Last updated March 17th, 2021
Do you ever catch yourself having thoughts like:
– ‘I am not good enough to launch my own company, write a book or have my own show?’,
– ‘Who am I to be considered an expert?’,
– ‘I am just an ordinary woman, why would anyone listen to what I have to say’?
If you do, you’ve just met one of your inner saboteur, the voice of your imposter syndrome.
An old friend.
I remember vividly being a teen in my bedroom. I was obsessed with dancing and I was practicing like crazy but I felt inadequate.
According to the pundits I had not started early enough so I could never amount to anything in dance.
So, even though I was practicing an insane amount of time, I had that picture internalized and my practice was flawed.
In a way, I wasn’t expecting to achieve perfect form.
As if in my mind I was going through the motion and adding practice hours until I felt I had enough hours under my belt to give myself permission to get better at it.
I wasn’t really taking myself seriously. I felt like a fraud and imposter.
And, I acted like it. But, it wasn’t really conscious.
Until one day, I became aware of that voice.
At that moment I told myself that it was ridiculous.
Right then I decided to stop playing dancer and to BE a dancer.
In that instant, once I gave myself permission to excel, everything about my practice changed.
And that move I had been practicing for ever with no results just came to me naturally.
Instantly!
It wasn’t about practice time.
It was about mindset!
Until I could see myself as what I wanted to achieve I couldn’t become it.
You'll never be ready if you don't have the right mindset. #ImposterSyndrome. Click To Tweet
Outsmarting the imposter syndrome.
Unfortunately, the imposter syndrome doesn’t leave us in our teens. It can still be with us, very much alive, to this day as adults.
Everytime we try something new, everytime we launch a new adventure, it is there.
And it whispers the same old stories about not being ready, about being a fraud.
In a way it makes sense, at the time I wasn’t a dancer yet.
Maybe you too are not a business owner, a podcast host or and author, yet. So yes, you could say we’re pretending.
But, what this inner imposter fails to see is that you cannot become what you want to become by standing on the outside of it.
You can’t become something you don’t claim for yourself.
So, if you keep acting like you don’t belong, like you are not ready, like you’re not good enough, that’s where you’ll be.
And that’s where you’ll stay… for a looooong time!
You have to make a choice, stand for your dreams and tell the imposter: ‘Thanks for the input, but now take a hike!’.
Then, you get back to work!
Can I ask you a question?
What does your imposter say to you?
Oh, I was forgetting…
Of course, if you feel this is all too much and that you could use some support and guidance in asserting yourself, overhauling your mindset and stopping self-sabotage from ruining your dreams, I am here for you.
There are many ways for us to work together so you can get the life and the kind of success you deserve.
Pin it for later!
Edited on Dec. 18th, 2019.
