different. There was a long training period and a completely different way of doing things to what I’ve been doing for 40 years and thought I knew inside out.
Anyway, not realising I was stepping so far out of my comfort zone, two weeks ago I was ready to throw in the towel. I was struggling with feeling like I was failing, that I couldn’t do it… and that feeling was uncomfortable enough to make me consider walking away.
Needing an outlet, I requested a meeting with my manager, only to be told that I was 'absolutely smashing it'.
Apparently, the perfection I was aiming for and the ridiculously high standards I was holding myself to weren’t coming from them at all - they were completely self-imposed.
I had genuinely been expecting to be told it wasn’t working out and we should call it a day. And that really made me stop, because I’ve spent years doing the work - looking at where my self-worth was shaped, unpicking it, challenging it, refusing to let it define me, and yet there I was, still running the exact same story, the story that started in early childhood with a parent who expected mastery and perfectionism.
That’s how deep this stuff goes.
Two weeks on, after not giving up, everything has shifted.
I’ve realised that I am actually doing the job I thought I’d never get the hang of, and it isn’t anywhere near as hard as I made it out to be. Without even realising it, all the training, effort and practice has been sinking in and I now know 'I've got this'.
And it’s made me reflect on how often life feels like this when we step beyond of what feels comfortable.
It’s easy to stay where things feel familiar - where we can tell ourselves we’ve got it all figured out, that we’re 'smashing it'. But that version of life doesn’t stretch us, and it doesn’t show us what we’re actually capable of.
Sometimes what we’re reacting to isn’t reality… it’s an old story playing out.
So if you find yourself in that space - telling yourself you can’t do it, feeling the pull to walk away - pause. Question it. Because the chances are, you’re not failing; you’re just running a story that no longer fits.
And if you don’t catch it… it will keep shaping what you do next.
(Image by jigsawstocker on Freepik)
