Project Management Stories Let It Out — Give Voice to Your Weakness
Pretending Will Break You
If you are someone who tries just a little too hard, you may know this feeling: putting on a brave face in front of your team, pretending everything is fine, pretending you are full of energy — while not getting the answers you need, struggling alone, lying awake at night. Does any of that sound familiar?
When you keep pretending, you lose the ability to notice you are pretending. And eventually, something breaks — your heart stops responding, your balance tips. To keep that from happening: let it out. Let someone hear it. Mutter it to yourself. Just don't let it build up inside.
Creating Space in Your Heart
Imagine this. We take out our rubbish. Someone collects it. That is how we keep our homes clean, how we keep our minds at ease. We cannot keep ourselves together if the rubbish stays inside, piling up in every corner.
A project has its own weather. Sometimes you need an umbrella. Sometimes a coat against the cold. Sometimes a hat against the glare. There are days when you prepare drinks for your team. To do all of that, you need space in your heart and both hands free. For your project members, always keep one hand open — always hold something in reserve. That readiness matters more than you might think.
There will be times when you are fully absorbed, completely in the flow. When that happens, go with it. Let yourself be absorbed. And when it passes, take a deep breath and create some space inside again.
I Was Good at Pretending
I am good at pretending. Because I always believed I shouldn't worry anyone. But worry travels — it gets through no matter what. And pretending quietly corners your own heart. I used to believe that voicing weakness, saying things out loud in complaint, was not a beautiful way to be. So I endured. And endurance pushed me further from beautiful, not closer.
I am human. And a human being is a creature for whom incompleteness is completeness. We make up for each other's gaps. We influence each other. We accumulate encounters.
Weakness, Once Spoken, Disappears
If you feel resistance to voicing weakness, try it as an experiment. Then step back and watch what happens. Imagine a project member comes to you, opens up, lets something out. And afterwards, they come back to life — their energy returns. Wouldn't that make you glad? The person you speak to doesn't have to be a project member. A close friend, a colleague, or even just yourself — all of it counts. Our world has its own self-cleansing capacity. Nature cycles and renews itself every single day.
There may be a prevailing sense that having space, holding something in reserve, is not quite acceptable. But managing a project means directing your mind and heart toward many people and many things. To keep doing that — to keep giving — you need to let weakness out. Because a small, weak sound, kept inside, grows louder and louder until it fills you. It echoes without stopping.
But a weak sound, once released, disappears. It becomes smaller and smaller, until finally it can no longer be heard.
Let it out. Before that sound grows too large inside you.
🌻 Key Points
Pretending, continued long enough, will eventually break your inner balance
Don't let weakness build up. Talk to someone, or say it out loud to yourself
Keeping space and reserve in your heart is what allows you to care for your team
A human being is a creature for whom incompleteness is completeness — we are made to support each other
Weakness, once spoken aloud, disappears
