You're never enough and that's okay

Laura was ready. She hadn't slept much, as often happens when nervous excitement mixes with hope. She had carefully chosen her outfit, fixed her hair, reread the job posting at least ten times.

The job wasn’t even that special: front desk work in a private medical practice. Greeting patients, managing appointments, basic paperwork. Nothing she hadn’t done before.

And yet, the moment she stepped inside, it felt less like a job interview and more like stepping onto a stage.

- "Do you speak Chinese?"

- "No, but I speak English and French."

- "Too bad, we have a patient who only speaks Mandarin."

- "Have you ever done graphic design?"

- "No, but..."

- "Because sometimes we need help with social media posts."

- "Do you have an active TikTok channel?"

- "No, but I don’t think—"

- "Nowadays everyone needs a good digital presence."

Laura left with the exhausted smile of someone who knows they weren’t picked. Not because they weren’t qualified, but because they weren’t “enough”.

The "Never Enough" syndrome

How many times have we felt like Laura? Not thin enough, pretty enough, young enough, smart enough, talented enough, experienced enough. And even when we are good at something, someone else is always better.

In today’s job market, to get hired, you’re expected to:

– speak five languages (including Norwegian, “just in case”),

– use Photoshop, Excel, Canva, and Google Ads, all while smiling like a TV host,

– have 10 years of experience… but be under 30,

– practice yoga and run 10 km a day to “manage stress,”

– understand SEO, customer psychology, and, if there’s still time, play the ukulele.

This checklist sounds more like a superhero bio than a real job description. And yet, it’s become the new normal. Actually—it's the new epidemic.

An impossible perfection

Not being enough is the silent plague of our times. For every talent we nurture, we’re reminded of the ones we lack. For every milestone we reach, a new standard appears: a brighter colleague, a more beautiful woman, a richer man, a more patient mother, a more followed influencer.

But here’s the truth: the finish line doesn’t really exist.

It doesn’t matter how fast we run, how much we improve, how often we “fix” our so-called flaws— if the starting point is insecurity, the destination will always be another missing piece.

It’s a silent deception. But a devastating one.

A society that profits from fear

Why is this happening? Because we’ve grown up in a society that doesn’t sell happiness—it sells fear.

Fear of not being chosen.

Fear of not being loved.

Fear of not being enough.

And when fear creeps in, wallets open.

We buy products, courses, cosmetic procedures, supplements, experiences.

We buy the hope of finally becoming “enough.”

But maybe the real revolution today is to stop.

To look in the mirror and say: “I’m already enough. Not perfect, but real.”

If this reflection resonated with you, I invite you to read the article: “The Business of Insecurity: How They Sell Us Fear to Make Us Buy Everything.”

A deep dive into how marketing and modern society exploit our vulnerabilities and turn them into profit.

It’s not selling anything—but maybe, just maybe, it’ll give something back: yourself.

#notenough, #insecurity, #perfectionism, #selfesteem, #personalgrowth, #modernsociety, #fearmarketing, #awareness, #mentalwellbeing, #reflections