When the World Calls You Too Much

Hello Thoughtful People,

How have you been since my last post? I hope you’ve been well, resting, reflecting, and remembering that your existence is not an accident, but an assignment.

Let’s talk about something the world rarely admits but always enforces: how power, when carried by certain people, is quickly rebranded as a problem.

A woman raises her voice and suddenly she’s “angry.”

A man sheds tears, and suddenly he’s “weak.”

A Black woman walks into a boardroom with authority, and suddenly she’s “intimidating.”

A parent sets boundaries in a culture of chaos, and suddenly they’re “too much.”

But here’s the truth: those labels are not descriptors, they’re weapons. Words designed to police brilliance. A social tax is placed on authenticity. And if we’re not careful, we start paying that tax with silence, shrinking ourselves to fit into spaces never built for us in the first place.

Think about it, how many icons, artists, and leaders have we watched get devoured by the very world that once praised them? The same press that crowns a celebrity will shred them when their humanity shows. The same culture that profits off “Black Girl Magic” will punish Black women the moment they stop performing and start confronting.

This is the quiet war of our time.

And this is where emotional intelligence (EI) stops being a boardroom buzzword and becomes a survival skill. EI is not about being palatable. It’s about discernment: knowing what belongs to you and what belongs to someone else’s fear. It’s about refusing to make their insecurities your identity. It’s about holding empathy in one hand and audacity in the other.

Because if history has shown us anything, it’s this: the world has never wasted energy suppressing what it did not fear. If your presence rattles systems, it’s not because you’re too much, it’s because you are exactly enough.

I explore these themes in my newest work, UNFAVORED. Not as a lecture, but as a mirror. A raw look at how centuries of favoritism, bias, and quiet brutality still decide whose brilliance is celebrated and whose is buried. It dares us to ask: if you’ve been labeled “unfavored,” what will you do with that truth? You can explore it on Amazon or Books.by. But understand, this post is not about a book. It’s about a movement. It’s about you!

So let me leave you with questions meant to disturb your comfort and spark your courage:

Who told you that your presence was “too much”—and why did you believe them?
When did you last apologize for being whole?
And what would shift in your life if you decided today that your authenticity is not negotiable?

Think about these not just as questions, but as mirrors. Let them echo in your spirit long after you stop reading.

Because the truth is, silence may keep you safe, but it will never keep you free.

Until the next post…
xoxo, stay thoughtful!