Why would someone choose me?

🎨 Collage: Justine Anweiler, My Presence, 2025.

This is a limiting belief I am actively working through, so I thought I'd share 🤓

By “choose me” I mean:

🎙️ Listen to my podcast (Voice Nodes)
📚 Read my content
👁️ Watch my reels
💰 Pay me

Even though I consume many people’s content, I regularly ask myself: why me?

This tension and seemingly bizarre question is paired with a knowing that I have revolutionary ideas. So I find myself at odds.

I know I have so much value to offer.

And yet . . . I’ve also internalized the belief that receiving attention is asking for a favour. So I find myself trying to convince people to pay attention. Not only because this will change their lives but because I created it to help them!!!

So much so that I prototype on various platforms to accommodate what works for others instead of asking myself: what works for me?

I’m tired of meeting people where they are.
I want people to meet me here.

Exactly where I am, as I am.

So what am I to do with this contradiction? That my presence is both a gift and a burden.

I’ve been thinking about what Bruce Anderson talks about: how our core gift is the other half of our core wound.

I think my core wound comes from a pattern of choosing environments where this belief is perpetuated. Whether I live with my mom, with roommates, or alone in my own flat – I can’t help but feel my presence is a nuisance to others.

I think the origin of this belief comes from the following:

Before I was born my mother had decided to leave my father. She already had my brother and knew her marriage was over. So when she discovered she was pregnant with me, it was crushing. My very existence became a burden. Therefore, my very first shelter questioned the worthiness of my presence.

When I think about “shelter” there is no external solution that can mitigate this feeling. Even if I owned land and a home, the council or neighbours could find me annoying. This is how I know it’s an inside job.

It’s not about changing my external environment to change my internal beliefs, but the reverse . . . changing my internal beliefs to create my desired external environment.

What fascinates me is how often I return to the same truth:

💗 My purpose in this lifetime is to give my presence.
💗 To ignite transformation just by being in the room.

And yet I wonder: why someone would choose to listen to me? In a world where anyone is at our fingertips – what makes me so special?!

And also . . . why not me?

This is a tension point in my being and by naming it I am on the journey to accepting it.

So today I welcome (and embody) the version of me . . .

✨ Who is sought after
✨ Who is chosen
✨ Whose every expression is met with attention, curiosity, and care

Article FAQs generated by AI:
1. How can someone overcome the internalized belief that their presence is a burden or nuisance?
Healing it is an inside job, as the blog post suggests—and it begins with recognizing that this belief isn't you, it's a story you've been carrying. Here are practical steps to shift this belief: 1. Inner child work: Reconnect with the younger version of yourself who first felt unwanted or burdensome. Speak to them with compassion. Remind them they are safe, seen, and wanted now. 2. Somatic awareness: Notice how this belief lives in your body. Does it feel like tightness in your chest, a shrinking in your posture? Practice breathwork, movement, or nervous system regulation to create safety in the body. 3. Re-parenting practices: Identify and meet your own emotional needs in the present. Ask: What does my younger self need to feel safe being here? 4. Affirmations + environment: Surround yourself with people, spaces, and mirrors that reflect your value. It’s not just about saying I belong, but being with people and places where you feel that truth. Over time, repetition and reinforcement of a new narrative—my presence is a gift—begins to override the old programming.

2. What practical steps can someone take to embody being “chosen” or “sought after” in a saturated digital environment?
Being chosen doesn’t start with external validation—it starts with choosing yourself. In a noisy online world, the people who stand out are those who are deeply rooted in their own resonance and rhythm. Here’s how to practically embody that:

1. Define your core essence. What’s your energetic signature? Your tone, truth, transmission? When you're clear on this, your content magnetizes rather than chases.

2. Create from overflow, not obligation. Stop bending to platforms. Start asking: What do I want to say, and how do I want to say it?

3. Simplify your channels. Instead of splintering your voice to accommodate every app or algorithm, create a homebase (like a newsletter, Substack, or podcast) that feels like you.

4. Be consistent in your essence, not your output. You don’t need to post daily to be remembered. You need to be energetically true when you do.

5. Trust the slow build. Being sought after is a byproduct of coherence, not hustle. When you trust your value, your frequency does the calling for you.

3. What is the relationship between core wounds and core gifts, and how can one leverage this awareness for personal or professional growth?
Your core wound is often the place where you first experienced separation, pain, or unworthiness. But paradoxically, it's also where your core gift resides—because that’s the very part of you that holds empathy, insight, and medicine for others. Here’s how to leverage this:

1. Identify the wound → uncover the gift. Example: If your wound is “my presence is a burden,” your gift might be “my presence transforms rooms.” The more you heal, the more you can wield that gift intentionally.

2. Your gift is needed where your wound once was. You’re uniquely positioned to guide others through what you’ve navigated. It becomes the backbone of your work, story, and leadership.

3. Use it to guide your offerings. Build your business, creative work, or facilitation style around your gift. When it’s rooted in lived experience, it’s uncopyable.

4. Let the tension be creative fuel. That dance between “why me?” and “why not me?” is fertile ground. The tension means you care. The healing means you're ready to lead from your wholeness, not your wound.