3 Simple Ways I Trounce Imposter Syndrome

Strategies to believe in yourself enough to keep going

It’s not just you struggling with, “Who am I to be doing this?”

It happens when you start something new.

Especially if it’s creative.

Whether you’re writing online, starting a business, or pivoting in middle age.

You’ll hear a cowardly voice nagging in your ear,

• You don’t belong.

• You’re not good at this.

• You’ll be laughed out of town and exposed as a fraud.

Be prepared when this happens.

It helps to know that about 70% of us face this Imposter Syndrome sometime in our lives.

According to psychologists.

(You have to ask, do the other 30% have insufferable hubris instead?)

It’s common.

It lingers.

It can be debilitating.

And you’ll crank up Imposter Syndrome whenever you start looking sideways.

Comparing yourself to others in your field.

You’ll forget that they’ve been at it for decades.

You’ll ignore the fact that they’re thirty years younger.

You’ll presume they sail through their days.

You’ll be wrong.

On my writing journey, I’ve tried all the usual suspects to get over this feeling.

I’ve shared my feelings.

I’ve journaled.

I’ve accepted that I may never get over feeling like an imposter.

I’ll just live with it.

And on that note, I’m apparently in stellar company.

Celebrated writers Tina Fey, Seth Godin, and Neil Gaiman also confess to feeling like frauds.

I don’t know how they keep Imposter Syndrome at bay.

But here’s what I do now instead of listening to that old naghead.

1. Focus on serving the audience

I’m in the writing game to communicate something worthwhile to my readers.

So it’s not about me.

I write to connect with them and help improve their lives.

I figure that the more I interest, inform, and entertain my readers, the more I’ve earned their attention.

My job is to get to the point.

To bring topics to life.

To not waste the reader’s time.

To get rid of dead-weight words, add imagery, and speak simply.

To spend the time needed to format my work so that reading is an effortless pleasure.

And if I bring value to my readers, I’m doing my job.

When this respect for and trust in my readers clicked in, Imposter Syndrome took a back seat. It quietened down. I was too busy to listen to it anyway.

Before, I focused on the wrong things—me and my shortcomings.

I switched to focusing on the readers instead.

This changed the game.

2. Dive in the deep end

If I'd succumbed to Imposter Syndrome, I'd never have taken risks.

I'd never have led the ebook or lead magnet challenges I ran in the last few weeks.

No way.

So many (legitimate) reasons to baulk at this:

• I’d never run a challenge before.

• I hadn’t prepared the material.

• I wasn’t sure I could deliver the goal.

• It was starting tomorrow!

What did it take?

I had to get slides ready every day.

I had to respond to questions as we went.

I had to change the schedule when the challenge needed it.

Talk about just-in-time learning and teaching!

No room to doubt or question whether I had the chops.

Did it go better than expected?

Hell yeah.

Would I do it again?

I already did.

Will I keep offering this now?

Yes, because readers want it. (See #1).

Am I still an imposter?

I’ll let them judge.

3. Reread past praise

Create a “praise file” to run to when you need to circle the wagons around your self-worth.

And keep Imposter Syndrome at arm’s length.

Because who doesn’t need reassurance, after a long and busy week?

When you realise that your blog post, Substack Note, or tweet is due.

And you’re out of ideas.

And that imposter voice is suggesting that you never had ideas anyway.

And today is a good day to give up.

Then you open that praise file and remember how:

• an online fan enjoyed your “unique way of tackling adverbs”

• a reader commented that you made their day with a Mary Oliver poem you shared

• when 4 years old, a teacher saw the house in your squiggle and said you could paint! (even though your parents clearly struggled to know which way was up when they stuck it to the fridge)

The point is that this is true feedback.

Genuine.

Heartfelt.

Human.

And it’s powerful ammunition when that sabotaging, security-conscious voice inside starts in.

To hold you back.

Doubt your skills.

Question your value.

Just watch as that file of praise expands and you grow in confidence.

And you realise that other voices exist that don’t nag.

Other points of view.

Other ways of seeing you.

Other paths you can step out on and be heard.

So, next time you feel hesitant

• about taking on something new

• about stretching beyond where you are now

• about whether you’re ready, good enough, or you belong

Be prepared and have some practical strategies in place.

And leave Imposter Syndrome in its small, smelly cage where it belongs.

I’ll be running more ebook and lead magnet challenges in the new year, and paid subscribers will receive a generous discount. DM me if you’d like to join a challenge waitlist.