I’m not sure who needs to hear this but feeling like an imposter or fraud usually means you are on the right track.
Recently, I went to a mastermind meet-up that was super encouraging for me.
The high of that experience carried me through a whole week…until I got to Friday.
Then I crashed—in more ways than one.
I felt down, discouraged, and I had a major case of imposter syndrome—a psychological occurrence in which people doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments and have a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as frauds.
My narrative went something like this, What am I doing anyway? This is never going to work. You can’t establish a business based on your ideas, expertise, reputation, and personality. You’re not smart enough or good enough. There are so many people who are better at this than you. You’re never going to make it.
And on it went.
I bet you’ve felt the same way at times. In fact, anytime you try something new and risky—go for that promotion, sit down to write that book or article, pitch a new proposal, start putting together than business plan, create something, or whatever it is (you fill in the blank)—you will face resistance.
Resistance, as author Steven Pressfield first described in The War of Art, is that unseen force that comes against human creativity.
But as Seth Godin tells us, we are all imposters. It’s extremely likely that you are not the very best qualified person on the planet to be doing whatever you are doing. He writes:
Isn’t doing your best all you can do? Dropping the narrative of the imposter isn’t arrogant, it’s merely a useful way to get your work done without giving into Resistance.
If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome today, instead of fighting it, lean into it, do the work anyway, and say to resistance (I recommend doing it out loud),
“You’re damn right I’m an imposter. And so is everyone else on the planet. Now shut up and get behind me!”
When does imposter syndrome rear its ugly head in your life and what do you do about it?
I would love to learn from you,
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*Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash
