“So tell me, do you still suffer from Imposter Syndrome?” This question came from an old friend who I met up with last week for the first time in over a year. She told me she’d been following my work and life on social and now she had me in the room, this was the burning question she was desperate to ask me. A big smile beamed across my face. I felt excited and proud. “Yes I do. Of course I do. All of the time!” I told her, to which she replied: “I don’t get it” she said, “you always seem so confident. How can you be confident and still have Imposter Syndrome?”
If you’ve seen my work or my social posts, you may have wondered the same thing. But when you treat my confidence as a sign that I am over Imposter Syndrome, you’re missing the point. The reason I can show up with confidence, is because of my Imposter Syndrome, not in spite of it. It’s because I’ve turned it into a strength.
I know It’s not easy to see how imposter syndrome and confidence can sit comfortably together. I know this is the opposite of what you’ve always thought about imposter syndrome or been told by those who are trying to help you overcome it. But there’s another way to think about Imposter Syndrome. It’s a more empowering and effective way to think about it and it’s a way that produces the kind of confidence that lasts. Want to know how? Start listening.
