Most women undersell what they do before anyone else has a chance to. We shrink your job in our own head before we ever describe it out loud. The world is really good at telling women they don't have a "real" career; stay-at-home moms hear it, people in service jobs hear it, people who pivot hear it, people who choose family-friendly hours hear it. Please hear us: if you spend your days doing it, it is your career. And whatever "it" is, your work matters.

You're carrying things that were never assigned to you. Other people's incompetence. The unspoken rule that you'll smooth everything over. The expectation that you'll do the work while still making everyone comfortable while you do it. But you can't truly shine while carrying what dims others… that's their low-wattage baggage to deal with.

So much of your power is locked inside the things you've been afraid to or haven't had time to say out loud. Maybe that raise you haven't asked for. Or it could be a boundary you haven't set. The help you haven't requested. Speaking up is telling the truth and reclaiming your power: what you need, what you're worth, and what you bring.

Somewhere along the way, most of us learned to bring a version of ourselves to work: the palatable one, the polished one, the smaller, smoother, easier-to-understand one. We code-switch, or mask, our personalities because sometimes it is easier. We can often swallow our opinion or dim ourselves before walking in the door. Performing is exhausting. And your real, authentic self is THE asset and your divine design.

Power doesn't always mean ambition. Sometimes it is rest. Or it can be a "not now." Sometimes it looks like recovery while you raise a baby, or rebuild. Your career has seasons. Refusing to honor the season you're in — or trying to be in every season at once — is the fastest way to lose yourself and whatever you're trying to accomplish.