This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about imposter syndrome.

I'm sure most of you have heard this term before, but let's define it.  It's characterized by internally refusing to believe you are as good, accomplished, competent, or capable as others perceive you to be.  Basically, you feel like you're a fraud or that you just got lucky to get to be where you're at.  You won by accident or you were promoted by luck.  People with imposter syndrome tend to overwork themselves to ensure they are keeping up and have feelings of inferiority, even when others consider them experts.  What is dangerous about this way of thinking is that you are afraid to step off the hectic treadmill of hard work because you're afraid everything will fall apart.  People with imposter syndrome have a difficult time celebrating their success or accepting their achievements.

If you recognize some of this behavior in yourself, how do you start improving on it?  First is to know that there are a ton of people that you look up to who also feel imposter syndrome- it's more common than you'd think!  In fact, it was reported that 70% of people experience Imposter Syndrome!

1.  Show vulnerability.  Something that has been really helpful for me is showing vulnerability.  It's scary at first because you're putting it out there that you aren't as perfect as people think you are, that you make mistakes, that sometimes you don't know exactly what you're doing... but instead of others thinking - "oh! I knew that person as a phony!"  Chances are, they'll respect you even more.  It humanizes you, but that doesn't make you less than.  It also will help you practice more self-compassion when you feel like you can be yourself and show all parts of what you're doing, not just the highlight reel of your successes.  People want to share in the ups and downs of your journey and the downs don't make you an imposter. An example of a time I showed vulnerability when it truly scared me to do it was when I took a video of myself crying uncontrollably in the hardest race I had ever done to that date- the Yak Attack in Nepal. I did a TED Talk about it and how to define success in your life.   Putting a video online and later, in a TED Talk of me crying like this still makes my chest tighten.  Crying publicly and even in front of friends or family is something I do not do.  I've never wanted to share that side of me, but as terrifying as it was to share have this video live on the internet, it was amazing how powerful and impactful it was.  You gain strength and can positively impact others through vulnerability.
2. If self-critical thoughts pop up and your imposter brain starts taking over, don't fight the thought.  Use the meditation technique of RAIN- Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Non-Identification.  Recognize it, take a moment to accept it and allow it to be there, ask yourself if it's really true and where you might feel it in your body, and last - say something to yourself like "this is just a thought, it is not me.  I'm separate from this thought. I'm okay.  It's okay."
3. Be aware of when you are comparing yourself and it brings up feelings of inferiority.  Personally, this happens when I'm looking at social media.  I see people who seem to be racing more, training harder, better at promoting their podcast, or who seem to have it together more than me.  It feels icky when I look at it from an "I feel like I'm not enough because of this other person's post."  I don't always feel that wa

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.