For as long as I can remember, I have avoided mirrors. If I am completely real and honest with myself and you, it’s because every time I look in the mirror, I see everything that is “wrong” with me. 

Yes, I know. The coach in you is already saying, who defines what is right and wrong and are you kidding me, Deb, your beauty shines through in and through you? Thank you coaches from the blog, you are naming the reason I am writing this blog.

Most of the time, we do not see our own beauty and brilliance.

I make that statement with boldness because in almost every first coaching session with a client—and maybe even continuing through the first couple of sessions—there is an awareness on so many levels that the clients cannot see their own brilliance.

I am voting that this inability to see our own brilliance is at epidemic levels. There are a few reasons I think this may be happening:

• Our brilliance is normal to us. We live in it every day, so it isn’t “special” to us. 

• Many of us live in a part of the world where doing more, being more and busy-ness are practically awarded with medals, so we never feel like anything is “enough.”

• There is a constant comparison to others and social media has just double clicked on the comparison factor. Of course, we don’t think about the fact that most people give us the best 30-second glimpse of life, use tons of filters and more tricks to show us one version of their life.

• At some level, I believe we are afraid of embracing our own brilliance. What would it really look like if we let our light shine brightly?

Are these things resonating to you? Even just naming them brings a new awareness to this conversation and once we have the awareness, we can choose (or not choose) to do something about it. I am inviting you to a three-step process for you to reconnect with yourself, your brilliance, and the gifts you are bringing to the world.

1. Take a moment to write down all the gifts you bring to the world. If you are struggling with where to start, think of the times someone has said, you are so good at this. Or notice when you’ve worked on something that has made you feel really good—you created impact. This can help you see more of your own brilliance.

2. Take note of some of your core values or way of “being” in the world. Another way of framing this is identifying what is important to you. Feel free to get creative with this. Find pictures, words, colors…anything that really captures the essence of your being.

3. With this new awareness and reconnecting with self, I invite you to find a mirror. As you look at the mirror, read all these things that you’ve written down out loud to yourself. It may look something like this: “Deb, you are funny, caring, compassionate, a good listener, etc. Please make sure you are using your name, gifts, and core values.” As you say these things out loud, take your time. This is not a race. This is a moment to embrace you—the gift of you—and provide time to shine in your brilliance.

I hope this has been useful for you to see the gift in the mirror—YOU!