The imposter syndrome sneaks in faster than just about any other fear when it comes to running a business! It can hit like a ton of bricks and leaves us sitting there wondering what happened to our momentum and asking ourselves “ Who am I to really be doing this?”. We have spent time planning, telling others about our dreams, and right as we are about to dive in it stops us dead in our tracks!
Clearly I have been there before just like I am sure you have. This is one of those topics that can be hard to talk about and even harder to overcome, but it is also something that won’t go away no matter how “experienced” you are. ( and trust me, I hate to say that! ) The good news though is that there are a few ways that you CAN tackle this fear before it allows you to lose your excitement and momentum!
You can actually be MORE relatable than someone who has been in business for more time!
There are clients for you and people who need you and your services at every step of your journey!
When I first started my business I actually LOVED learning from others who had been in business for 5 years or less verses those who had been in it for 10. While those who had been in business for longer were crazy successful, I had a hard time connecting to them because I felt like that success was too far away at that time to really grasp.
When I spoke with other photographers though who were still learning and evolving like I was, things made more sense and I felt like I was able to keep the momentum moving forward in my business. Plus, it allowed me to really stay in my lane and not focus on those who were doing bigger things that I couldn’t even wrap my head around!
You are always one step in front of someone else and always in the right place to make a difference! Our clients or followers don’t need someone who has years of training under their belt, they just need someone who has gone through the hard stuff one step ahead of them!
The same goes for anyone who is just starting a business and needs clients! You may not be the best photographer around, the best coach, that best planner, etc – but you are the perfect for for your clients who need you right now! Don’t let the world not see your talent and gifts all because you are afraid that you might not be good enough yet. You unrefined gift is still better than those who don’t have it and need it, people need your gift in it’s unperfect state!
Celebrate your wins, even the small ones!
Celebrating your wins is a huge way to help get rid of the fear of imposter syndrome because your wins are what others see and why they want to work with you! Because of how close we are to our business we can see all of the “mistakes” that others don’t see at all. We read too far into these mess ups and think that because we have a slip up that it every other win is now void – but that’s not the case! Write down your wins, all of them, and keep them somewhere close so you can see them often!
Progress over Perfection!
This one is HUGE! I believe that if we let fear creep in and stop us from moving forward then we will get stuck right where we are now really quick! When fear creeps in like this for me I actually love to sit down and make a list ( I am a huge list maker! ) and map out all of the steps that I need to take in order to get where I want to go! From there I take baby steps and Then each week I add in a new step! It can be a slow process to start, but once you get going things get easier and much less scary! The key is to stay moving forward in the direction that scares you!
Messy action is always better than waiting for the perfect moment that will never come!
Visualize what it will be like…
This is actually my favorite thing to do when I get nervous! I am very much a visual person so I visualize a lot! When I start to feel the imposter feelings creep in I visualize WHY I want to do what it is that is scaring me! I visualize myself actually doing it, how I feel when I am doing it, and what the outcome of me doing it looks like! This is one of the fastest ways for me to get myself excited again and back on track moving forward!
Remember, the experts that you look up to have been right where you are now!
Honestly, that says it all! The experts that we put on this pedestal were right where we were just a few years ago! They didn’t have overnight success, they didn’t escape the fear of being an imposter, they didn’t have it easy – they put their head down and pushed through it! They knew that their “ why” for doing whatever it was they wanted was stronger than their fear of not being enough or being a fraud! They knew that they had a special gift that needed to be shared even if it was imperfect and messy to start!
