Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

We all have that voice in our heads telling us we’re not good enough or our message doesn’t matter.  In recent COVID19 fueled events, that voice, for many, has become more powerful than ever. Even if you’ve had the wind knocked out of you, it’s VITAL you keep going.  Here’s how…

That voice saying what we’re about to say is stupid, or we haven’t had enough education/experience to share. That voice is called “imposter syndrome” and it is the cause of an epic volume of suffering.  In this article you’ll get a breakdown on how to overcome that & steps to push forward.

What exactly is imposter syndrome & why is it such a problem?

“Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which one doubts one’s accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. – From the good people at Wikipedia

That definition is pretty on point AND I’d argue it’s not going far enough.

Being exposed as a “fraud” is a real feeling, however the more pervasive thought is that the act of speaking of ones accomplishments, experiences or ideas won’t matter.  That there’s just “too much noise” out there to make an impact.  That too many other people are already talking about what you know about.

It’s not so much an “imposter” but more “why bother, I’m not important” syndrome.

In my experience, it appears the voices are being fed by a steady diet of “OMG there’s so much out there.”  It’s a symptom of realizing the “hugeness” of what’s already on the net. It’s then further amplified by the sudden realization of what a person must “overcome” to reach an audience.

But your voice matters.

Your voice matters more than you know AND because of the vastness of the net, there’s a real chance you may never know how many lives you can change for the better.

Here’s some good news: I can prove this.

Note: I’ll cover this in a moment, but if you’d like to watch the replay of a livestream COVID business makeover with Michelle, co-founder of a brand new company working to prevent suicide & sexual abuse you can see exactly how life & death taking steps to over come this really is.

Even on the smallest level, have you considered…

What if someone out there who was struggling, maybe even thinking of ending it, was to hear your story & feel a sense of connection?

What if, just for a moment, they realized they weren’t alone in the universe.  What if they realized another person was just like them, felt the same way & was able to pause.

What if that sense of connection saved a life?

You see, that’s how this works.

When you get out there, publish your articles, do your podcast, build your list…

You create ripples.

Just like in a pond, those ripples travel away from you & bump into other people.

Let’s take this a step further & say you have knowledge or a skill that can create a massive, transformational value in someones life.

What if you know how to enhance communication between a couple on the verge of divorce?

What if you know how to help parents better raise better kids?

What if you know how to streamline processes so a business can save thousands and avoid laying off workers?

What if you know how to shift a persons perspective so they are able to realize their blessings & it transforms their lives from a living hell into a beautiful place?

But there are already so many people out there saying that stuff… Why would someone listen to me?

This little “logic bomb” from our inner voice LOVES to try to prove our message doesn’t matter by showing us the sheer volume of people on the net.

Your voice is right.  There are people saying things you may want to say.  Lots of them.

What your voice probably doesn’t know is none of that matters.  Here’s why:

There are MILLIONS of people who aren’t able to hear the messages because YOU have been holding back.

I’m not kidding.  YOUR unique voice is the single thing that could transform a life for the better.  The reason this works is because some people simply connect better with YOU.

I’ll prove it:

Think about a time you were looking for a solution or an answer.  It can be anything.   A cooking video a “how to housebreak a dog” how to get your kid to not turn into liquid and melt onto the floor every time you try to start math homework.

How many results did you find?

Tens of thousands?  Millions?

And what did you do?  You clicked around, maybe tried a few different YouTube videos…

Until what happened?

You found one that connected with you.  Maybe it was how they spoke, maybe it was how they got right to the point (or didn’t) maybe it was that they told a funny story at the start…

You see what I mean?

Out of alllll the options you jumped around until you found the one that worked for you.

And that’s how it works.

YOUR voice is unique because of YOU.

Here’s another way of looking at it:

Do you have friends?

Out of the thousands of other people somehow this weird group of people chose to spend time with YOU.

The same thing will happen with your story & your message.

Lots of people will click on by.

But there will be those, souls just as lost as those who call you friend ;), who will stop, engage & have their lives transformed because of it.

That’s how this works.

You send out ripples.

Don’t worry if you don’t have millions of followers or fans.  BIG audiences come to those who keep doing this for a long time.

So if you’re not there yet, don’t sweat it.

Focus on the ripples.

Focus on putting something out every day. Even if it’s small.

Focus on making ripples.

Okay.  Enough of the touchy-feely stuff.

Here’s a HARD CORE COVID19 example of why focusing on the ripples is important:

As mentioned above, I recently had a livestream COVID business hot seat with someone who had their new business literally blown up by the social distancing orders.

Her name is Michelle & her company helps prevent suicide & sexual abuse.

She and her partner had JUST started out, booking a healthy volume of spots at physical conferences when the “shelter in place” order went out.

In a minute, everything they had worked for was shut down.

Being new to starting a business, she and her partner had taken a major hit and didn’t know how to proceed.  She was worried their site & social media weren’t even up.  Her thought was to wait it out before doing anything.

She was worried about the wrong things.  Sites don’t matter.  What matters is your message!

As luck would have it she had signed up for a webinar of mine.

When I reached out to everyone to see who might want some help on a hotseat she messaged.

You can see the rest happen on the replay but here’s the overall breakdown:

“You go to war with what you have NOT with what you need” – a totally redone version of a Donald Rumsfeld quote

During our video chat Michelle & I went over what she was thinking, feeling & believed to be true about her situation.

I pointed out that what she did, the messages & information she carried, could potentially impact millions of lives for the better.

• Her message could potentially save the lives of those who were about to end their own
• Her message could help others, now in quarantine, identify those closest to them who might be at risk

But all of that was only possible if she got her message out.  If she focused on the ripples NOT having her site, social properties or other business trappings perfect.

And THAT is how YOU can change the world

You see, maybe sometimes it’s not about YOU delivering the final impact message.  Maybe sometimes your message is meant to push others to deliver theirs.

Like in this situation.  I know how others can build audiences & amplify messages.  That’s my message…

“But there are so many “business coaches” already out there with bigger platforms.  You’ll be swallowed up in all the noise and nobody will ever hear or care” – my inner voice

I gave it the finger.

I sent out my ripples…

Those ripples bumped into someone I had never met…

She resonated with them.  She signed up for a webinar.

Because she signed up she got an email…

She responded to that email…

Her message can save lives…

My message helped her realize how impactful her message really was…

And the ripples continue to spread.

Do you see now?

This is how it works.  And it can work for you in the same way.

You are enough.  The noise is irrelevant.  Your message matters.

It message matters even more now than ever, even if you don’t feel like it does.

Go make your ripples.

Jonny Andrews