I Still Sound Like I’m Asking Permission

Dear Delyara, Even when I know what I’m talking about. That’s the part that hurts my pride the most. I can hear it in my voice. In email. In meetings. In everyday professional conversation. The cautiousness. The little qualifying phrases. The soft landing around my own certainty. It is as if some old workplace version of me is still in the room, whispering, Don’t sound too sure. Don’t sound too hard. Don’t let them call you difficult. Don’t let them use your confidence against you. And the thing is, those old rooms are gone. But the posture survived them. I’m trying to unlearn it. I just didn’t realize how deeply work had gotten into my nervous system until I started hearing fear in my own professionalism.