Hey there! Welcome back to the podcast. In today’s episode, we’re chatting all about imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is something that most entrepreneurs face at some point in their business so if you’re currently dealing or have dealt with imposter syndrome in the past, know that you are not alone.
So what is imposter syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is when you begin to doubt your abilities and start feeling like a fraud.
Some thoughts that may tie back to imposter syndrome are:
Am I really cracked up to do this entrepreneurship thing?
There are so many better podcast managers out there than me. Am I even qualified to do this?
So and so is charging way more than I am for the same service. I don’t feel like I am worthy of making more than $xxx for this and many more
These thoughts can really eat away at our confidence and make us think we’re unworthy of hitting a certain income amount, unworthy of working with our dream clients, and unworthy of even owning our own business.
How can we combat imposter syndrome?
Acknowledge that what you’re feeling is imposter syndrome – The faster you acknowledge it, the quicker you can find a solution.
Separate feelings from fact – Once you’ve acknowledged the feeling you’re experiencing, it’s time to separate your feelings from fact. When you get too far in your own head, it’s hard to be rational so it’s important to do this shortly after you’ve identified what you’re feeling as imposter syndrome so that you can start to move past it.
Recognize when you should feel this way – There will occasionally be times where we should feel this way and that’s okay too.
Focus on the positives – When you experience imposter syndrome it’s because you actually care about the quality of your work and want to make sure it’s the best it can be so don’t be so hard on yourself if you make little mistakes here and there. We’re only human.
Develop a healthy response to failure – Having a healthy response to failure can be challenging but it’s important for growth. I used to get so angry when I’d make mistakes or not meet a goal I had set for myself, but now every time I experience a “failure”, I always take something away from the experience instead of dwelling on it forever.
Rewrite your internal monologue – Our inner mean girl can be truly vicious at times so it’s important to reframe your thoughts instead of thinking “I can’t do this. It’s too hard.” Start thinking “Although I may not feel 100% confident in this skill right now, everyone has to start somewhere.”
Visualize success – When I’m feeling down, I like to sit down with a pen and paper and write out what I view as success for myself. This really helps me get into that mindset instead of letting my negative self-talk win and bring me further down in the dumps.
Don’t forget to celebrate your wins – Something we often forget to do as business owners is celebrate our successes. We get so focused on our failures that we never take time to actually celebrate what’s gone right.
Fake it until you make it – And if all else fails, fake it till you make it. You probably know way more than you think you do so just exude confidence and you will beat imposter syndrome slowly but surely.
So I’d love to know, have you ever suffered from imposter syndrome? What steps did you take to combat it? Feel free to shoot me a DM at jenny.suneson on Instagram or join the Profitable Podcast Manager Society FB group. I’d love to hear from you.
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