Part 1: When Being Good Enough Is Never Enough — Michelle’s Story

What happens when you grow up learning that other people’s opinions might determine what you’re capable of?

In Part 1 of this two-part What Triggers You? series, I sit down with Michelle, whose learning disability in math led others to underestimate her from an early age. She was told there were things she simply wouldn’t accomplish in college, a successful career, or the kind of life she ultimately went on to build for herself.

Michelle proved them wrong. But proving people wrong became part of the story.

Today, judgment, criticism, rejection, and even the perception that someone doubts her can still activate something much deeper: Am I good enough? Do you believe in me? Do I need to prove myself to you?

We explore how being underestimated can shape the nervous system long after the original experience has passed and how achievement doesn’t necessarily erase the wounds created by years of feeling judged or inadequate.

Michelle’s story reminds us that sometimes the trigger isn’t simply criticism. It’s what criticism awakens: the old fear that maybe everyone who doubted us was right.