Look at you. You’re trying to make something of yourself. Trying to make your mark on the world. Leave a legacy. Congratulations, you’re actually doing what most of us wish we had the courage to do! Except for the part where you feel like a complete fraud.
We hear all the time about YOLO and FOMO. Self-care, self-love, self-improvement. But there’s one incredibly common issue that us “common folks” really don’t hear addressed quite as often. Impostor syndrome.
A definition
Impostor syndrome is something that we don’t tend to feel until we’ve started making substantial changes to our comfort zone, self, and life. And once things start heating up and you make moves and hone skills and start going about creating things to put into this world, there’s that little voice in your head that starts saying to you. “I can’t do this. Who do I think I am? I must be crazy–I’m just a person. I can’t be this brand/dream/etc.” And that little voice is impostor syndrome.
Look on the bright side
If we’re going to take a futile attempt at positivity for its own sake, impostor syndrome is kind of a good sign. It means that you’re stretching yourself to make moves and do something to leave this life better off because you were here. That you’re trying to put something of value out into the world. That’s a good sign.
Impostor syndrome means that you’re on the right track. You’re attempting to build, you’re starting to open up to marginal amounts of success that are either happening in front of you or that you’re preparing for mentally. Impostor syndrome is one of the last gasps of thinking small. So no matter how daunting it seems, the fact that you’re feeling this way, at least rationally, can be chocked up as a win.
A little perspective
So the next thing that I’m going to mention is another thing that you already know. See, you’re absolutely brimming with wisdom if you’d only remind yourself of it. So, back to what you know.
Everyone who’s ever done anything in the history of this world has been just a person. Just like how you’re just a person. All of those big names: Malcolm X, Gandhi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, literally anyone you admire. They’re all just people. Who were born naked. Needed to learn how to eat and use a toilet and communicate their needs. We’re all, and always have been, just people.
When it comes down to it, the people who have really made their mark on the world were ones who had potential and then did something. And in some cases, nobody saw their potential beforehand anyway. So really, they were just people who did something. (Or made it their business to keep doing things, in the case of largely influential figures.) When you break it down like that, why can’t it be you?
Newsflash
So now that we’ve talked about the things that you already know, I want to mention something that you may or may not know. Which is that everyone who is successful feels this way from time to time. Maybe that’s because there is a little bit of luck in every success. And deep down, we know that. We see how different things could have ended up if we’d done things even slightly differently, or if we had been introduced to other people. But we don’t consider this about others, and that leaves us with a certain level of unbalanced crediting.
Maybe nobody completely deserves the amount of success they get. There is always some level of outside forces that come together to help or hinder what we’ve got going on. But I will say this. If you did the work to get to where you’re at and you’re still doing the work to maintain and improve it, then you deserve it. Your feeling that you don’t is just an unbalanced emotional credit system skewed negatively towards you. And it’s that way because you’ve seen your journey, but there’s no way you could have experienced everything about these inspiring figures. And that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve what you’ve got.
We afford others a sense of dignity that we don’t afford ourselves. When you see yourself at your highest, it’s easy to remember yourself at your lowest and think that person didn’t deserve to end up here. All the greats feel it. Welcome, to the greats.
What to do
So, I’ve mentioned a bunch of things that you know or maybe don’t know but do now. None of it was a solution, and hardly any of it was valid persuasion, either. And I’m not entirely convinced that impostor syndrome is evidence of something wrong with you, either. I mean, sure it can be construed as not giving yourself enough credit, but maybe it’s just evidence of you trying to be honest with yourself about where you believe you’re at as a person. That being said, it can be pretty uncomfortable, and at some point, not useful. So if you’re in the market to put an end to your impostor syndrome, here are some ideas.
- Remind yourself of what you already know. The greats are just people like you. You at your worst doesn’t define you at your best. And these feelings are a good sign that you’re doing something worthwhile with your life.
- Continue to hone your skills. You want to keep working on your craft, whether it’s art or business or general beingness. If you continue putting in effort into your path, it won’t feel as unearned.
- And finally, start to humanize those you look up to. Listen to interviews, read their biographies and autobiographies. When you actively seek to paint them in a more humble, accessible light you will see that they truly were great. But also that they truly were, and always will be, just humans.
In conclusion
Don’t let your sense of impostor syndrome get in the way of what you want to do with your life. If you’re seeing success, celebrate it, and do what you can to convince yourself that you deserve it, just like any of your predecessors. And here’s something else: don’t pressure yourself into being some sort of airbrushed, polished version of yourself that’s inauthentic in order to be “one of the greats”. That’s not what it takes.
It takes effort, passion, and vision to create a life that’s beautiful and makes a difference in those around you. Not perfection. Not ultimate righteousness or infallability. You’re not invulnerable. That’s okay. You’re wildly, messily, perfectly human. And that’s one of the coolest things of all.
If you’ve found success in overcoming impostor syndrome, please leave us a comment below to let us know how you did it, so we can all learn from each other. And if my words touched you today, consider subscribing to the blog. You’ll get weekly posts on new ideas to build your fulfilling life. And check out my twitter and facebook pages for more binding thoughts. Talk to you next week– bye for now.
