Don’t Hold Yourself Back

Maria Anna van Driel
2 min readApr 30, 2023

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‘My dog Jelly is supporting me during my study Psychotherapy’. Photo credit: Maria Anna van Driel

How many times have you held yourself back because you told yourself that you are bad at something. Or that you are the worst or that you have never done it before or you don’t want to hold anyone back. Or, you don’t want to look stupid in front of those people who already know how to do something.

Stop doing that!

You are literally robbing yourself from experiencing fun and magical moments. You are robbing yourself from tapping into your power to change your life. A power that is, at the moment, laying dormant inside you. A power that is eager to explode and release your most beautiful skills.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” — Napoleon Hill. Photo Credit: Maria Anna van Driel

In 40 days my 50th birthday will be a fact and, one week ago, I started to study psychotherapy. Not only have I flipped my life 180 degree by diving into this study, it is also written in German…a language I haven’t mastered …yet. Looking at and listening to my fellow students, who are half my age and are German through birth, I AM THE WORST! Everybody who is attending this study are at least 2 chapters ahead of me. But, I don’t care!

I don’t care because I am willing to be the worst, I am willing to crack my brain cells, I am willing to sit in the backyard reading the text out loud. I don’t care!

And you what? Although it might look silly but, by means of me reading the texts out loud neighbors come outside in order to see what I am doing. This gives me the opportunity to learn the German language better, to interact with people and even, secretly, practice some of the study materials I have already learned.

So, STOP holding yourself back! Because you never know who you might become because you are willing to be the worst at something.

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Maria Anna van Driel

In 2020 I realized I was trapped in a toxic relationship since '00. In Aug. '22 I found the strength to break away, flip my life to become a psychotherapist.