It’s So Real!!!!

There might have been days where you felt you’re not good enough. Even when you’re really good at something, you felt as if you’re a fraud deceiving others in some way or form.

It does not have to be for monetary gain, it can be related to something as simple as sharing your ideas on certain topic that you’re well versed in with your experience and knowledge in that particular area.

No matter how good you’re at something, this feeling creeps in at times. It may not be as serious but the timing of this can very well impact your craft. More importantly your confidence.

I’m sure you have heard of this before somewhere. If not, this phenomena is called Imposter Syndrome.

The Price of Staying Connected

In this age and time, we are all aware how digitized our world has become. Most of us are staying connected primarily via social media. We see a lot of people on social media ‘winning’ at life. But if you really sit down and think through, that ‘winning’ can be rather subjective.

For example, if you are creating content, you see others in similar niche that you’re in who’re doing so well, in your eyes. Perhaps whatever they’re doing is indeed at a different level than you’re in.

But that’s only because it’s their month 20 whereas you’re in month 3 of your content creation journey. There’s already a subconscious comparison going on in here. This can be one of the major cause of why you feel like an imposter.

This content creation was merely an example. This can be implied to anything, any profession, any activities, anything that people thrive to get good at.

The Comparison

When we are consuming social media, comparison can sneak in unconsciously and make ourselves feel not so good about the things we are doing. And I am no exception.

I love taking photographs and making videos. Naturally I am attracted to folks who do similar stuff, some of them are professionals.

Most of the time I am consuming their stuff to get educated and inspired to brainstorm ideas for my own craft.

There are times when I get sucked in the whirlpool of comparison even though I know I am on a different path, at a different level than where they are in a given time.

I start comparing myself and can’t help but wonder why my stuff is not as good as theirs. This can be a good thing as well because this really forces me to think outside the box to improve my craft.

However, on the other side, imposter syndrome creeps in. I start feeling inadequate and even question what I am doing is really for me?!

This doesn’t do any good but just butchers my confidence, makes me feel less and catapults me in the world of procrastination. All sorts of excuses: I am not good enough, I don’t have enough time, is this even making any difference, etc. start getting louder in my head.

I am pretty sure I am not the only one who has gone through this. You might have certain areas in your life that sent you through this similar experience.

Even the greatest actors, writers, poets, teachers, educators, entrepreneurs admit that they have gone through this at some point in their lives.

Is It Solvable?

The biggest challenge is to be able to catch yourself when you’re falling into the trap of imposter syndrome before it paralyzes you. However, it is possible to be aware when your mind starts drifting with imposter syndrome. With enough practice, you can become good at managing it.

So, the good news is: yes, it is a manageable problem.

Here are few ideas, I have implemented in my own life, that have helped me tackle imposter syndrome:

• Ask yourself if it is really something you’re bad at or is it just your head tricking with you.

  Get feedback from others & see where it lands.

  Even after doing this, if you still feel like you are not good at whatever you’re doing, it will open doors of opportunities to improve that particular skill.

• Always keep in mind that: perfection is an illusion and things are always going to be work-in-progress.

  This doesn’t mean you just give your bare minimum. It means you give your 100% every single time implementing learned lessons from previous attempts. Focus on progress over perfection.

• Be kind to yourself. It can be disheartening to know that you’re not good at something that you love to do.

  However, you have to understand that it takes years of practice and repetition to become really good at something.

  Somedays things will flow while other days, it is hard to even make a scratch. Be gentle and kind to yourself.

  Acknowledge your weaknesses and work towards improving them by leveraging your strengths.

• When you feel like you have hit a wall, explore ways you can learn about the topic at hand.

  It can be simply Googling some ideas or even taking a mini course.

  If you’re able, don’t hesitate on taking courses from folks who’ve been in the similar area/industry, have established a sense of authority among the mass and is someone you have learned some via their free value driven contents like YouTube, Newsletter, etc.

  While it’s imperative that you research the course first & see what others are saying about it, the $$ you spend on learning is an investment you’re pouring on yourself. It is very well worth it to invest on yourself.

• Setting goals is important but those goals being realistic is even more important. Once in a while sit down to asses what level you’re at and then set realistic goals for next period of time. And never hesitate to take action.

  Action taking is the only way you can get from point A to B to C and so on. Instead of doing the thing, if you keep on just researching and planning while not having time at all to take action, you may start not feeling so good about where you have reached and that’s when the feeling of imposter syndrome can creep in.

• Journal and embrace the journey.

  Make a habit of mind dumping on paper every single day.

  It can be about anything and everything.

  Specially on the days when you’re feeling negative/pessimistic, creeping-in imposter syndrome, worrisome, etc., writing down what’s on your mind can help separate yourself from the thoughts you’re having & give you a better picture on what is really going on & what you can do about any of those things.

There we have it. These are just tiny Legos for making a Lego house or a castle as we all know a journey of thousand miles start with a single step.

My hope is, as you read through this, you’re able to come up with your own ways of dealing with imposter syndrome.

It’s a bummer that it never goes away but the good thing is with enough practice and actively focusing on improving ourselves, it becomes so much more manageable.

I myself am still a work-in-progress but I have come a long way.

A quick example in my life would be not wanting to appear on camera. If you have seen my new Instagram, I am appearing everywhere on my posts. And yes, I used to have another Instagram where my focus was just showing the ambiences, nature, mood, etc.

But truth be told, imposter syndrome was there crippling my confidence to appear on the camera hence I never showed up in the camera or shared the videos I have on my library.

If you’re interested, here’s my new Instagram. Let’s connect there as well: https://www.instagram.com/projectself01/

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading and I will catch up soon 🙂

Till then, stay groovy!

Proj