There’s one thing you must do as a founder. No one talks about it.
But you can’t be authentic if you don’t do it.
Love yourself.
This means accepting yourself as you are. Even while you’re evolving.
Because if you think something’s wrong with you:
• You’ll try to cover it up.
• Or overcompensate.
• Or hide.
That’s the core 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 to prove my worth. It didn’t work.
• No matter how much revenue
• How many awards I won
• How many degrees
I wasn’t good enough.
I looked for external approval. But what I needed most was my own.
Once I gave it to myself, things changed. I stopped:
• Feeling tense and stressed
• Comparing myself to everyone
• 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. Once I could see it that way I was even able to consider an exit.
But it starts with stopping the inner critic. The one in your head that keeps telling you you’re not enough.
It’s a lie. You’re 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 to express theirs.
