I Dare You to Think This Thought — Sojourners Institute

I want to invite you to entertain a bold and perhaps surprising thought. I doubt it’s a part of your mental narrative—it certainly hasn’t been part of mine.

Here it is:

What if your clients admire you more than they judge you?

Not admired in an inflated, puffed up way, not in a “look how wise and wonderful I am” way. But in a quieter, deeper way, a grounded respect for who you are and how you show up. A sense that your presence matters to them. That what you offer is genuinely valued.

What might shift in you if you really believed that?

Now, I’m aware that in spiritual direction circles this kind of thinking is sacrilege at worst and counter-cultural at best. The standard is more to view humility and self-effacement as virtues.

But I’ve come to believe this heart-level awareness is not about ego, but about owning our calling. It’s a trust that we have been enlisted to do this sacred companioning, and it’s faithful to claim a steady confidence that our presence and voice matter.

It doesn’t mean, we are always on the mark and effective. Clients don’t expect that from us. It does mean that when we’re not tangled in self-doubt or over-caution, we show up with more ease, more courage, more creativity, and more honesty.

And that’s when we’re at our best.

So let this “wild” thought settle in you for a bit: My clients admire me more than they judge me.

Then bring it with you into your next session.

Notice what changes in you. Notice what it might open between you and your client. Because it may well be much truer than you dare to believe.

For more on claiming confidence and your other spiritual gifts in client sessions, I’d love for you to join our weekly email course, 52 Weeks to Deepen Your Practice. And in case you haven’t seen it before or want a refresher, here’s a video where I go in depth on finding your “secret (and sacred) sass.”