@MARIE_CLARE: My family has always struggled financially. But because I finished with Latin honors, passed the CPA board exam, and secured a position with a prestigious audit firm, I’ve had the chance to connect with influential people and meet my boyfriend through this network. His family is okay.
While generally neutral towards me, they don’t seem to have strong feelings one way or the other. This neutrality makes family gatherings somewhat uncomfortable for me. I often feel out of place, much like I do with my clients.
While I’m comfortable discussing work-related topics, social events can leave me feeling like I don’t quite belong. Any tips for me? DJ: So, you’re trying to keep up with the Joneses but can’t even keep up with the Kardashians! Yeah, right. Being down-to-earth is so last season.
Kidding aside, you’ve got to work on your confidence. What is confidence really about? It’s the belief in yourself and your ability to succeed or accomplish something. How do you activate it? Think about how you thrived in school and now at work.
The mindset needed is quite similar. I used to think that if I just achieved this much or earned that much, I’d be confident. But even as some dreams became reality, I still found reasons to feel like I hadn’t done enough.
Eventually, I realized I had to change my internal reality before my external reality could shift. That’s what I suggest you do too. By now, you know my response isn’t one of those “high five, you.