Challenge Your View of Your Value

Welcome to the weekly Grown Woman Power Play!

The purpose of a Power Play is to inspire bold, brilliant, badass professional women over 40 with their personal and professional journey.

I will share a quote, tie it to a Grown Woman Life principle, bring the concept to life, and close it out with some easy to action tips - your power plays.

"Never let anyone or anything define your value or limit your dream."

Judy Sheindlin

This week's Grown Woman Life principal: pivot purposely 

As life evolves, so do we. Don't get stuck in your current situation because change is difficult.

 Perspective

As women, we often spend time identifying ourselves and our value by the roles we play, the rules we've been handed, or the expectations we've created. A good mom stays at home and homeschools. If she works outside the house, she must participate in the PTO and maximize quality time with her children.

 If we work, we must be the first one in or the last one out. We have to dress a certain way, we gain notches on our lipstick case when we have a distinct look, weigh a certain weight. We must filter our comments, so we aren't too assertive. We must be better at the work politics, and office rules spoke or unspoken than anyone else. This is how we evaluate ourselves, how we assign value to our efforts.

 To quote my friend, Cheryl Hall Russell, "How unhealthy is this? This constant internal crushing of ourselves."

With the global pandemic known as Covid-19 or what I affectionately call coronacrazy, this tendency to limit our dreams and value ourselves by the role and rules that others have set or, in some cases, the unrealistic expectations we've set for ourselves can really challenge our sanity. The world has changed how we work and how we interact. Many of us are finding ourselves a bit lost. We find ourselves worrying about things like:

I add value by being professional. Having a child call my name when I am on a conference call is not seen as being professional.

I add value by working long hours. Now I have additional caretaking responsibilities that have limited/changes my working hours.

My value proposition has changed. I say, says who? Ladies now is a great time to pivot purposely.

This week's power play: Challenge your view of your value?

 Ask Yourself

To get a bit of a clearer point of view, I want you to ask yourself a few questions.

•  When is the last time you challenged the way you add value?
• Do you have realistic expectations of yourself?
• Do your thoughts of how you add value align with how the people around you see how you add value?
• Are your ways of working ways that are comfortable versus value-added?
• Do they come from a place of insecurity or lack of confidence?

 Take Action

Claim your power by taking the time to do the following:

• Write down five habits you have formed/ways of working because they are tied to how you value yourself.
• Write down the specific value the habit or ways of working bring.
• Is the value valid or required? 
• If yes, what are at least two alternate ways for you to add the value
• Validate your results, speak to your boss, family, and friends, and challenge your thought process. 

Engage with others who have taken up this week's challenge by popping over to our newly formed groups on LinkedIn or Facebook and share your insights.

If you prefer audio, subscribe to our podcast, where you can listen to our weekly Power Play.

Have an awesome and productive week. Remember to live boldly, showcase your brilliance, and be a badass.