Stop calling yourself aspiring.
It’s shrinking you in real time.
I saw a LinkedIn post a few weeks back that hit harder than it should have. One of those posts you read once, then read again, then sit back and think, yeah… that was me. The post was from Stephanie J, and she didn’t tiptoe around the point.
Her message was simple.
The quickest way to lose her attention is seeing the word aspiring in your bio.
Five seconds.
That’s all you get to say who you are.
And you’re using it to apologise.
That line stayed with me. Because I’ve done it. For years.
When I Hid Behind the Word
There was a point in my life where I called myself an aspiring music journalist. Not once. Not twice. Consistently. And here’s the wild part, I was already in the industry. I was interviewing artists. I was getting press access. I was travelling for work. I was writing. Publishing. Being paid in access, if not always money.
Yet every time I introduced myself, I added that word. Aspiring.
I didn’t know what invisible bar I was waiting to clear. I just knew I hadn’t given myself permission yet. And I never did. I stopped writing about music before I ever dropped the word.
That should tell you everything.
Aspiring is a comfort blanket.
It lets you hide from ownership.
A lot of people leave university and do the same thing. Aspiring marketer. Aspiring journalist. Aspiring founder. Meanwhile, they’re doing the work. Posting content. Freelancing. Pitching. Learning in public. But they still speak about themselves like they’re on probation.
That word keeps you small.
And it teaches other people how to treat you.
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People Follow Certainty
Stephanie was right about one thing that matters most. People follow certainty. Not potential. Nobody is waiting for you to feel ready. They’re listening for confidence. Even if it’s borrowed confidence. Even if it’s messy confidence.
You’re not lying by removing aspiring.
You’re naming what you’re already doing.
If you’re writing, you’re a writer.
If you’re building, you’re a founder.
If you’re creating content and sharing it publicly, you’re a creator.
You can explain your lane without downgrading yourself. You can say you’re a journalist who writes on Substack. You can say you’re a consultant working with early-stage clients. You can say you’re a coach building your practice. That’s clarity. That’s honesty.
What doesn’t help is saying “I’m just” or “I only”.
Those phrases kill momentum before it starts.
I’ve lost count of how many conversations I’ve had where someone talks themselves out of respect in the first sentence. I ask what they do and they rush to soften it. They remove weight from their own work. They assume it’s not worth knowing.
And once you do that, the room follows your lead.
Living in the Reality You’re Building
When I left full-time work and stepped into freelancing, I didn’t call myself aspiring anything. I gave myself the title personal branding coach and strategist. Not because I had it all figured out. But because that’s the work I committed to doing.
Titles aren’t rewards.
They’re direction.
You don’t wait for confidence to arrive. Confidence shows up after repetition. After proof. After you stop hiding behind safe language.
Here’s something else people don’t like to say out loud. Many opportunities come before you’re ready. Half the rooms you walk into will stretch you. That’s normal. Nobody at a high level expects you to know everything. They expect you to back yourself.
I live in the reality I’m building.
I don’t speak about it like it’s a wish.
I’m not aspiring to build a £1 million personal brand. I’m building one. I move like it. I make decisions from that place. And that energy changes how people respond to you. It opens doors before the numbers catch up.
This isn’t about arrogance.
It’s about ownership.
People with real influence have limited time. They listen for certainty. They invest in people who sound like they trust themselves. If you don’t take yourself seriously, nobody else will do it for you.
So drop the word.
Let your work speak.
Explain what you do without apology.
Say it plainly.
Say it clean.
Say it like you mean it.
Moving Forward
Pay attention to the language you use when you introduce yourself. Strip out the filler. Remove the safety nets. You don’t need permission to claim the work you’re already doing. Step into it fully and let the confidence catch up after.
See you next week!
