The clock was dangerously nearing 12:30 p.m. Tummies were grumbling. Butts were getting sore from sitting too long. Blood sugar levels were dipping.
My talk, Money: A Love Story, was supposed to end the morning session. But the audience’s (and my own) need for a break was obvious.
So I whispered to the organizer: “I don’t have to speak today. Let’s just take me off the agenda so we can stay on schedule, or at least I’ll just speak for five minutes instead of thirty.”
It seemed logical. We were running over. There was too much information to cover in too little time. I would just take myself out and make it easier for everyone. Done and done.
During the lunch break, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the headlining speaker, who’d flown in from Florida to share his expertise with the group.
He said: “Kate, I heard you asked to be removed from the program or to only speak for five minutes. There are people who have driven here to this event to hear you and what you have to say. You will speak for your full time because what you have to share is important.”
The familiar feeling of tears pooling atop my bottom eyelids was there. It was one of those moments of great recognition.
My topic that day was about the importance of valuing ourselves in order to make more money and become a better money manager. Money is all about what we value, and we have to start with ourselves.
Yet, in asking to be removed from the program, I had slipped into an old pattern of undervaluing my own contribution. I was throwing myself under the bus, once again. (We really do teach what we need to learn.)
Sometimes, being conscientious of time, resources, and others’ needs is a way of covering up the fact that we don’t value ourselves enough.
- apologize for taking up too much space
- make ourselves small (sometimes literally by scrunching ourselves up or crossing our legs and arms too tightly)
- keep our hands down even when we have something to say
- keep our mouths shut
- take only fifteen minutes of the thirty minutes given to us
- volunteer to be taken off the program
I’m so grateful the gentleman I was sharing the stage with that day said something to me to remind me to honor my contribution.
In the end, I gave my full thirty-minute talk, and many people came up to me and told me that it was exactly what they needed to hear that day.
If you don’t speak up, you could be preventing someone from hearing exactly what she needed.
So…
Show up.
Speak up.
Grab the mic.
Take your time.
Take up space.
Turn up your volume.
Stand up tall.
Sing loud and proud.
Shake what your mama gave you.
And keep yourself on the program.
Do you ever find yourself trying to not take up too much space or keeping your mouth shut? I’d love to hear your stories and thoughts in the comments!
Kate Northrup is a professional freedom seeker and creative entrepreneur and mentors entrepreneurs in creating their own financial freedom. She created financial freedom for herself at the age of twenty-eight through building a team of more than 1,000 wellness entrepreneurs in the network marketing industry. Her philosophy is that if you free yourself financially, you can be fully present to your purpose on the planet. Find out more and take her free Money Love Quiz to find out what your relationship with money says about you at KateNorthrup.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
