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I love the small win method. 🙂 Also comforting to me is the notion that most people are out here muddling through and figuring it out just like the rest of us. 🤍

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Great to hear, Courtney! From small wins to the big ones 🙂 Exactly, and following that process is interesting; I often find it inspiring, too.

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"Lofty goals literally scare the motivation out of you. Because they seem impossible, it is not that they are impossible. They are impossible right now where you’re at".

Ants are small but scare the hell our of elephants, lions, etc. So I believe small goals is the perfect starting point to reach those lofty goals. Incredible piece of writing.

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I could not agree more, Edwin! Over some time, those small goals compound into some fantastic results. Thank you, your kind words and praise means so much 💕

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Accept, accept, accept! The first step to over come your insecurities is to accept them. Thank you for this tip of advice. We have a famous quote in my native language that you hear all the time, in game shows (when the contestant accepts his value), in life (when overcoming hardships), and when comparing yourself to others. It goes "Contentment is an everlasting treasure.".

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I could not agree more! Contentment is such peace and joy. Thank you for sharing.

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I so relate. Despite many years of therapy, comparisons to others are where I often trip myself up. Thanks for articulating this in such a beautiful, relatable, nuanced way 😊

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You're most welcome. I'm so glad to hear it resonated! Let's work on finding the way past the comparison 💕

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A lovely raw piece. I felt the feeling of not being in the cool kids gang when I first started too!

I think it’s so natural to feel this way. I wrote about how it felt like being in high school again: https://musingsbymika.substack.com/p/substack-diaries-what-do-you-do-if

Funny thing is, I talk to every single one of them, and they are so so so lovely!

This isn’t high school anymore and I realised there is no cool gang. Isn’t that so amazing!

We are all part of the gang because we started Substack. I just love that about this place.

Lovely piece. I hope you never feel insecure about your writing, because it’s so good. 💕

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Thank you for the kind praise! That means a lot, truly. Of course, we all are part of the cool gang for being here, showing up and sharing our thoughts and feelings with readers. The cool gang is feeling I sometimes get on the Notes, but there's that trick of curating the feed which makes the difference 😂 but you are right; everyone is super friendly here, which is mind-blowing for an online space 🍀

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Thank you for your insights, Jana. I think my favorite is "accept your imperfections." I'm always reminding myself that perfection is the enemy of good. Nobody and nothing is perfect, so I try to embrace the good and not let my tendency to strive for perfection keep me from moving forward or feeling bad about myself when I don't meet that unattainable goal.

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You're most welcome! That is so true, Daria. It's those small acts of kindness and self-compassion that make all the difference 😊 Thank you for sharing 💕

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Love thisss

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I am glad to hear that, Ibneha! 🙂

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I love this post! Imposter Syndrome is real - I’ve definitely struggled with it! Great tips. Pushing through and doing it anyway is really the only way to beat it. Thank you also for the shout out for A Busy Lady!

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I am glad it resonated, Sarah. It's so real, for sure; I am glad you powered through it. You're most welcome 💕

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I really enjoyed this Jana, especially your honesty regarding "My preferred approach is not to deal with problems but to postpone them, hide from them, or, my favourite, pretend the problem does not exist". I think we've all been there, and it takes a lot of effort and mental courage to do things differently, especially as things often feel harder initially when we try something new. So thanks for sharing 🙏

I found you via Tom's community on Discord and look forward to reading more from you! x

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Thanks, Lucy. I’m glad you enjoyed it and my honesty 🤣 Ah, so much effort and courage; I 100% agree with you on this! I'm so happy you did; I've also discovered you at Toms. I look forward to reading more from you 😊

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Oh, I take so much time with ediitng and in the end I discover a typo once I publish😅

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😅 that's very relatable; I've been there, too.

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I love these four simple yet effective steps, especially starting with acceptance. What truly worked for me was stopping the search for external validation, and everything just fell into place. When faced with a big task, I remind myself that everything happens for the best and let’s see what I will learn from it.

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I am so glad to hear that. That is a perfect way of looking at it; thank you for sharing. Stopping to search for external validation is also tricky, as the writing needs to cater to readers. This is a tough one ☺️

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Love this Jana 💕 Has so many great tips! Thanks for the mention and I'm so glad I subscribed to you ✨️

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Oh, thank you, Izel. That means a lot 🙏 I am glad you're here 💕

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