I have long found it a challenge to make my money last until the end of the month. There were always too many things I wanted to do with it!

Not long ago I realized the same is true for my time. I commented about this to a dear friend who is a Jungian analyst, “I’ve noticed I always think my money and my time will stretch further than they can.” She suggested I look for the “pull,” or the “magnet,” in each activity that leads me to over-commit, whether it’s my time or my money. I wasn’t sure right away, but suspected it had to do with wanting to please everyone. She smiled wisely, saying, “I think you are probably right.”

So that was a start. But what to do with this helpful new insight? If you are an innate people pleaser, you cannot just stop, even if it is the right thing to do. Pleasing people keeps you connected, and for some of us, connections are life sustaining.

Until recently, I could see the problem but not the solution. Then I spent a year in a coaching group learning how to rediscover our true selves and live them fully. The single most important thing I took away from the process is this: I am enough. It’s a simple realization, but it has taken me a giant step closer to being complete, without anyone’s input, and actualizing my whole self.

I am growing less reliant on others’ approval, others’ reassurance, others’ praise. And in that process I am more able to set – and keep – clear boundaries around what I can and cannot do, what I want to do and what I don’t want to do. Do I still have time and money issues? Well, yes, they have not cleared up overnight. But I have hope. I have a clear plan now. I know how to get where I want to go. Whether I’m managing my money or my time, I am more purposeful.

So let me ask you this, are you enough?