Are you Esther or Eve?

“Why so hard on yourself?” I asked my not-yet-client, Linda. It was one of our first “discovery” conversations, where someone interested in being coached by me learns how I work. And crucially, I’m looking for the incredibly hidden—and for most, hard-to-read—signs that they are really, truly, ready—in fact, past ready—to make a change. I’ve been coaching women of all ages for the last decade, and the question I asked Linda speaks to a pattern I’ve observed in many of them, regardless of social status. That pattern is women judging themselves—and other women—and it’s so rampant, it feels like an epidemic. But it’s a silent one.