About vulnerability
People tend to associate vulnerability with weakness and a lack of confidence.
Personally, I never wanted to open up too much about my own struggles, but rather wear my “big girl pants” and prove to the world I was tough.
Only recently, I started to open the vulnerability door, letting other people see that it’s ok to have challenges, to face adversity and to struggle. It’s all part of life.
It took me a while to admit publicly that my business failed and that I faced continued rejection trying to find a job in a new country. I even hesitated to put the green “open to work” banner.
Opening the vulnerability door
However, once I opened the vulnerability door, I started to demystify this image of “unconditional success” and something magical happened:
I felt more confident: telling other people about my failures and struggles gave me a sense of confidence and ownership: this is my journey and I am in the driver’s seat.
I realised that my story, especially as someone who had always been considered “successful” career-wise could inspire many others that might struggle too.
I became more approachable: people with whom I hadn’t talked to in years reached out to me, strangers introduced themselves, even clients from previous companies sent me DMs thanking me for sharing my story.
I became stronger: once you tell the story of how you failed, you focus on the story of how you recovered, and it’s a wonderful story the world needs to hear!
If you are struggling with something, first be kind to yourself.
Don’t be afraid to open the vulnerability door, because once you open it, people will show up for you.
