Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Why would they ever buy from me?”
Or, “Who am I to do x,y,z?”
If you’re in the coaching game or an entrepreneur I can guarantee these questions plague your thoughts from time-to-time.
This is what we call imposter’s syndrome and it affects most people who set out to do anything outside of the status quo.
It can be the #1 thing holding you back from branding yourself.
If you’re not confident enough to present who you are, you won’t create a strong brand for yourself.
This is why I put learning how to overcome imposter’s syndrome as the number one thing you must conquer prior to creating a brand for yourself.
1. Recognize Imposter’s Syndrome for the Lie it is
The first thing when learning how to overcome imposter’s syndrome is to recognize it for what it is.
It’s a lie.
According to research authored by Villwock, Sobin, Koester, & Harris, imposter syndrome is linked to feelings of self-doubt and intellectual fraud and can lead to failure.
Thinking you’re an imposter is nothing but your inner child or your ego trying to protect you from a limiting belief.
The best way to silence the nagging voice inside your head is to list out all the reasons why you’re qualified.
A specific exercise I like to do is to list 77 reasons why someone would want to hire you over someone else.
This is one of the first things we do in my coaching program, The Path to 6 Figures.
This can be as big as listing your skillset and experience, and as small as listing your tone of voice, background, gender, race, or age.
Just take a few minutes and write down every single reason why your ideal client would hire you.
Once you can see your qualifications on paper, your imposter’s syndrome voice won’t be so loud.
2. Acknowledge the Truth about Imposter’s Syndrome
The second step to learning how to overcome imposter’s syndrome is to acknowledge there is always someone doing more or less than you out in the world.
For many entrepreneurs, this relates to pricing.
When it comes to setting a price for your products or services, I recommend that you don’t get too caught up in who’s charging what.
At the end of the day, there is ALWAYS going to be someone charging less or more than you.
You also need to have the mindset that your prices have nothing to do with your worth.
Money is a neutral resource and it doesn’t have emotion towards you.
The feelings that arise over money are strictly a projection of your own insecurity of what you think you’re allowed to have.
When it comes to pricing your products or services I recommend doing the “happy price” exercise.
I want you to think about the price that is going to get you excited to do the work.
Not the price you think is logical, but the one that gets you motivated and excited to to work.
When you price yourself from a place of authenticity and inner reflection, your imposter’s syndrome holds a lot less power.
3. Stop Idolizing Other People
My last bit of advice for how to manage imposter’s syndrome is to stop idolizing other people.
We have a habit of making random people on the internet so much bigger than they are.
We get caught up in the flashy marketing, professional photos, and sales copy that are all designed to draw you in.
When in reality, they are just another person working to pursue a dream just like you.
If this is something that’s hindering you, I recommend finding these people online and finding their human qualities.
Separate the human from the brand and allow yourself to see what’s really going on behind the scenes.
For me, sometimes, it helps to find out what age they are.
I also like to learn if they’re married or have a partner, what state they live in, or where they get their coffee.
When you can pick up details that make them more relatable, they become more real.
There’s not very much that separates you from them.
You have just as much ability to become as successful and impactful as you want.
Over that imposter’s syndrome and kick it to the curb!
4. Increase Your Confidence
I can remember the exact moment I decided to become more confident in myself.
I was extremely shy, self-conscious, and felt out of place in my surroundings.
You may feel this exact same way right now.
People used to call me “stick legs”, because I had very, very skinny, bony legs.
I remember I was 15, laying on my bed looking at my skinny “stick legs”, and for the first time I thought to myself, “I have beautiful legs”.
I can remember that moment so clearly.
It was the moment I decided I wasn’t going to allow anybody else to define who I was and I was going to define it for myself.
From there it took me several more years to become the fully confident person that I am now, and I still struggle with some things these days.
In reality you’re always on a journey to build greater confidence.
Our lives are never perfect, and we’re human, so there’s always progress to be made.
All that being said, I have discovered a few confidence boosters that have helped me in my life and business.
5. Love Yourself
Look at yourself, love on your facial features, your body, your everything.
Just look at yourself and tell yourself that you are beautiful (because you are, and you are a perfect creation).
Back in the day, I used to be self-conscious around guys, and I was painfully shy.
When I went to college I made the switch from glasses to contacts, and immediately I started feeling more confident in myself and my appearance.
I had an attitude in high school about it, I didn’t want to be seen as only getting contacts to look better — but when I went to college I felt like it was time to do what made me feel great about myself.
Shortly after, I remember one day where I was sitting outside of Walmart waiting for my cab to take me back to campus.
This guy walked by, and I remember thinking, “I’m just going to smile at him and see what happens.”
I took a deep breath and just gave him a genuine, nice smile, and I caught his eye.
He looked at me and he smiled back.
After that?
Oh man, nobody could tell me nothing.
I felt so super confident.
I used to affirm myself (I still do), telling myself, “You look great, you look beautiful.
You’re smart, you’re confident, you’re intelligent.”
Speaking life over myself helped me build my confidence from the inside out.
When you constantly love on yourself and celebrate all the beautiful traits that make you who you are, you’re nurturing the confidence inside of you.
You’re convincing yourself of a better reality all the time.
6. Step Outside of your Comfort Zone.
When you take a little walk on the wild side you jolt yourself out of your everyday routine.
You remove yourself from your safe haven of insecurities, and you challenge yourself.
When you prove to yourself that there is really nothing you can not do, that instills credibility within yourself.
This also goes hand-in-hand with imposter’s syndrome.
We all know that imposter’s syndrome creeps up when you feel as though you’re underqualified or don’t have the right to show up in a certain space or in a certain way.
When you step out of your comfort zone and try new things, you gain more proof for yourself to know that you have every to go after the life you want.
Once you start validating yourself and lifting yourself up, you can begin surrounding yourself with others that do the same.
7. Surround Yourself with People Who Uplift You
You have 100% control over your emotions and what you choose to believe about what people say.
But, it’s much harder to control your feelings when you believe the words of your peers.
So rather than combatting them negativity all the time, surround yourself with peers who uplift you.
This is why community is a big part of my program, The Path to 6 Figures, where we teach how to create a marketing system to get coaching clients.
It doesn’t feel good for ANYONE to be treated below their worth.
Your friends shouldn’t be lovingly making fun of you all the time.
They shouldn’t be scoffing at your dreams, or just “telling you the hard truth because they love you”.
Real love and real support feels pure, genuine, and feels warm, not conflicting.
To boost your confidence and overcome imposter syndrome, I recommend surrounding yourself with people who make you feel good.
Find people who you enjoy hanging out with and who you have a positive time with.
8. Release Your Stress of Being Different Than Who You Are
Everybody is figuring it out, and learning along the way.
There is no shame in not being perfect.
In all honesty, it makes you more relatable and easier to listen to.
The best thing about creating is that your clients are hiring you for your specific style, knowledge, and tactics.
They aren’t paying for any old “professional” who’s clean-cut and recites statistics.
No, they want real, authentic, genuine help from you.
Release the pressure to appear above your clients, and let them know that you understand them, because at one point you were just like them.
It’s pretty hard to be a fraud when you’re just being yourself.
9. Recognize Your Are Not the Message, You’re the Messenger
Whether you show up or not, speak up or not, take a risk, or not — the message is still going to get out there.
Someone’s going to say it, so why not you?
Why should you, who is the best possible person for the job, shrink back and let the light shine on someone else?
Should you give them the light just because you feel like you don’t belong?
What if the people you should be working with get bad information from an actual fraud?
What would happen then?
When I realized that I am the messenger, and not the message, it truly helped me distinguish what I was called to do.
It made my duty far more important than my insecurities.
10. Improve Your Skills
If after getting to this point you still feel you don’t belong, or are a imposter of some kind, then you may need to simply gain more skills.
To overcome imposture syndrome, you may have to fine-tune your craft.
So, educate yourself, learn new skills, get more experience, and prove to yourself that you do belong.
This goes hand in hand with stepping outside of your comfort level.
You have to practice being more confident.
You have to do things that challenge and stretch you into that new level.
You have every right to be confident and to feel validated in your work.
The more you practice believing in yourself, the sooner it will become your reality.
When you get a dose of divine confidence it’s only natural you’ll want to share your message with the world, and want your voice to be heard.
Afterall, you have so much knowledge to share.