My imposter syndrome is flaring up again

But I won't let it hold me back

Good morning team,

I was a manager of a team at the age of 21. By 26 I was an Ops Director in one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Fast forward to this week, I’m 1 week away from launching an entirely new business. A tech product. And we have nearly 2 thousand people on the waitlist eek.

So I feel like if anyone is qualified to talk about imposter syndrome, it’s moi.

At the beginning, I had hugeee imposter syndrome. I struggled with:

• My team were older than me, why should they listen to me?

• I was new to manager world, I figured everyone else had so much experience, so why would they listen to me?

• If I made a decision that people didn’t ‘like’, I worried everyone was talking about me behind my back

But 21 year old me riddled with imposter syndrome Hev, could never have reached 28 year old, courageous, intentional leader Hev without getting some serious methods in place to NEVER let imposter syndrome get in the way of my growth.

The thing that really did it for me, the breakthrough moment, was realising…

There were people much less qualified than me, living my dream life, all because they decided to believe in themselves and take action

5 ways I never let imposter syndrome hold me back

If you want growth, the goal here isn’t to overcome imposter syndrome. If you ever feel you’ve ‘overcome’ your imposter syndrome, you’re actually just inside your comfort zone and you’ve stopped growing.

So the goal here isn’t to overcome imposter syndrome, but to use it to your benefit.

And BTW before I jump in, I did a full podcast episode on this where I go into imposter syndrome in much more detail. The mindset shifts, the practical tools, and the exact things that helped me stop letting it hold me back.

So if you’d rather listen properly on your commute, walk, or while pretending to answer emails, you can listen in. Here are the links: Spotify. Apple Music. YouTube.

Let’s go…

1. The things you feel most vulnerable about are actually your greatest strengths
   
   For me, alot of this was age and experience.
   I was worried everyone older than me was better, and I didn’t deserve a seat at the table as a result.
   But in reality, my age and lack of experience were great strengths.
   I wasn’t held back by ‘old ways’ or ‘pre-conceptions’ of how my role should look.

2. Focus on growth over perfection
   
   Don’t focus on being right, just focus on getting better
   That way, when you f*k up, it doesn’t matter
   When you seek growth, you’re not bothered about being perfect
   You instead figure out what learning needs to happen and lean into it
   Ultimately, you’ll become way less scared of failure, and stop letting that fear hold you back from all the growth you deserve
   

3. Know it’s going to be scariest at the beginning
   
   The first time you have a difficult conversation will be hard
   The 10th time will feel like second nature
   
   The first time you ask for a pay rise, you’ll be shaking and nervous
   The 10th time, you’ll go in there like a confident machine and ask for the exact number you deserve
   
   But you can’t get to the brilliant 10th time without doing the bad 1st
   So you need to just feel the fear and get the first 1st one over with
   Push through the barrier
   Shatter the ceiling
   

4. We’re not put on this earth to be liked by everyone
   
   Being a manager means making tricky decisions that might piss people off
   So guess what most people do? They try win the approval of as many as possible, and just never make a decision. They never grow and move forward.
   
   So remind yourself, we absolutely cannot excel in our work and life if we’re afraid of being disliked
   So long as you’re being kind, acting in the best interest of your business and team… It doesn’t matter if you don’t win the instant approval
   Because you will win the long term respect
   

5. Your final reminder:

If you were not ready, the opportunity would never have
presented itself in the first place

Who’s with me?

Repeat after me.. I am never EVER going to miss out on an opportunity in my life because the voice in my head is telling me I’m not ready for it

I know it’s scary, trust me I’ve been there

But nobody is going to be a bigger cheerleader for your life and career than you, so you need to start smashing through these comfort zone barriers today

I believe in you

Peace,

H

P.S. We’re launching Custard 1 week today 👀