It’s time to take the driving seat in your life
By Isla McGraw, 09 July 2026
When you’re little, you have no idea of the world waiting for you at the end of your childhood. Then all of a sudden, you reach your late teens and the world watches as you attempt to carve out the rest of your life – the friends you keep, the job you get, the life you want. You have to navigate a world of trying and testing times. A lot of women reach this moment around the age of 18 – when you are officially classed as an adult. Some women are faced with this much earlier in life. We may not reach the same point at the same time but one thing we do have in common – as women – is we are all trying our best. Trying to build the best possible life for ourselves, trying to be proud of the choices we make and the people we become. It’s a hard balance to get right – reaching the expectations you have for yourself versus letting fate run its course to lead you where you think you’re supposed to be.
Sometimes I worry that I take the passenger seat in my own life and let fate take care of the rest and I know I’m not the only one. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes it feels good to go with the flow and just see what it happens. But if the only reason you take that approach is because you don’t believe or think yourself capable of anything better than the life someone somewhere has chosen for you, then that is the moment you should open the passenger door and make your way round to the other side of the car. That is the moment you take the driver’s seat.
70% of women have suffered from imposter syndrome at some point in their careers, compared with just 58% of men (Hays report). As women, not all, but a lot of us can be guilty of diminishing the value we bring to not only a work environment but a lot of other areas in life. There is a quiet internal voice that reminds us not to get above our station. Whether this was created from personal anxieties or societal beliefs, I think it’s about time this little voice got a new perspective.
Instead of asking yourself why you would possibly deserve better, ask yourself why you wouldn’t. If it’s achievable for someone else, why would it not be achievable for you? The same way we think ‘well I’m just not that lucky or special or talented enough to live a life like that’, why not try thinking ‘actually there is no reason why I wouldn’t deserve that’.
It is no secret that more men apply for jobs they’re underqualified for compared to women. Women only feel confident applying for a job when they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only 60% (Hewlett Packard report). Further research from a LinkedIn Gender Insights Report shows that women apply for 20% fewer jobs than men despite similar job search behaviours.
The one question I keep finding myself asking is ‘why?’. Why do we not feel good enough? Why are we hesitant to apply for opportunities? Why? Why? Why?
So maybe the question isn’t why we don’t feel good enough. Maybe it’s what would happen if we started believing that we are. What would change if we trusted ourselves a little more? If we took the chance, even when we felt unsure? If we stopped waiting to feel ‘ready’ and just began anyway?
To every woman and young girl reading this:
You don’t need permission to take up space in your own life.
You are allowed to go after things you don’t feel 100% ready for. Growth doesn’t come from certainty.
That voice telling you to stay small isn’t truth – it’s habit. And habits can be changed.
No one is more capable, more deserving, or more entitled than anyone else.
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is choose yourself, even when it feels unfamiliar.
You don’t need to be the most qualified person in the room. You just need to believe you belong there because you do. You are not here to sit in the passenger seat of your own life. You are here to drive it.
Isla is Junior Editor at Westender Magazine. She studied Journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University and Performing Arts at Italia Conti. She is passionate about amplifying women’s voices and in her spare time Isla can usually be found at a coffee shop with her Chow-Chow, Wallace. www.linkedin.com/in/islamcgraw