Qualified

Be qualified enough so you never have to keep running back for scraps.

Build yourself up to a point where you don’t need anyone’s permission to eat. Get to that level where your name alone speaks for your work, where no one can throw you crumbs and call it an opportunity.

Because when you’re not quite there yet, life humbles you. You start accepting less, not because you want to, but because you don’t think you can do better. You play small in rooms you should be owning. You convince yourself to be grateful for things that don’t even feed you properly or pay your bills.

And slowly, you start mistaking scraps for meals. You tell yourself it’s temporary, that it’s part of the process. But the longer you stay in that mindset, the more it becomes your reality. You lose the ambition that made you want more in the first place. You start negotiating with yourself, toning down your standards just to make things feel comfortable again.

It’s mad how that works. You get used to people overlooking you, and without realising it, you start overlooking yourself too. You start thinking maybe you’re not as ready as you thought. Maybe you’re asking for too much. Maybe your time hasn’t come yet. That’s how people end up stuck, running back for the same scraps they swore they’d stop eating. Not because they don’t deserve more, but because they never built enough leverage to move differently.

So build yourself properly. Get the skills, the mindset, the achievements, the money and the discipline that make you solid. Because once you’ve done that, you can’t go back to places that can’t handle your credentials. You won’t even fit in properly in environments you’ve clearly outgrown.

You move different when you’ve seen what it feels like to earn your value. When people start taking you seriously because you take yourself seriously. Once you’ve done the work, you stop asking for a seat at the table and start realising you can buy the building, if you just put in a little bit more work. 

The real issue isn’t always being underqualified. It’s getting comfortable there. When you’ve been running on low supply for too long, you forget what being full even feels like. You start accepting half-love, half-effort, half-pay, half-recognition, just because you’re scared the full thing might never come.

But deep down, you know it’s not right. You feel it. You know you’ve got more in you, you’re just not moving like it yet.

It’s a weird balance between wanting more and waiting for someone to give it to you. But the truth is, no one’s coming to hand out full plates. People only give you what you look ready for. And if you keep showing up hungry, desperate, unsure, they’ll feed you like it.