The Superwoman Lie: Releasing the Pressure to Be Everything for Everyone

She never taught you to rest. She taught you to hold it down. To figure it out. To “be strong” even when it was killing you inside.

And somewhere along the way, you confused survival for strength. You learned how to show up when no one else would. How to clean up messes that weren’t yours. How to silence your needs just to keep the peace.

That wasn’t love. That was labor. And you’ve been carrying it like an inheritance.

The Superwoman Complex isn’t empowerment. It’s emotional enslavement.

It’s being praised for what you endure instead of what you feel. It’s being useful while slowly becoming invisible. It’s learning to fix everything while never being allowed to fall apart.

This is what happens when a little girl grows up being everyone's backbone — even while her own spine is cracking.

You don’t get to rest. You don’t get to be soft. You don’t get to say, “This hurts,” without someone rolling their eyes or throwing guilt in your face.

You don’t want to be Superwoman. You want to be seen. You want to be held. You want to be supported without having to prove your worth.

But here’s the thing:

As long as you wear that cape, no one will ever ask what it costs you to fly.

Take the cape off. Burn it if you have to.

You’re not here to be everyone’s emergency contact. You’re not the “go-to” for people who disappear when it’s your turn to fall apart. You are not a rehab center for broken adults who refuse to heal themselves.

That strength they keep applauding? It came from pain. Pain you were never allowed to name. Pain you turned into service.

I wrote Mothered by Survival for women who were forced into roles they never signed up for. The strong one. The responsible one. The “good” daughter.

But you can’t be the strong one and the healed one at the same time. One of them has to go.

You don’t owe the world your exhaustion. You don’t owe your mother your silence. You don’t owe anyone access to your body, your mind, or your energy just because they’re used to it.

You were not born to carry it all. You were born to be free.

➡️ If you’re ready to stop being the emotional mule for everyone else’s survival, my book Mothered by Survival will walk you back home to yourself.