Who Are You Afraid to Disappoint?

Who are you most afraid to disappoint—and how is that shaping your leadership? In this episode, Julia gets honest about the invisible pressure that drives so many decisions. She shares a personal story of people-pleasing, burnout, and the turning point that helped her lead with integrity instead of fear. If you’ve ever wrestled with the weight of others’ expectations or the pain of being let down, this episode offers practical shifts to lead with alignment, peace, and grace.

✨ Listen in and realign with what matters most.

Transcript

🎙️ Unstoppable Trifecta Podcast
“Who Are You Afraid to Disappoint?”

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “Who am I afraid to disappoint?” 🤔
It’s a question that sounds simple on the surface, but if you sit with it long enough, it will tell you the truth about where your loyalty, your energy, and even your decisions are rooted. 💡

For some of us, the answer is obvious—maybe it’s your boss, your spouse, your team, or your parents. For others, it might be more subtle—maybe it’s a mentor, a silent critic, or even a version of yourself you created in your head. 🪞

But here’s the thing:
Leadership isn’t just about vision and execution—it’s about self-awareness. 🧭
And if you’re spending more energy trying not to disappoint others than you are aligning with your own integrity, your leadership is leaking power. ⚡

Let me share something from my own story. 📖

There was a season in my life when I was saying yes to everything. I was trying to prove myself—to show I could handle it, lead it, carry it, fix it. And every time someone would ask me to take something on, I’d smile, nod, and say, “Of course.” 🙂

But inside, I was crumbling. Not because I couldn’t do it—but because I was afraid that saying no would disappoint someone I respected. I thought if I let them down, I would lose their approval… and that was a risk I wasn’t ready to take. 💔

That fear shaped my calendar. 📅
It shaped my decisions. 🧠
It shaped how I showed up. 🙋‍♀️
And here’s the kicker: in trying not to disappoint one person, I ended up disappointing myself… over and over again. 😞

Eventually, I had to confront the truth:
I was leading out of fear—not out of clarity, not out of purpose, and certainly not out of health. 🛑

There’s someone special in my life that I’m afraid to disappoint every single day. 💗
And the truth is… I probably do.

Not because I want to. Not because I don’t care. But because I’m human. 🧍‍♀️
And because the more we love someone, the more pressure we can quietly put on ourselves to get it right—all the time. 🧠❤️

But leadership—real leadership—requires grace. 🙏
Not just for others, but for ourselves.

It’s taken me a long time to understand that disappointing someone doesn’t mean I’ve failed them. Sometimes it just means I’m living in my truth. 🕊
And if the relationship is built on love, it can withstand the weight of honesty. 💬

I still carry that fear with me. I still want to show up well for them. But now, I’m learning to measure my worth not by how perfectly I perform, but by how honestly I lead—with love, with courage, and yes, sometimes with imperfection. 🌱

And just as I’ve wrestled with disappointing others…
I’ve also been disappointed by others. 😔
People I trusted. People I believed in. People I expected more from.

And that’s hard. It stings. Especially when you gave them your heart, your support, your belief. 💔
But here’s what I’ve learned:

Disappointment is not a permanent disqualification—it’s a pause. ⏸
A moment of reflection. 💭
And often, a reminder that we’re all growing. That we’re all showing up with our own limitations and our own fears. 🌿

The same grace I’ve needed to give myself—I’ve had to extend to others, too. 💞
Because leadership is never a one-way street. 🛣️

So today, I want to walk you through three leadership shifts that will help you realign when fear of disappointment—or the pain of it—is running the show. 🔄

1. From People-Pleasing to Principle-Driven 🧭
Ask yourself this:
Am I saying yes because it aligns with my values and goals—or because I want to be liked? 🤝

There’s a difference between being relational and being ruled by relationships.
Leaders who are principle-driven make hard decisions, even when it risks disappointing someone they care about. Not because they don’t value others, but because they’ve learned to value alignment more than approval. ✅

2. From Fear of Letting Others Down to Trusting They Can Handle It 👐
One of the lies we often believe is that if we disappoint someone, they won’t recover—or worse, the relationship won’t survive. 😟
But leadership requires us to trust others with our truth. It’s not your job to manage every emotion in the room. 🚫🧠

Sometimes the most respectful thing you can do is be honest about your boundaries. 🛑
If someone walks away because you couldn’t say yes—that’s not on you. That’s a reflection of their expectations, not your character. ✨

3. From Living for External Validation to Leading with Internal Peace 🕊
Let’s be honest: validation feels good. 🎉
Recognition, affirmation, praise—they all feel like fuel… until they become the only reason you keep going. ⛽

Internal peace doesn’t come from applause—it comes from knowing you’re in alignment. 🔒
It comes from knowing that even if someone’s disappointed, you didn’t betray your own voice to keep theirs calm. 🎭

When your leadership starts with peace, you’ll disappoint fewer people long-term—because the people who matter most will trust your consistency, not just your compliance. 🤍

So let me ask you again…
Who are you afraid to disappoint? 🤷‍♀️
Who’s disappointed you? 💔
And more importantly…
Are either of those people shaping your decisions more than your values are? 🧭

You get to choose who holds the pen. ✍️
And if the answer isn’t you, it’s time to rewrite the narrative. 📖

You were never called to lead from fear. ❌
You were called to lead from alignment, accountability, and resilience. 🌟

That’s what Leadership ER is all about.
Let’s keep growing, together. 🌱💬