In Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, she talks about this idea of stories we tell ourselves when we freak out. It’s like we don’t have all the info or the answers to our questions, so our brain fills in the blanks with whatever crazy, scary thing we can think of. Then, these stories usually spiral out of control, making us feel sick and terrible and anxious.

Yesterday, I had a moment where the story I told myself was one where I couldn’t take on a new project at work. It’s too big. I’m at capacity. I’m overwhelmed. I’m on the verge of burnout. I’m not ready. I’m whatever, whatever, whatever. The list went on and on until I realized I was spiraling out of control. I called my work mentor and asked him to talk me off the self-made ledge.

This got me thinking about all the things we tell ourselves as we go through our days, and how much power they can wield over us, if we aren’t careful in reeling our minds in.

Let me elaborate on other stories I’ve been telling myself lately.

This body should be “back to normal.” It’s been 17 months since you had that baby. Things should be back to the way they were.

Me to Myself

This story started creeping in as we prepared for our first family beach trip since we became a family of three. Why do we do this? It’s maddening. Like my body is the only thing about me that is interesting or beautiful or lovable. I hate this story so much. It’s such a power stealer. Just take the wind right out of your sails.

The weekends leading up to our beach trip I would try on my new “mom” bathing suits and judge my postpartum body in my new one pieces. I’d tell myself the story of how I was nowhere near my former size, nowhere near as “cute,” nowhere near as attractive as I was before I had my child. Then, I would take the swim suits off and do it all over again the next weekend.

You can’t have a successful career you love AND be the mom you want to be to your child.

Me to Myself

My company has gone through a lot of change in the last year, and more is coming. It’s coming so fast the story I tell myself is I can’t keep up. I can’t keep up with the pace of this change AND be the version of mom I want to be. I can’t achieve more at work AND be engaged at home. I can’t lead a team at work AND parent my child through toddlerhood. I can’t be the change-maker I want to be AND be home by 6 p.m. every night, make dinner, do bath time and tuck my son into bed.

Both things require so much mental, physical and emotional energy. And it’s impossible to give 100 percent to both work and parenting. And choosing what I give 100 percent to makes me feel miserable sometimes. Why can’t I do it all? Other working moms do.

These stories aren’t constantly on a loop in my head. They just show up sometimes when doubt creeps in or when my pants fit a little tighter than usual.

What happens when you change the story?

Here’s the the takeaway. The one thing I want you to carry with you from this whole thing.

The stories we tell ourselves are bullshit.

They come from a place of fear or shame or self-loathing. AND they aren’t true.

Nothing is wrong with my body. I can still have a career and strive for excellence and lead a team and change the world AND be a good, active, thoughtful mother to my son.

So let’s change the stories.

This body should be “back to normal.” is perfect like it is now. It’s been 17 months since you had that baby. Things should be back to are the way they are.

Me to Myself

I grew a person inside my body. She stretched and adapted and grew to bring the most perfect little boy into the world. That is a miracle. I am just as beautiful and lovable in this body I am in today. My body recovered from childbirth. She nursed a baby for nine months. She carried a baby for 9 months in the womb and now 17 months earth-side.

I recently started working out because I want to honor her. I want to be strong. I want my son to see me take care of myself. I want the mental health attributes of working out. I want to know I am doing all I can to keep her healthy since she did so much for me during pregnancy and postpartum.

You can’t can have a successful whatever type of career you love want AND be the mom you want to be to your child was meant to have.

Me to Myself

This notion that women can’t have careers and be a good mom is just totally ridiculous. Please don’t put us in a box where we can only have one or the other. You can be a full-time working mom. You can be a part-time working mom. You can have a side hustle. You can be at stay-at-home mom. You can go to all the field trips. You can be the classroom mom. You can be a homeschool mom. You can be a home-cooked meals mom. You can be a pick-up-dinner-after-work mom.

You are only defined by the limits you draw for yourself.

Let me say that again.

You are only defined by the limits you draw for yourself.

For me, those limits change daily. Depending on my mental capacity, my workload, my home responsibilities, what my spouse can do to help lighten the load at home and childcare, my mom who comes on the weekends to help with my son, my mother-in-law who keeps my son while I work.

Some days, I just “keep the lights on.” I don’t start anything new. I don’t take on big work projects. I make easy foods. I rest during naps. I lean on my team. I read and consume mindlessness. I go to bed early.

Other days, I go for it. I have capacity to take on more work projects. I blaze a new path. I clean my house or do dishes during naps. I read and consume challenging media. I stay up and enjoy another episode or one more page.

Most days, it’s a combination of the two. Keeping the lights on in some areas of life, while going for it in others.

The story I tell myself is that is ok to have both. It is ok to rest and strive. It’s ok to just be.

What stories do you tell yourself?