WATCH: Kierra Sheard on how to defeat feelings of inadequacy and avoid the comparison trap
Written By Gina Day // Encouragement
Everyone at some point has struggled with feelings of inadequacy and grappled with worries about not measuring up—including awarding-winning Gospel singer and entrepreneur, Kierra Sheard.
Despite winning numerous awards and heading up a popular full-figured fashion line, Eleven60, she says she’s had to identify and fight against the false belief that she isn’t good enough to succeed in her divine purpose.
Back when the Detroit native’s self-doubt was the worst, she said in a recently uploaded YouTube video, “I wasn’t big enough or mature enough to admit that it was coming from me comparing myself to other people.”
But after a while, the vocal powerhouse refused to remain in denial. She is now advising others to get truthful as well. “Let’s admit it. Let’s hold ourselves accountable and just say what it really it is. The truth will set you free,” she said.
The often repeated Theodore Roosevelt quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy” rings true for the 31-year-old “Flaws” songstress who admitted “it was me comparing myself to other people and seeing that things were happening and popping off for everybody else. But it’s like, okay, well, you’ve been doing this for however long, or you’ve been this committed, or you’ve put in this sacrifice, and so I started entertaining the feeling, and then it went from a feeling to a thought, and to a conversation with myself.”
Credit: Kierra Sheard
The Wayne State graduate, who majored in English and minored in psychology, began saying things like, “Maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe I don’t have what it takes. Maybe I don’t have the resources or even the skills to really be successful at this, or maybe I’m kind of on the brink of just being late in it all.”
So, what was Sheard’s turning point? It came when the Stellar Award-winner realized “I have to have the right conversations”—ones that are framed by the word of God.
“Deal with your feelings,” said Sheard. “But also remember, don’t be this person that’s always in your feelings. Be this person that lives in purpose. I live on purpose. This is what God says that I’m supposed to do, so I must trust His word and His word says that I am fully equipped to make this happen.”
The Founder of Bold Right Life youth ministry told her audience, “I’m just walking with His word hidden in my heart and I’m understanding who my Father is.”
Knowing who you are and whose you are, according to Sheard, is the key to swatting down the lie that you aren’t good enough. After all, how can you lack anything when you serve an all-sufficient God?