Do you suffer from imposter syndrome? If I were to ask you that question your first reaction would be to say, why do you ask me? But do you know that according to some studies, up to 82% of experts suffer from imposter syndrome?
It’s all too common for us experts and other high achieving people to undervalue ourselves and what we know. I believe that’s the exact name for imposter syndrome.
One of my students one day pulled me aside and told me she had been suffering from imposter syndrome all her life. She mentioned that speaking about it in class was a great relief.
I never knew how pervasive imposter syndrome was before then but I mentioned it casually in a class. Before now we used to speak about lack of self- confidence.
Imposter syndrome can lead to procrastination, over preparation, self-doubt, depression, anxiety, feeling like a fraudster, and other negative feelings.
According to Wikipedia, the term impostor phenomenon was introduced in an article published in 1978 by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. Rather than imposter phenomenon, the term imposter syndrome is now the commonly used phrase.
So, imposter syndrome lurks everywhere and can raise its ugly head when you least expect it.
Take the case of the post shared anonymously recently in an online group I belong to. Here it is verbatim but I’ve added punctuations to make it easy to read.
How do you find your “value” in the marketplace? I don’t have a fancy education or anything. And so much information I find about starting businesses these day talks about having an online course.
I am not sure what to teach or if I even have the credentials to teach it. I don’t have a big following on social media and I’m struggling to get by every month. I started a clothing line this year but I have low volume of product and low sales. Every extra dollar I have goes into my business. I need to figure out a way to make more money.
A casual look at the scenario appeared to me to be one of those rants by a frustrated student and business wannabe. So my natural reaction was to send a quick reply along the following lines.
You don’t find “value”, you create value – like when Sony created the Sony Walkman, Apple created the iPod, iPhone, iWatch, etc., and Jeff Bezos created Amazon. These are global examples.
On an individual basis, you can create value by writing an eBook on a subject you’re passionate about, e.g. obesity.
It takes time to make impact – months, years – so you have to be consistent and persistent. However, if you continue producing, you’ll sooner than later start making impact.
CATT is a framework that works well. CATT: C = Content A = Attention T – Trust T = Transaction.
You have to build trust based on the content you create and the attention you draw to your brand before you transact.
Inexperienced business people, including digital marketers, do the opposite. They start transacting without building trust. The long term result is always failure. Another mistake inexperienced creators make is that the latch on to get-rich-quick schemes in the hope of making quick money rather than creating value and building trust first. This approach also always leads to failure and frustration.
One way to succeed is to find a paid coach, unpaid mentor and/or register in a relevant course.
Make 2023 the year you succeed at scale by building a solid foundation for your brand and business. [END]
However, a closer look pointed to the fact that this was a clear case of imposter syndrome. The writer castigated him or herself by saying “I don’t have a fancy education or anything”. And, “I am not sure what to teach or if I even have the credentials to teach it.”
But this was followed by the information that the writer was “starting a clothing line.”
So, taking a second look, I realized this was a clear case of imposter syndrome. We beat ourselves up that we know “nothing.” We look at others as being smarter, superior and more intelligent than us.
Make it a task that must be accomplished by kicking imposter syndrome out of your life starting in 2023.
One way you can find out what you really know is to carry out a skills audit. A skills audit involves writing down everything you know and have ever done.
Have you been a Boy Scout or Girl Guide? Have you participated in debate or drama in school? Were you a member of your school’s sports team? Did a teacher ever compliment you for doing something “great” no matter how insignificant you thought it was? Have you written an article for a local newspaper? These are the places to start from.
From your audit, find out if any of the skills you have could be valuable to other people. You’ll be surprised at how many others raised their hands for your help. You have skills that you undervalue because they come naturally to you. Just down the street are others who hunger for that same skill and would be willing to pay for it.
Here are my personal examples. First, I like writing, so one day I announced “Book Writing Clinic”, and guess what? Many experts showed up to the extent that today we have a BWC community. Second, I like teaching. So one day I announced “Internet Business Mastery Course” and guess what? People showed up. This happened when I didn’t even know how to conduct a Zoom meeting. Today iBMC is a movement.
Fighting imposter syndrome is a long drawn process so you have to be on it until you heave it off your back. Luckily there are experts in the field you can learn from. One of them is Dr. Valerie Young, the founder of the Imposter Syndrome Institute.
Here are Dr. Young’s original 10 steps for overcoming imposter syndrome:
- Break the silence
- Separate feelings from fact
- Recognize when you should feel fraudulent
- Accentuate the positive
- Develop a healthy response to failure and mistake making
- Right the rules
- Develop a new script
- Visualize success
- Reward yourself
- Fake it until you make it
Follow the ideas, suggestions and recommendations in this blog post to say goodbye to imposter syndrome. Face 2023 with greater optimism and can-do spirit knowing nothing can stop you.
