Imposter Syndrome

The definition of imposter syndrome involves feelings of self doubt and personal incompetence that persist despite your education, experience and accomplishments.

This whole notion is very much connected to my journey with fear. There have been many times throughout my career where I battled this narrative in my head.

"Am I enough? Am I going to be able to show up when my mainstage event happens? Will I belly flop or will I stick the landing?"

I’ve had gut wrenching experiences where I’ve wondered every single day if I had what it took. I can either give up or show up. It is a series of micro-courage moments that get me through these points in my career.

Every single minute I had to show up. When you put enough of these show-up minutes together, they become show-up days, which lead to show-up weeks. The micro moments of courage lead to macro-courage.

You may have no idea where it will lead, but you keep making the choice to show up and keep doing the best possible work you can and your courage and self confidence grows every time you do that.

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Have I considered giving up? 

I used to have this false assumption that owners, CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and leaders always love what they do. 

Not true. I’ve had to reevaluate and recommit to what was required. Life has cycles, and that’s healthy. 

“When you get these squeeze moments, you need to get your heart back into it because it becomes a head commitment and you're not feeling it in your heart. It could mean that there's an ingredient missing and you need to resolve it differently so that it becomes sustainable.”

Relationships, homes, your workload: If you have found systems that keep each area of your life sustainable, you’ll burn out and giving up will feel like the easiest solution. Take time to evaluate, find what’s broken and figure out a lasting solution to make it work again. 

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Battling imposter syndrome is common among high achievers but every day you choose to show up and do the work, you grow your courage. Find systems that work and stick to it. Give yourself grace and allow yourself moments to reflect, reevaluate, and recommit to your dream. 

Then get back at it.  

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You can hear more about this topic on this episode of Scared Confident

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