Overcoming impostor syndrome as a coach, consultant, minster or entrepreneur.
According to Wikipedia, Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a \\\”fraud\\\”.
For years, I struggled with impostor syndrome. I was the \\\”go to\\\” girlfriend for all things techy! I\\\’d spend hours and hundreds of dollars learning about Digital marketing, blogging, social media, business management and more, yet I\\\’d feel so horrible when it became time to charge for services or consultation.
I also had feelings of being inadequate, thinking I didn\\\’t deserve the success that I had so I would teach free, sometimes for hours.
After attending the #Blueprintofhow seminar by Mfon Ekpo in April 2018, my eyes opened to possibilities. I realized that there\\\’s a difference between being humble and feeling like an imposter, and the fact that I wasn\\\’t really helping my friends neither was I helping myself. Sometimes I\\\’d be flat broke and doing free 2 hours consultation.
I realized that there\\\’s a difference between being humble and feeling like an imposter,
Why am I sharing this story, it\\\’s very common amongst coaches, consultants, trainers and creative entrepreneurs. Apart from the fact that many of us are not visible, imposter syndrome is a huge barrier to fulfilment and success.
In this post, I\\\’m going to share with you 5 simple steps to overcoming impostor syndrome.
1. Become aware: Becoming aware of what impostor syndrome is and how it manifests is a huge step towards overcoming it. Afterall, you can\\\’t overcome something you don\\\’t know. Also, knowing that you are not alone with the feeling and that many people, even some that you look up to have it as well, actually helps you put things in perspective.
2. Talk to people you trust: When I started sharing how I felt like I wasn\\\’t worthy to be a trainer, that I didn\\\’t know enough to call myself a trainer or coach, or that it wasn\\\’t fair to charge for my time, knowledge and expertise with my husband and a few friends, I was amazed at their responses. I started hearing things like \\\”you are the only one that I know that can do or teach XYZ and anybody who is serious about learning it should be willing to put their money where their mouth is\\\”, \\\”you can help people by teaching them and making appreciate it when they pay you for it\\\”. I have this particular friend who asked for my account number and paid ahead for a personal training. And she would always ask me \\\”how much is it going to cost?\\\” Anytime she called to ask for help. Of course I didn\\\’t charge her everytime but it helped develop a consultation structure and pricing which I am going to teach on my upcoming online course titled \\\”Thought leadership 101: building online credibility and visibility as a coach, consultant, trainer or creative entrepreneur.
3. Celebrate every win: These days I\\\’ve learnt to celebrate every win whether big or small! If I landed a N1k client, I\\\’ll celebrate, if it\\\’s a N1m client, I\\\’ll celebrate. I be come to realize that it\\\’s not really about the amount or the size of the win, it\\\’s about the fact that I am a winner! So it\\\’s easier for me to get things done because I\\\’m not only just about the big things anymore. Any opportunity to impact that I\\\’m comfortable with, I take on!
There are definitely more ways of overcoming impostor syndrome and you can find them Online but I hope these 3 tips which I personally practice regularly will set things in motion for you.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you can watch this video I found on YouTube here
I\\\’d like to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below.