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women of the Bible

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Through their video, “If Cinderella were a Guy,” Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo (of Rebelgirls.co) highlight the fact that women are impacted by misogyny as early as childhood

Which, to summarise a previous post, is because of:

This then gives way to confidence issues by the time most girls reach primary or elementary school

(More so than boys)

Which manifests into issues such as imposter syndrome by the time that these girls become women

According to Cate Luzio’s Forbes article, “A Missing Factor in Women’s Leadership: Confidence“:

“The constant second guessing and self-reflection on what we [as women] can or cannot do and our fear of self-promotion has a significant impact on our ability to advance our careers”

She also adds that “although there are various factors missing in women’s leadership, [she] would argue that confidence is one of the most pressing”

One of the things that I love about Mahlah and her 4 sisters (Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah), though, is their show of confidence

For example

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on How to overcome Limiting Beliefs caused by Gender Norms

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on How to overcome Limiting Beliefs caused by Gender Norms

Last week we discussed how legalistic religious beliefs within the church can stop women from walking in their purpose and fully showing up

Click here if you missed that, sis

This is important because it plays into culture

(which is the behaviours and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic or age group)

especially in terms of how girls are socialised which, in turn, has knock-on effects on our ability to show up, be visible and therefore make impact as women

For, as one of my favourite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche said:

“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller, we say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much.’ ‘You should aim to be successful, but not too successful…’”

which is why, according to research, women feel less at ease with promoting themselves than men- which in turn means that they're less likely to do it.

However…

Mahlah and her 4 sisters (Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) teach us that the best way to overcome this is to:

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

In August 2017 I wrote an article called “Lessons from 5 Rebel Girls of the Bible”

Which you can access here, sis

Among those that got an honourable mention were Mahlah and her 4 sisters- Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah

To summarise Numbers 27:1-11, they were the daughters of Zelophehad and when he died they advocated for themselves regarding their inheritance

by standing

“before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 'Our father died in the wilderness...and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers'"

Causing God to instruct Moses to give it to them

Like it literally says that, when Moses brought their case before the Lord, He spoke to him saying:

“The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them."

Which shows that God is an advocate of women's rights, equality and leadership- despite what we may have traditionally been taught

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

There are some seats at the table that you have to be invited to rather than create yourself

This is known as vertical networking. For example, Esther would not have been able to get her audience with the king and save her people if she hadn’t first gotten on his radar as described in Esther 5:1-2:

“Now it happened on the third day [of her fast] that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne... So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favour in his sight, and… Esther went near [to speak to him]”

But how do we get close enough to the influencers within our industries to get on their radars in this new digital age?

How do we get to their inner courts, so to speak?

By being an asset to them and/or they’re community through:

Lessons from Esther on the difference between influence and manipulation

Lessons from Esther on the difference between influence and manipulation

Last week we talked about the importance of giving before you get when it comes to leveraging our relationships through networking

This was something that Esther did with the King by throwing him 2 wine banquets before she so much as broached the subject of saving her people. Click here if you missed that, sis

Which is known as harnessing the law of reciprocity

Here’s the thing, though…

There is a thin line between harnessing the law of reciprocity and being manipulative

Which is yet another reason that networking gets the reputation of being icky and gross

Here are some key differences between the 2:

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Networking is one of the best ways to increase your authority, your bank account and- most importantly- your impact.

You know,

  • That message that you want to share with the world

  • That legacy that you want to leave

  • The reason you believe God put you on the earth

That’s your impact or your “why”

However, networking is an art that not everybody gets right

Hence the reason that it gets the bad rep of being really icky and gross

Here are 3 things to avoid to ensure that you do, as demonstrated by Esther

Lessons from Esther on 3 Mindset Blocks that Impact Your Visibility Efforts

Lessons from Esther on 3 Mindset Blocks that Impact Your Visibility Efforts

If you’ve been rocking with me for a while, you’ll know that I don’t believe in visibility for visibility’s sake or for selfish reasons

That’s first thing’s first

I believe that visibility is a tool for making positive impact in the world and that maximum impact will require maximum visibility

Because, as stated in my post about why we shouldn’t feel bad about promoting ourselves:

  • We are called to solve problems

  • Your success, especially financially, correlates with the amount of people that you serve by solving their problems

This is just one of many mindset blocks that need to be removed to avoid self-sabotaging our own visibility efforts, though. For example…

The events of Esther’s life shows us that we also need to know the following:

Lessons from esther on how to increase your visibility by transforming your mindset

Lessons from esther on how to increase your visibility by transforming your mindset

In my previous post, I talked about Hegai (the King’s eunch’s) role in helping Esther secure the crown

Click here if you missed that, sis

But that wasn’t the main thing that made the King choose her

“So, what was?!” I hear you ask

According to Esther 2:15 and 17, it was favour
So let’s break that down

When I hear the word “favour” it immediately puts me in mind of the concept of grace

Why?

Because grace is by definition “the unmerited favour of God”

In other words…

Without the belief that:

  1. You have God’s favour

  2. He will cause people to favour you also

  3. He made you “for such a time as this”

You won’t go towards your goals or the desires that He gave you

Because we go in the direction of of our beliefs

We see that play out in Esther 4:10-11 when Esther expressed fear of going to see the king about calling off the proposed genocide of her people

And…

We see it in modern day stats that show that women feel less at ease going for their goals by promoting themselves than men- which in turn means that they're less likely to do it.

Can you relate, sis?

What needs to be understood is that walking in God’s favour is a lifestyle that is born out of your mindset. Here are 4 tools that I use to develop it.