Winning Without Losing Yourself with Iman Jordan
Don’t mistake the key for the treasure.
Just because our podcast is called You Are The Prize doesn’t mean we’re against actual prizes. Get those awards!
This week, we asked singer-songwriter Iman Jordan what winning a Grammy changed for him. He smiled and said, “Everything. And nothing.”
It might sound like a contradiction, but of course it makes perfect sense.
The Grammy changed everything about his opportunities. It opened doors, introduced him to new people, and gave him credibility in bigger rooms. Those things are real and they matter. We don’t have to pretend otherwise.
Sometimes a prize actually does unlock access and create momentum. But the danger is confusing the key for the treasure.
We imagine that if we could just win the award, get the promotion, land the client, publish the book, or hear someone say, You’re amazing, then we’d become someone different or better.
Except that’s not what those things are designed to do. Recognition doesn’t create your value. It reveals it to people who couldn’t see it yet.
That’s what we mean when we say, “you are the prize.”
The invitation isn’t to stop chasing big, audacious dreams or the accolades that might follow. It’s to stop asking them to answer a question they never could: Am I enough?
No award will ever answer that. That’s your job.
So what do you do while you’re waiting for your version of the Grammy?
You become someone you enjoy being. You keep your promises to yourself. You make things you’re proud of, even if no one sees them. You surround yourself with people who remind you of your gifts. You practice receiving encouragement without becoming dependent on it.
Then, whether the award comes or not, you already know the answer.