IS is an umbrella

This umbrella won’t protect you

Wow – what a response to my email last week! 

I asked what you are dealing with right now and needed help with and my inbox blew up. I want to thank all of you who responded. That took courage and I am so appreciative of your raw honesty and trust in me.

What it showed me is Imposter Syndrome is alive and well – and running rampant. 

Many of you asked what it really is so I’m going to give you my version of it. 

Imposter Syndrome is the umbrella for all things that produce a lack of self-confidence and a feeling of not being good enough. Even though you are qualified and successful your perception is a mismatch of your skills and abilities.

Here’s a sampling of the many ways it may show up for you:

• You feel like a fraud and worry others will find out you don’t know what you’re doing.
• You are a perfectionist and are afraid to fail, which creates a ton of stress
• You bump up against the glass ceiling (real and self-imposed) and are frustrated as hell, so you work harder and harder to prove your worth.
• You struggle to lead authentically because deep down you lack self-confidence.
• You’re exhausted and don’t feel worthy despite your successes.
• You think you’ve been given a position or a responsibility by sheer luck – that you know you’re not equipped for — and you keep telling yourself that you don’t deserve it.

It doesn’t happen just at work either.

Make no mistake: Imposter Syndrome creeps into your life and steals your joy.

AND – I have good news.

You don’t have to suffer. 

Like the high-achieving professional women I work with and the thousands I speak to, there are ways to manage and release the grip it has on you.

First and foremost, remember this:

Just because you think it, doesn’t make it true.

That one statement can completely change how you react when those thoughts – that stinkin’ thinkin’ – start to overtake your mind.

Question those self-defeating thoughts.

Ask yourself: Are they problem-based? Are those thoughts all about worry and doubt and fear?

Are they useful?

Will you get where you want to go by thinking them?

Just by noticing when those thoughts start seeping into your mind, you make them less powerful.

And when you get curious and ask those questions, you realize how much of your brain is on autopilot, thinking the same things over and over again.

Being curious helps you shift out of that Spin Cycle of Negativity™ and into a lighter more optimistic mindset.

And curiosity feels better, more enjoyable.

P.S. If you are ready to take your career and life to a new level and turn your self-doubt into a boatload of self-confidence, schedule your complimentary consultation with me. Like the saying goes, into life a little rain must fall. When that happens, don’t you want to have the right umbrella – the one that supports and protects? Let’s talk.