Sara Orellana
I want to ask you a very personal question. Do you understand your value?
This question begs to be answered for each and every role you have in life. But for the brevity of this column, we will focus on your professional life.
I would suspect there are a few who know their value. But many of us probably don’t. I know I don’t. As a 43-year-old professional, with two graduate degrees and a handful of certifications, who has worked as a CEO, business owner, entrepreneur, writer, and grant writer, on a given day, I work on a variety of projects, investing my knowledge, experience, and wisdom into others. But my goal? To see my clients achieve their goals.
Yet, no matter how many certifications, years of experience, or years of school I have, there are days I still feel like a newbie fresh out of college, green behind the ears, filled with eagerness, but lacking experience.
There is no real place that this feeling comes from. I have had my share of setbacks and successes. I know I am good at what I do, but somehow, I cannot translate this knowledge into value. I suspect that many readers can relate. We do not struggle with imposter syndrome. We know we belong and can do the job, we simply fail to see the value each of us brings to the table. The challenge is that when we don’t see our value, others don’t see it either. In a mean trick of fate, we must first see and believe we have value before anyone else can even start to see it. Yet in order to achieve our greatest potential, we must learn to believe we have value.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to see your value:
• The skills you bring to the table are needed. If you were looking for these skills, what would you be willing to pay? What would be their value?
• The skills you bring are unique because of the experiences you have had. What added value do your experiences bring?
• Look at the person on your right, or think of someone you admire. What value do they add to a project?
Sometimes the easiest way to start to understand our value is to see it through someone else’s eyes. Look at past experiences and projects where you have led the team or saved the day. What did you add that no one else could? How has your experience made you the perfect solution for this project?
Once you get a hold of your value in your professional life, move to other areas of your life. I promise you will be quite pleased with the results.
Sara Orellana, MS, MPH is an independent entrepreneur who specializes in strategic planning, leadership, and grant writing. She can be reached at sara@3raptorconsulting.com.