Acknowledge Yourself…
“…. But to know oneself isn’t to achieve everything and not to become perfect. Instead it is to become aware of what one is or isn’t capable of.
Forgive yourself for the things you cannot do alone…
If you want to know who and what you are, you must acknowledge yourself.”
•Itachi Uchiha
Nothing gets in my way more than I do. No one gets under my skin more than I do. I am the first person, when things don’t go right, to blame me and let me tell you, it is dangerous when no one is fighting for the other side — you know, for your side.
“But to know oneself isn’t to achieve everything and not to become perfect… “
There are still a handful of people in this world who believe in truly accomplishing things on their own (very few and far between the many who feign independence for likes). But the bigger the thing, the more important it is to lean into the power of having someone.
We can’t accomplish insane and seemingly insurmountable things on our own. Sometimes it takes a friend and sometimes it takes a village. Neither makes you weak or your accomplishments less accomplished because either way it is your brain, your hard work and/or your ability that led you to the accomplishment and to achieving it but maybe it was a pep talk from a friend or mentor that helped you through.
Knowing and acknowledging yourself also means knowing what you bring to the table, to the situation, and knowing what you don’t. Knowing someone else is knowing where they excel that maybe you don’t and applying that information in a way that allows you both to prosper, to learn, and to evolve which leads me to:
Mondavi Center - Women & Philanthropy
A couple of weekends ago I got to attend the UC Davis Mondavi Center’s Annual Women & Philanthropy event bringing together women from various backgrounds who share a common goal of leading and mentoring the continued practice of artful giving.
Panelists discussed getting to esteemed positions as well as being “firsts” within their fields. Not one of them mentioned making it to these important spaces without mentors (for some, many mentors). Even the history making trailblazer and beautiful artist, author, and entrepreneur, Misty Copeland, discussed the importance of having mentors and/or a tribe at various points of her career.
The actual road to the top can be quite lonely. The road to the top as a “first” anything can be even more lonely. Misty Copeland talked about both of these experiences and the people who have helped her achieve some of the incredible successes that she has.
Attending this event as an adult who is looking to similarly blaze trails was truly motivating. Being able to hear from women who have amassed success, some that resonated with me and some not so much, was just what I needed… that pep talk that you need from your own mentor annually, for instance.
It certainly led to my recent idea to take a couple of leaps myself.
