Howdy, friends. Welcome to Radio Headspace.
It's Dora.
There's something about uncertainty that makes you start editing yourself.
You overthink your tone.
You downplay what you want.
You ask other people what they do before you trust your own gut.
I know that version of me well.
She shows up when I've been in the wrong rooms for too long.
The kind of rooms where people hear your voice, but not your meaning.
Where being thoughtful gets mistaken for being unsure.
And where silence starts to feel like a verdict.
And I've learned something through these experiences.
Sometimes the fog of uncertainty isn't coming from inside you.
It's coming from where you've been trying to be understood.
Not all uncertainty is self-doubt.
Sometimes it's relational.
Because when you're not seen clearly, it's hard to trust your own clarity.
And the answer isn't always to double down on fixing yourself.
Sometimes the answer is to change rooms.
I once sat through a series of meetings where my voice felt like it belonged to someone else.