Legal Imposters

The question I want to ask you today is, are you ready to progress?

It's not enough to have a strategy to progress. You also need to be READY to progress.

Here's how you know you're ready:

• You balance your time, making time for the other things that matter, meaning you prioritise your self care and you take care of your personal relationships.
• You handle your day job with calm and ease. Even in the face of tough deadline, even when the unexpected happens.
• You have confidence in who you are, so you aren't dependent on external validation to know you're good at what you do and you don't make negative feedback mean something negative about you
• You feel supported, personally as well as professionally, meaning there are people who've got your back and want to see you succeed.

Balance. Ease. Confidence. Support. These are the 4 Progression Pillars and, although they are not the core of your progression strategy, they ARE an essential part of it.

The 4 Progression Pillars don't just support you to progress to the next level. They help you succeed there and sustain you when you get there so you're much more likely to stay there.

One of the common mistakes I see on the road to partnership or other promotion is going for the goal and sacrificing everything else on the way. This is not a clever strategy and neither is it a winning one.

Ignoring the 4 pillars while you go for promotion has a cost. It's like pressing the accelerator and the break at the same time - it slows you down, creates friction along the way so everything is harder and reduces your chance of getting there.

Today's episode is going to change all of that. In it I explain what it means to be ready to progress and I walk you through what's required.

Want to know if you're ready to progress? Complete the Progression Audit and find out today. This is the exact audit I get my clients to complete when they join BE THE FIRST, to look at their readiness to progress. Today I'm offering this audit to you free of charge so you can start the essential work of understanding where you are. Click here to complete the audit:

Complete your Progression Audit

Questions? Send me a DM on social or email me [email protected].

What's in a name?

Everything.

Until now you thought your name was just a name.

It is so much more than that.

Your name is your anchor. It's your identity. It's your brand. It's the connection to your capability and a powerful reminder of who you are at your core.

This week on Legal Imposters we're talking about the value of your name and the potential it has to make you feel unique and valuable and confident in who you are so you show up to your potential.

But before your name can have such a powerful impact on how you feel and the work you do, first you need to claim it.

That's exactly what I help you do in this episode.

I give you 3 simple steps for claiming your name so you can connect to it, identify with it and utilise it as a confidence building tool.

I share how your name is the first (and, when used intentionally, the most important) line of your IMPOSTER SPEECH, which you build inside CONFIDENT Black Lawyers. This is the pep talk you need when your Imposter Syndrome has been triggered, to overcome the feeling of not-enoughness and give you the confidence to do great work.

If you're a black lawyer, at any career stage, and deep down you know you're capable of more, join CONFIDENT Black Lawyers and claim your name as part of a 5 step process for building confidence in who you are so Imposter Syndrome never holds you back. Click this link to discover how: https://caroline-flanagan.mykajabi.com/confident-black-lawyers

How do you speak to yourself and treat yourself?

What words and judgements are unconsciously playing, like a sound track in the back of your mind, as you go through the day?

What you say to yourself in the quiet of your mind matters. How you speak to yourself when you've made a mistake, your readiness to celebrate yourself and recognise your contribution when you have a success - all of this matters deeply to how confident you are at your core and how well you perform in the work place.

In this week's episode of Legal Imposters I invite you to turn inward and listen to your inner dialogue.

I explain how negative self talk is sabotaging your success and the importance of catching it, recognising it and changing it so you become your own champion.

Being your own champion isn't about being cocky or arrogant.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary desribes a champion as someone who vigorously supports and defends a person (or cause).

This is exactly what I encourage you to do from this moment on: vigorously support and defend yourself, in the face of both success and failure, so you have the confidence to fulfil your potential.

P.S. If you're black lawyer, at any level, and you're tired of undermining your own confidence with self criticism and judgment, CONFIDENT Black Lawyers is for you. In it I walk you through a proven process for connecting to your capability so you become your own greatest champion and have the confidence to succeed in a white world. Click this link to join now: https://caroline-flanagan.mykajabi.com/confident-black-lawyers

Telling yourself there aren't enough hours in the day

Frustrated by the uncontrollables that sabotage your plans and throw you off track

Wanting to progress to the next level but not having the time to dedicate to it

Having too much to do and too little energy to do it with

If this is you, you're going to love this week's episode of the Legal Imposters' Podcast: Expanding Your Capacity

In it I define expanding your capacity so you can do, think and feel at a higher level. Think lifting weights in the gym. Currently (thanks to historic shoulder issues) the heaviest I can lift over head in a shoulder press is 10kg. I want to progress to 12kg. To do that I need to expand my capacity to lift weights above my head i.e. I need to get stronger!

So what does this have to do with being a black lawyer? Well there are 4 reasons why expanding your capacity is a skill you want to build:

1. You want to progress your career, which is going to require more of you to get there (time spent building relationships and increasing your visibility for example) AND more of you when you get there (more responsibility and bigger deals, for example)
2. You're underestimating what you're capable of - giving in too soon when things don't happen when and the way you want them too, or setting goals that are too small, so you're performing way below your potential.
3. So you can grow! Growth brings increased discomfort. If you want to grow, you need to increase your capacity to experience the inevitable fear and doubt that comes with stepping out of your comfort zone.
4. So you can lawyer with more ease. If you're struggling at your current level, expanding your capacity will mean doing your day job with calm and ease, without the stress and anxiety.

Here's what I cover:

• The difference between capacity and capability and why they both count
• The 3 game changing results you create when you expand your capacity
• How to expand your capacity in 4 simple steps, starting today
• What the IMPOSTER SPEECH is and how capable you feel when you use it
• The lifetime value of expanding your capacity which makes it the gift that keeps giving year after year

Questions about this process? Send me a DM on social media or reply in the comments.

P.S. If you're a black lawyer and you're ready to expand your capacity, join CONFIDENT Black Lawyers, the only confidence building programme that helps you succeed in a white world. Click here to join: https://caroline-flanagan.mykajabi.com/confident-black-lawyers

You need confidence NOW.

Currently, confidence feels like a nice to have. It feels optional. You know it's important. You know you need it and you want to build and increase it, but it doesn't feel urgent.

But building confidence IS urgent. It's both urgent AND important.

That makes building it, getting more of it, has to be at the top of your priority list.

In this episode I explain why.

I explain how every day you aren't building your confidence is another day lost to overworking and overthinking. Another day of unnecessary anxiety and stress. Another day edging closer to burn out.

How every day without confidence in who you are is another day thinking it's harder for people like us.

Feeling like you don't belong.

Needing everyone around you to change their behaviour.

Waiting for other people to validate you.

Every day without confidence in who you are means another day hiding from opportunities that have your name written all over them.

It means another day labouring away working twice as hard while your white peers are being seen and getting promoted, and you are being left behind.

Another day thinking negative feedback means something negative about you, making you defensive, launching you into yet more overworking, thinking the only answer is striving harder for perfection.

I know this feels like the way things are. I know you're resigned to this. But all of this is optional.

You don't HAVE to have another day like this.

Build confidence NOW and you will change all of this.

The minute you prioritise confidence you'll feel better instantly.

Just the decision to take ownership of your confidence will change you.

You'll feel a fire in your belly and start feeling stronger at your core. This switch can happen in an instant. It doesn't take days or weeks or months. Building confidence NOW means feeling better NOW.

It means less stress and anxiety, NOW.

Letting go of the need to be perfect, NOW.

It means working smarter, NOW.

Receiving negative feedback without getting defensive, NOW.

It means taking up space and being visible NOW, and attracting the recognition and support you need to progress, NOW.

None of this is months away or years away. It's one decision away.

Not the decision to WANT confidence (wanting confidence doesn't bring you any closer to being confident!).

It's the decision to prioritise confidence and build it NOW. Today. Literally this minute.

If you're a black lawyer, whatever your level, join CONFIDENT Black Lawyers NOW so you can build confidence NOW. In it I walk you through a step by step process for building confidence in who you are so you can overcome Imposter Syndrome and have the confidence to do great work and fulfil your true potential. You're just a click away. Click this link right now, in this moment, to join: https://caroline-flanagan.mykajabi.com/confident-black-lawyers

When you tell yourself you're not enough

When you tell yourself "I shouldn't be here" and you're afraid of being found out

You need an IMPOSTER SPEECH

Every time you strive to make your work perfect to prove that you're enough

Every time you procrastinate doing the work from the fear of being exposed

You need an IMPOSTER SPEECH

When you do everything yourself

When you put off going for a promotion

When you side step opportunities you know deep down are right for you Every time you second guess yourself

Every time you take feedback personally

Every time you beat yourself up over a simple mistake

For all these times and more, you need an IMPOSTER SPEECH

An IMPOSTER SPEECH is the speech you give yourself when your Imposter Syndrome has been triggered and you're questioning whether you're enough.

In this episode I talk about what it is and why you need one now.

The IMPOSTER SPEECH takes you out of "not enoughness" and the actions you take as a result that slow you down, stifle your potential and hold you back in your career (see above list!)

It takes you out of this "not enoughness" and connects you to the version of you who is capable of anything you set your mind to so you have the confidence to do your best work -

• the version of you who is accomplished and knowledgeable
• who is driven and motivated
• who is resilient and resourceful
• who is determined and purposeful.

This version of you is CONFIDENT.

This version knows exactly what to do.

This version of you does great work.

This version of you doesn't need to overwork or overthink

This version of you seizes opportunities and makes themselves visible This version of you never judges you, and instead is your biggest champion

You need to access this version of you NOW.

Every day you are not this version of you is another day holding yourself back and performing beneath your potential.

Change this right now with an IMPOSTER SPEECH.

P.S. I've created a step by step process to help you build your IMPOSTER SPEECH and I walk you through every step inside CONFIDENT Black Lawyers. If you're a black lawyer and you want to meet the confident version of you, click this link to discover howhttps://caroline-flanagan.mykajabi.com/confident-black-lawyers

What do you say to yourself when you've just been promoted or just starting a new role and your brain offers you thoughts like "I shouldn't be here" and "I'm going to be found out"?

At times like this, it's tempting (and some people will recommend you do this) to remind yourself how hard you worked to get here.

But this is not the answer to Imposter Syndrome. This does not give you the confidence to get to work.

What you need instead when your Imposter Syndrome is triggered, is your IMPOSTER SPEECH.

Your Imposter Speech is a sequence of empowering thoughts about yourself that connect you to your capability and empower you to get to work.

This isn't something you make up on the spot, in the moment when your Imposter Syndrome has been triggered and you're in full doubting mode. This is something you create from a process that connects to who you are at your core, when you're in confidence mode.

In this Live I explain what the IMPOSTER SPEECH is, why it works and what it requires to create it AND, if you're a black lawyer and you're ready to overcome Imposter Syndrome this year, I present an unmissable opportunity to create your own IMPOSTER SPEECH live and in person with me on 31st May 2025 at CONFIDENCE Live!

CONFIDENCE Live!

Saturday 31s May 2025 at The Conduit, London

10.00 am - 16.00 pm

Grab your tickets TODAY via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/confidence-live-with-caroline-flanagan-tickets-1360809591119?aff=oddtdtcreator

Do you keep comparing yourself to others and despairing that you come up short?

Do you tell yourself everyone else has it easy, but for you it's always hard?

Everyone else is naturally confident, but you're overwhelmed with self doubt?

Opportunities fall into other people's laps but you can't catch a break?

Success comes easily for others, but for you it's always a struggle?

This is overthinking and if you don't have a way to solve for it it's going to stifle your potential, slow you down and maybe even keep you stuck.

If this resonates you're in the right place.

In episode #87 of the Legal Imposters Podcast I explain exactly what to do to nip comparing and despairing in the bud so you can focus on your goal, take action to achieve it and perform to your true potential.

Here's what I cover:

1. How you know you're comparing and despairing so you can catch it the next time it happens and you know how to solve for it

2. When comparing and despairing is a sign of imposter syndrome and how it is keeping you stuck

3. Two solutions that may help and one solution that never fails

4. How to get started right away

P.S. If you're a black lawyer and you're ready to stop the overthinking that is holding yourself back, CONFIDENCE Live! on Saturday 31s May 2025 at The Conduit, London is your opportunity, seize it now! You will follow a proven process for Remembering who you are and then build your unique IMPOSTER SPEECH so you'll always have the confidence to get to work. Places are limited. To avoid disappointment, grab your ticket today. Click this link to book your spot https://www.eventbrite.com/e/confidence-live-with-caroline-flanagan-tickets-1360809591119

The Confidence Gap is the gap between the confidence you've earned and the confidence you feel when it's time to get to work.

How wide is yours and what are you doing to bridge it?

Here's why this matters:

1. The Confidence Gap is the measure of your unfulfilled potential - so the bigger the gap, the more you are capable of beyond your current performance

2. When you're doubting yourself, or not performing to your potential, the Confidence Gap shows it's a confidence issue, NOT a capability issue. Good to know, so you can solve the right 'problem'

3. That restless, frustrated feeling you get when you think about your career progression? That's the Confidence Gap at play - calling you to close the gap. Telling you you're capable of more.

4. Your Confidence Gap isn't fixed in stone. Closing the gap so you fulfil more of your potential is something you can start doing today.

In episode 86 of the Legal Imposters Podcast I show you how.

Here's what you'll learn:

1. How to close your Confidence Gap

2. The difference between confidence in WHO YOU ARE, and confidence in WHAT YOU DO (and which should come first)

3. How to start closing your Confidence Gap today

4. Why you need to get started right away

P.S. In CONFIDENT Black Lawyers I help you build confidence in who you are, so you can overcome Imposter Syndrome and perform to your true potential. Enrolment is open. If you're a current or aspiring black lawyer, whatever your level of seniority, join now. Click the link in my profile for details.

When they constantly redline and correct your work, what do you do? What do you make it mean?

The mistake I see you making is taking it to mean something about you- that you're not good enough, that you don't deserve to be where you are and that any minute now you're going to be found out.

This is classic imposter syndrome and if you don't have a way to overcome it, it will undermine your confidence, sabotage your performance and hold you back from fulfilling your potential.

In this episode I explain how this can happen and exactly how to avoid it so you learn from all those redlines through your work vs. being undermined by them.

P.S. Looking to build your confidence as a black lawyer? Enrolment is open. Click HERE to join CONFIDENT Black Lawyers and build confidence in who you are so you can overcome Imposter Syndrome and be confident in what you do.

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