Video Script:
“What was I thinking? I’m just not good at this. Why would anyone even care what I think? No one’s going to watch this, it’s a complete waste of time. There are so many people that are way more qualified than I am. This is awful. I’m gonna give up and just do something else.”
Have you ever talked to yourself this way? As creatives, I think we all have at some point – myself included.
Whether it’s pitching a brand design, selling my services to potential clients, or starting a YouTube channel – Imposter Syndrome is one of the biggest challenges I’ve had to overcome in my creative career.
That’s why in today’s video I’ll be sharing THREE tips that have helped ME overcome my own imposter syndrome. I hope that they’ll give you the push you need to break through the negative self talk and take your creative confidence to the next level.
So, before we jump into how to conquer imposter syndrome – let’s talk about what imposter syndrome actually is and why we feel it.
At a high level, imposter syndrome is basically the feeling of not being good enough at something and the fear of being “found out” by your peers.
Studies show that around 70% of people will experience Imposter Syndrome at one point or another, and it’s something that largely affects perfectionists, which explains why it seems to be a problem for so many of us creative types.
While there’s no definite single cause of imposter syndrome, many psychologists believe that it’s something that starts when we’re kids. We grow up constantly competing with our peers – whether that’s to get the best grades in class, lead our school sports teams to a championship, or to beat our friends at Street Fighter.
So basically, this focus on winning, measuring our success against others, and being “the best” that’s engrained in us as kids ends up carrying over into our adult lives. We feel like we need to be great, and if we aren’t, then people are going to discover that we’re frauds.
Of course, this is a feeling that’s largely made-up in our heads and isn’t based on how others actually see us. Most people have too much going on in their own lives to scrutinize how well we’re performing in our own.
Okay, so now that we’ve talked about what imposter syndrome is – let’s talk about 3 methods that you can use to overcome it.
Tip #1: Be Open and Honest
I think the worst thing you can do to try to get over imposter syndrome is pretend that it’s not happening. You don’t have to publicly announce to everyone that you’re experiencing it, but sharing what you’re feeling with your friends, family, and close peers can be a huge help.
In my experience, you’ll almost always find that other people are experiencing the same thing, and that shared experience can help you make the realization that this isn’t just a unique “you” problem. It’s eye opening to discover that some of the most skilled people you know feel like imposters sometimes too.
Tip #2: Zoom out
Are you actually a fraud? Or does it start to seem illogical when you remove your feelings from the equation?
A lot of the times when you “zoom out”, you’ll realize that the feeling isn’t anything more than an irrational fear. For example, if you’re feeling imposter syndrome before you pitch a new logo design to a client, you can ask yourself:
- Haven’t I done this before?
- Haven’t my past clients loved the work I’ve done for them?
- Did I follow my creative process that’s been successful in the past?
- So why am I feeling like such a fraud?
For someone like me that tends to value a logical approach, looking at imposter syndrome from a perspective of “does this actually make sense” does wonders. Try it for yourself and see if you’re able to poke logical holes in the negativity.
Tip #3: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Finally, one of the best things you can do to beat imposter syndrome is to rip the bandaid off and get out of your comfort zone. Even after you open up to your friends about the way you’re feeling and you poke holes in the logic, you may still feel some self doubt – and that’s completely okay.
Sometimes, things are just a bit uncomfortable – that’s life. The important thing is that you don’t let that hold you back from doing what you set out to do.
Take me for example, I’ve been wanting to start a YouTube channel for YEARS, but I kept putting it off because I would tell myself that other people were creating better content, everyone else already had a head start, etc and so on. Thankfully, I’ve finally pushed through all that and here I am getting out of my comfort zone and starting my channel.
This final tip is all about using something psychologist Albert Bandura coined as “enactive mastery”.
To put it simply, Bandura ran a series of tests that have scientifically proven your confidence grows the more you do something and the better you get at it. I know it sounds obvious, but honestly one of the best ways to beat imposter syndrome is to put in the reps, learn the fundamentals, and practice, practice, practice.
When you get really familiar with doing something, it gives you a huge boost of confidence, it starts becoming second nature, and you gain the ability to silence that nagging voice in the back of your head. I promise you the more you grow, the less like a imposter you’ll feel.
