You're an imposter and so am I
/I’m not a fan of the word Imposter, nor have I ever thought of myself as suffering from Imposter Syndrome.
But I have:
Worried about what other people will think
Replayed a meeting in my head to review everything I said
Wondered, “Why would [insert impressive person] want to talk to me?”
Asked, “Who am I to receive this opportunity?”
Which by definition is Imposter Syndrome: self-doubt and feeling like a fraud despite evidence to the contrary.
Okay, okay, maybe, but having a name for it doesn’t help it get better.
Author and marketing guru Seth Godin’s perspective though puts Imposter, Fraud, Self-doubt in new light for me, and hopefully you too.
He went on to talk about how we have to be Imposters when launching businesses, writing books, interviewing for jobs, doing anything for the first time, because we haven’t done it before.
We’re seeing what can happen.
Experimenting. Exploring. Dreaming bigger. Taking action.
If Seth Godin or anyone we admire can be Imposters — if you and I can be Imposters and still try new things, survive setbacks and failure and find a way through — it’s much braver than it seems.
As my fellow A students can attest, we don’t like the potential of getting something wrong (the potential of not getting an A on our first attempt), but that doesn’t usually stop us from being scared & doing it anyway.
Many of us are leaping into new territory right now. Going after more meaningful work, more fulfilling relationships, more sanity and patience in a hyper-changing world. When the feeling of self-doubt surfaces, I hope we’ll take a second to remind ourselves of what Brave Imposters we are.
I’m proud of us.
Are you a Brave Imposter too?