There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from fighting yourself at work. You are trying to do your job, meet your deadlines, show up for your team... and underneath all of it, a quiet voice is running commentary. You are not good enough. You do not deserve this. Everyone is going to find out.
If you have CPTSD, you know exactly what I am talking about.
These are not personality flaws or character weaknesses. They are limiting beliefs... deeply ingrained thoughts that were formed in the middle of traumatic experiences and have been running on autopilot ever since. They feel like the truth because they have been with you so long. But they are not the truth. They are stories your nervous system wrote to keep you safe when you were small and had no other options.
You are not small anymore. And those stories deserve to be challenged.
Myth #1: “I am not good enough.”
This one runs deep for most survivors. It shows up as imposter syndrome, as shrinking back from opportunities, as over-preparing and still not feeling ready. It masquerades as humility but it is actually a wound.
Here is what is actually true. The skills, experience, and perspective you bring to your work are real. The fact that your brain is quick to dismiss them does not make them any less real. Trauma created a filter that screens out evidence of your competence and amplifies evidence of your inadequacy. That filter is not an accurate measuring tool. It is a symptom.
I have sat with this belief more times than I can count. What helped me was not trying to argue myself out of it in the moment, but learning to notice it as a signal. When that voice showed up, I started asking: what is my nervous system afraid of right now? That question shifted everything.
Myth #2: “I do not deserve success.”
This belief is sneaky because it often does not announce itself directly. It shows up as self-sabotage right before something good happens. As deflecting compliments. As a vague sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop every time things are going well.
Here is what is actually true. Worthiness is not something you earn through suffering or prove through perfection. It is not conditional on your history or your diagnosis. You deserve a career that fits you, work that engages you, and recognition for what you contribute... not in spite of what you have been through, but as a person who has been through it and is still here doing the work.
If you want to keep going with this work, the rest of this article is waiting for you inside The Resilient Career Academy. I would love to have you there.
