There’s one thing you must do as a founder that no one talks about.
Love yourself.
You can’t be authentic if you don’t.
Love yourself. This means accepting yourself as you are, even while you’re evolving.
Because if you think something’s wrong with you:
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You’ll try to cover it up.
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Overcompensate.
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Or hide.
That’s the root of inauthenticity.
The most profound thing you can do for your business and your life is to love and accept yourself.
Measure it by how you feel, not by what others say.
I spent years feeling inadequate as a tech founder. I drove myself to exhaustion trying to prove my worth.
It didn’t work.
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No matter how much revenue I made.
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How many awards I won.
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Or how many degrees I earned.
I still wasn’t good enough.
I searched for external approval. But what I needed most was my own.
Once I gave it to myself, everything changed.
I stopped:
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Feeling tense and stressed.
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Comparing myself to everyone.
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Acting like everything was life or death.
Scaling my business was easier because it was no longer the measuring stick of my worth as a person. It was simply an asset I owned.
That mindset shift even allowed me to consider an exit.
But it starts with silencing the inner critic. The one that keeps telling you you’re not enough.
It’s a lie. You are enough.
When you no longer have anything to prove, life becomes about adding value to the world—by expressing your unique abilities.
And helping others express theirs.