Imposter syndrome is a killer…. and it’s totally made up. By you.
Which is nuts because it feels SO REAL!!! All those mean things you tell yourself about not being good enough, not having the right background, not showing up in the best way… every single second of every day…. they’re all fake. Unrealistic and unreasonable standards that you’ve set yourself… SO THAT YOU WILL FAIL!!
… because then you’ll be right…?
Have you ever had that feeling? That weird sense of satisfaction that says “See? I Knew I couldn’t do it! I knew I wasn’t good enough!”
Well I have. And it’s dumb.
And it’s LITERALLY wrong. Because I can do all kinds of things. And I can do SO many more things in REALLY great ways than I realize. Even sitting here, writing this, I have that voice in my head saying “Who cares? Why would anyone want to hear what I have to say? No one’s ever going to see this, so what’s the point!” And that voice is LOUD!
But it’s also wrong.
Because you’re here. Reading. And even if you weren’t, this would all still be worth doing. For myself. It feels good to say things and feel like they matter. Even if they only matter to me.
So here’s what I’m going to tell you.
When you're suffering with feelings of inadequacy, don't stuff them down... feel them.
Not dealing with them gives them validity. Assumptions that stay inside your head very quickly become fact. Not that they’re actually true (I’m fat, I’m useless, I’m wasting my life and my time) but if I never get them out of my head and test them in the real world, I’ll never realize how ridiculous they really are. (I’m beautiful, I’m valued, I’m doing really hard things in really important ways)
Don’t swallow that imposter syndrome and all those mean things. Swallowing toxic things makes you sick! Instead, say them out loud. Figure them out (where are they coming from? What are they telling you?) Call them out, take a step back, and realize how ridiculous they are.
Bad things get smaller once you get them out of your head.
Comments