Written by: Brooke Summer Adams, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Imposter syndrome is the act of doubting your capabilities and worth in doing the things you want to do, often coupled up with anxiety surrounding being “found out” and perceived as a fraud by others. Feeling like an imposter is a common obstacle faced by many when venturing outside their comfort zone and adopting a new identity. For first-time entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and mentors, this can be particularly challenging as these feelings of doubt can easily result in procrastination, fear and ultimately failure.
Brooke Summer Adams, Internationally Accredited Transformation Coach, NLP Master Practitioner, International Speaker, Trainer and Writer and Yahoo Finances’ Top 10 Female Life Coach of 2021, is here today to give you her top tips on overcoming imposter syndrome and owning the identity of the person who does what you want to do.
1. Understand that feeling like an imposter does not make you an imposter
It's important to remember that your thoughts are not facts. Every reason you give yourself as to why you ARE an imposter could just as easily be a reason as to why you’re NOT an imposter.
If you’re telling yourself you’re not good enough to be an entrepreneur because you’re feeling so overwhelmed, remind yourself that entrepreneurs are supposed to have several things on their plate at once – it doesn’t make you an imposter. It makes you an overwhelmed entrepreneur.
If you’re telling yourself that you’re not capable of being a coach because you yourself still experience bad days that you struggle to cope with, remind yourself that coaches aren’t robots. You’re not an imposter, and you’re a relatable human being – all human beings have bad days, coaches or not.
Resist the urge to be so gullible with your thoughts. They are thoughts, not facts.
By default, whenever you begin to venture outside your comfort zone, you will experience feelings of doubt, urges to procrastinate, fear, negative self-talk and discomfort as a form of perfectly natural self-sabotage. The part of your brain that holds your beliefs around who you are as a person would much prefer you to stay inside the comfort zone – because the comfort zone is predictable and safe.
Experiencing imposter syndrome when embarking on a new journey is not a sign of being an imposter. It's your confirmation of evolution. It's the perfect sign that you are becoming more. Once the part of your brain responsible for this self-sabotage realises that you are not actually in danger, it will ease up. This is normal, just ride it out and stop doubting yourself.
2. Drop your expectations
One of the most common misconceptions observed by mindset coaches when it comes to feeling like an imposter is this unbelievably invalid belief that finding something uncomfortable or difficult makes you an imposter.
Here’s your wake-up call…
Being an entrepreneur isn’t supposed to be easy. Finding clients isn’t supposed to be effortless. Creating a business is often stressful. Showing up online usually feels scary at first. It's not normal to feel 100% confident in yourself all the time.
Manage your expectations. Finding something hard, doubting yourself, or being scared doesn’t mean you’re an imposter – it means you’re doing it.
Resist the urge to assume that everyone else around you who’s doing what you want to do is finding it effortless. The reason they’re doing what you want to do is because they’re doing it even though it was hard, scary and sometimes stressful.
Finding something difficult, difficult – is normal. It's just a part of the process. Ease up on yourself, and you’re not supposed to be finding everything easy.
3. Trust yourself
If you’ve been led to a place of pursuing something new – trust that it was meant for you.
You wouldn’t have wasted your time doubting whether or not you were able to fly if the opportunity presented itself to you because you KNOW you can’t do it. If you really couldn’t do this, you wouldn’t be taking the time to even doubt it.
It's normal to have moments of doubt. What matters is that you still WANT it regardless of how many reasons you can tell yourself as to why you’re not good enough, capable enough, or worthy enough. Trust that. You’ve been led here for a reason.
4. Get a coach
Sometimes no amount of logical thought or managing of expectations can shift the feelings of not being good enough to do what you want to do. In these instances, it is often the case that feeling like an imposter is deep-rooted inside the beliefs you hold around your worthiness and capability as a person. This is when it's time to seek out the help of a coach.
A coach will be able to help you re-write the narratives you’re holding surrounding your worthiness and capability, develop self-belief and truly own the identity of the person you want to become and the life you want to create. You can connect with Brooke by using any of the links below.
People can connect with me via Email, Facebook, Instagram, or my Website. Wherever you go, you’ll find helpful training and info on all things transformation. Read more from Brooke!
Brooke Summer Adams, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Brooke Summer Adams is internationally accredited in Transformational Coaching, certified to a master-level in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a graduate of Psychology with a 1st Class Honors Degree (BS.c), a Yahoo Finance Top 10 Female Life-Coach of 2021, a Brainz 500 Global Award Winner of 2021, a Workshop Facilitator at the worlds 1 Coaching Academy and an international Speaker, Trainer, and Writer.
After overcoming chronic stress, low self-esteem and body dysmorphia, Brooke was inspired to take to University to study Psychology, become an Internationally Accredited Transformation Coach and NLP Master Practitioner and set up her own online coaching business.
After several successful years in business transforming over 100 women into the best versions of themselves, being recognised as a Yahoo Finance Top 10 Female Life Coach and becoming an International Speaker and Trainer, Brooke then moved into the field of transforming first time coaches ‒ so they feel ready to transform others.
This experience, on top her qualifications, allows her to transform first time coaches into the version of them who has what it takes to create their vision, by helping them build unshakeable self belief and confidence, overcome fear and take aligned action.
