Why My Qualifications Made Me Feel Stupid

I had so many qualifications and certificates.  Nutritional Therapy Diploma.  Gym Instructor.  Personal Trainer.  Nutritional Therapy Degree. Pregnancy Exercise.  Postnatal Exercise.  Powerplate Trainer.  Boxing for Fitness.  Suspension Fitness Trainer.  Pelvic Floor Exercise.  Menopausal Nutrition & Exercise...  

The list goes on with too many to include here.  I loved learning and kept adding to my tool kit with new skills and ways to support my clients.  Happy days.

But there’s a darker side to all this.  Whilst it is of course essential to continue to develop (and in fact a requirement to carry out CPD in many professions including nutritional therapy and coaching), much of what I was doing was hiding.  And while I’ll never regret gaining many of these qualifications, I can acknowledge that some of them were a distraction.  Because they had no impact on my client list and my income.  They didn’t benefit anyone.

They were a way of avoiding putting myself out there in business.  Part perfectionism, an attempt at gaining validation, and a way of being busy doing anything but networking, promoting and selling my services.  

It was an indication of how little I valued myself - nothing was ever good enough and as soon as I’d achieved one thing I moved immediately onto the next.  

I recognise it now as self-protection, a way of keeping myself safe from rejection and failure.  

I was basically saying:

😞  I’m not good enough as I am, I need more qualifications

😞  I look like a very professional person because I have all these certificates

😞  I’m too busy with this course/training/studying to market my business

😞  And anyway, gaining qualifications is far more ethical than selling 

😞  Because I’m tied up with all this learning, I don’t have to face people saying ‘no’ to me

😞  I’m not a failure because I pass all the exams and get certificates 

I know that it was a self-protection strategy because I didn’t even use some of the skills I learnt.  In fact, at times, gaining more skills made me feel worse because I’d got another course under my belt, learnt new ways to help the women I worked with, but it didn’t help me to get MORE clients because I was too scared to talk to people about myself and my business.  

Let me say that another way.  THE MORE QUALIFIED I BECAME, THE WORSE I FELT BECAUSE IT DIDN’T CHANGE THE WAY I THOUGHT ABOUT MYSELF.  

No matter how many courses I completed, exams I passed and case studies I aced, I never thought I was good enough.  I still felt like an imposter, ignored my successes, and lacked the confidence to talk about my achievements.  

I lost out on so much, and so did the women I didn’t work with because of my fear. 

How many more could I have helped to feel better if I’d had the courage to let them know that I even existed and my business was there to serve them?  How many times did I miss an opportunity to help someone transform their life, simply by sharing my knowledge with them?  So much potential lost because I was trapped, hiding, too scared to take action. 

Does this sound familiar?  Are you hiding your talent because you’re afraid to show yourself, reach out to network, promote and sell your services?  Perhaps because deep down you don’t trust yourself and don’t believe you’re good enough?  Or maybe because you believe the voice in your head that says you’ll mess it up and look stupid?  

If that’s you, I’m here to show you that things can be different.  That you can:

😃 Know you’re good enough without getting more qualifications

😃  Be professional by doing what you do well because you trust yourself

😃  Network, promote and sell your services with ease and joy

😃  Sell ethically to those who need you (because yes, people really need you!) 

😃  Be free of the fear of rejection because you see ‘no’ as valuable feedback

😃  Be free of the fear of failure because if something doesn’t work, you just move onto the next thing with enthusiasm and excitement

So, let me ask, are you ready to change your mindset, to get rid of imposter syndrome, and stop the negative chatter in your head once and for all?  

Is it your time to believe in yourself and what you do, so your clients can choose you because they believe in you too?     

Do you want to stop hiding and start thriving so new clients can find you and benefit from your expertise?  

Are you ready to develop unshakeable confidence, get more clients and grow your income? 

The SURE Formula for Confidence to transform your mindset, your business and your life is the best way to do that right now, today.

Comment MINDSET below and I’ll gift you three Physical Intelligence techniques that you can use right away to deal with fear and increase your confidence so you can promote your business with ease and joy to get more clients and grow your income .