This past week has been a really insightful one for us at Dolph Business School. We have been fortunate enough to be able to engage with each and every one of our students and team members on a personal level, finding out more about them all, and also to gather some feedback about how we are doing. We wanted to know what motivates them, what inspires them, what they like doing, and what their aspirations are. It has been such a humbling experience to have been able to connect with our students and our team, and finding more about everyone!

I learnt something quite astonishing out of this whole experience. So many of us talk ourselves down. So many of us feel unworthy of our abilities and our accomplishments. Whilst it is quite common that many of us so this, why do we? Why do we diminish our abilities and our successes? Why are we afraid of others finding out what we are able to do, and what we have achieved? Why do we feel so unworthy? It isn’t like someone else completed that accomplishment for us, we did it ourselves!

We should be celebrating, owning and be proud of ourselves! Not everyone can say that they are juggling a family full-time whilst trying to further their education. Not everyone can say that they are about to launch an amazing online service whilst juggling a full-time job and a diploma course. Not everyone can say that they have taken a year off work to focus on giving back to society and pursue further study. All this is AMAZING, and we all should be proud of who we are and what we have achieved! Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook and the Founder of Leanin.org once wrote a book titled Lean In. In it, she encourages us to lean in to our ambitions, our challenges, and lean in to ourselves! Only when we dare to take a risk, and back ourselves can we ever know just what we are capable of doing, and becoming.

So this post is specially for everyone out there – be proud of who you are. Don’t let negative thoughts cloud your minds and leave you vulnerable. Don’t let your inner gremlin dictate your choices. Be proud of what you have achieved, and what you are able to do! Remember, we all have the same amount of time in a day, and you chose to do something with our time that separates you from everyone else. That takes courage, brains, and determination. Own it!

This is another reason why I am so proud of our students and our team at Dolph Business School. Even with all of their family and work commitments, they still put pride in their work. They still strive to work towards their goals. Aren’t I lucky to be surrounded by all these amazing people?