TRY THIS: What do you think you deserve?

To learn more about how much (or how little) you think you deserve, here are a few questions to answer. (Scoring is at the bottom of this section.)
1. When offered a sumptuous dessert after a great meal in your honor, you
a) insist you’re full, even if you’re not. (All the while watching everyone else eat it, wishing you’d said yes.)
b) sit in tortured indecision about the dessert, until you finally pass it up because that’s what everyone else is doing. (Later, you think about it with a pang.)
c) decide the diet can go just this once and dig in, gratefully, knowing you can work off the calories with extra exercise tomorrow.
d) automatically decide that since you never eat dessert (even though you love it), you’ll miss this one, too.
2. You tend to earn
a) just enough money to eke out a living, though you do rack up regular credit card debt
b) more money than you need … but you spend more than you should, so you end up with little at month’s end
c) adequate money for your needs, savings, investments, etc.
d) less than you’d like, but not dramatically so. At least some savings programs, etc. are in place
3. When it comes to finishing your creative projects, you tend to
a) work on them endlessly without the satisfaction of completion. (Darn things are never quite good enough.)
b) throw away or drop most every project you start. (Whom are you kidding, anyway?)
c) push through to the bitter end, even when the going is tough. You’ve even mustered up the courage to submit some of your work to professional venues.
d) always back off near the end, leaving the work hanging, unfinished. But you WILL get to it someday. Hopefully.
4. Your friends tend to be
a) few and far between. (Nobody really understands you.)
b) a competitive bunch with whom you’re afraid to share your most vulnerable feelings, dreams, etc. (You’d never ask them for support!)
c) honest to God allies full of support for your creative dreams and projects. You feel blessed.
d) divided between those who are critical and those who are soundly in your corner. Sometimes it seems the nay sayers win out.
5. When it comes to your dreams in life, your spouse or partner is usually
a) annoyed most of the time, so you don’t mention them much
b) closed mouth, but not vocally protesting all the time, either
c) squarely in your corner, taking actions that actively support your dream
d) worried you’re going to ‘take the leap’ and change your life so radically they can’t keep up or adjust. But you haven’t really talked about it with them in earnest.
6. Your day job or main source of income is
a) best described as toxic … and there appears to be no way out
b) barely tolerable, but at least provides some pretty good money
c) a workable fit for your dreams right now, though it may change in the future
d) something you really have to change, but not until you’re ready which isn’t quite yet

Scoring:
If you answered mostly a) or b), you’re probably putting up with a whole lot of ‘tolerations’ as the late coaching guru Thomas Leonard put it. Perhaps it’s time to redesign your life to really put some commitment into living your dream.
If you answered mostly c) you’ve already decided you deserve a lot and have set up your life accordingly. Good for you!
If you answered mostly d), you’re on your way to a sense of deserving more, but still need to work on it.
Wherever you fall on the spectrum, believe it when we tell you …. You ARE
worth it!