POSEURS

Imposter syndrome.

That sneaky little feeling that you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing, backed with “what if they figure out I don’t really know what I’m doing?”

Here’s the thing (and I’m not going to make this the typical “8000 word Jimbo missive that could be said better with a diagram” email…)

If you’re doing what you love, what you’re built and put here on this blue marble to do…

You’ll never be an imposter.

What you WILL feel is growing pain. You’ll feel like you might be a little out of your depth – but you’ll also know that what you’re actually doing is growing into the real, optimal, perfected YOU.

I design things. At my core, I’m an artist. I’m not a writer. I’m not really a marketer.

This is one of the absolutes with me. I’m an artist. Everything I do (even writing this email) comes from that place. That unshakable me-ness. I know who and what I am and what I want and need from my career and my life.

If what I’m doing isn’t forwarding that ultimate goal… I don’t do it or I examine WHY I’m doing it.

So – I don’t get imposter syndrome.

Sure, I do things that are decidedly un-artisty, but they’re done as part of the overall ME that I am constantly building. There are also things that by the accepted “norm” in business/marketing that I sHoUlD bE dOiNg, but… some of them I just can’t make fit.

If you (YES, YOU) know and trust that you know EXACTLY what you are and what you want to do, your imposter syndrome isn’t about being an imposter. It’s about…

Growing.

Stretching.

Learning.

Expanding.

Those experiences can – and in most cases SHOULD – be scary.

But it doesn’t mean you’re an imposter.

Defining your core person and your real goals (and it’s not really money, don’t start with that shit) and being absolutely true to yourself…

FREES YOU PERMANENTLY AND IRREVOCABLY FROM IMPOSTER SYNDROME.

Now… doesn’t that sound good?

How do you do that? Mechanics are for other emails. Specifics are for when you pay me to help you get there.

But – one tip…

Sit down. Grab a note pad. Write down who you are without mentioning what you do for other people.

It’s harder than it sounds.

Then, do it every day for a week. Take 10 minutes a day and refine that statement.

At the end of the week, you’ll have a bold, solid statement that you can check anything and everything you do against.

If you check and it doesn’t align to your ultimate you… ask why you’re doing it. If you can’t remove the rest of the world from that equation, you might be (probably are) doing it for the wrong reasons.

When you do this, the things that are just straight up not aligned will become a lot clearer (and easier to eliminate or mitigate.)

If you do it for the wrong reasons, that’s when you WILL feel that imposter syndrome. When it’s for the right reasons, it’s growth.

Growth kills imposter syndrome. PERIOD.

Try it. Tell me it doesn’t work.

Actually, don’t tell me.

I’ll have an existential crisis and switch careers…