Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #184| How Imposter Syndrome Can Actually Help Your Productivity (With the Right Mindset)
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: You know that little voice that says who do you think you are?
- 0:02Michelle Gauthier: That is imposter syndrome, and while it can sometimes feel awful, it can actually be a sign that you're growing.
- 0:13Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:20Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former overwhelmed working woman and current life coach.
- 0:25Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences, and in each episode you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease and relaxation to your life.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: Hi friend, thanks so much for joining today.
- 0:42Michelle Gauthier: Today we're going to be talking about imposter syndrome, but we're going to kind of flip it on its head and look at how having imposter syndrome can actually help you and your productivity, as long as you have the right mindset with it.
- 0:54Michelle Gauthier: What we're talking about today is why noticing and knowing that you're in imposter syndrome is a win in and of itself, and then how to reframe your doubt as a signal of growth.
- 1:06Michelle Gauthier: And then a simple way to build and you know I'm not going to leave you without a tip so I will give you a simple way to build your confidence while still taking action, instead of just being stuck in imposter syndrome.
- 1:20Michelle Gauthier: Before I jump into all of that, I want to thank everybody who did the declutter challenge last week.
- 1:26Michelle Gauthier: That was so much fun and we just decluttered so much stuff.
- 1:30Michelle Gauthier: I wish I could see a picture of everything that left your houses and your inboxes and your calendars, but I envision it in my mind to be amazing.
- 1:36Michelle Gauthier: So thanks to everybody who joined that, and I wanted to let you know that I have one coaching spot open for one-on-one coaching.
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: So if that is calling to you and you feel like you might be ready to do some one-on-one coaching with me, go to the link in the show notes and set up a time for a discovery session.
- 1:54Michelle Gauthier: Okay, let's talk imposter syndrome.
- 1:56Michelle Gauthier: Think about times when you felt like I am so not qualified for this.
- 2:01Michelle Gauthier: There are a couple times, both in my career and my personal life, where I have definitely thought that I got a promotion when I was probably still in my 20s yes, I was definitely still in my 20s and I went for a job that I thought was really too big for me.
- 2:15Michelle Gauthier: And then I got the job and then I started on my first day and I freaked out in my mind.
- 2:21Michelle Gauthier: I basically gave myself a migraine and had to leave the office and thought who hired me for this?
- 2:28Michelle Gauthier: I have no idea what I'm doing.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: The other one was when we adopted our son.
- 2:33Michelle Gauthier: He's our first child and I don't know if it's because we had very little notice or if every parent feels like this, whether you grow the child in your belly or not.
- 2:42Michelle Gauthier: But when we left the hospital with him I seriously thought does everyone know?
- 2:46Michelle Gauthier: We have no idea what we're doing here.
- 2:48Michelle Gauthier: I don't know how to take care of a baby.
- 2:51Michelle Gauthier: I've always been good with kids, quote unquote.
- 2:53Michelle Gauthier: I have no idea what I'm doing and I can give you a million small examples.
- 2:58Michelle Gauthier: Like my son's school asked me to chair their auction, which is their biggest fundraiser for the year, and I was like oh yeah, sure I can do that.
- 3:07Michelle Gauthier: And then I started doing.
- 3:07Michelle Gauthier: I was like no idea how to do this.
- 3:09Michelle Gauthier: So there have been many, many, many starting my business.
- 3:12Michelle Gauthier: I could go on and on.
- 3:13Michelle Gauthier: You get the point.
- 3:15Michelle Gauthier: Everybody listening has had imposter syndrome at one time or another.
- 3:18Michelle Gauthier: Noticing that you're in imposter syndrome is the first step to solving the problematic part of it.
- 3:25Michelle Gauthier: So the problematic part of imposter syndrome is when you just can't do anything because you're so paralyzed by the idea that you don't know what you're doing.
- 3:33Michelle Gauthier: But noticing it and giving it a name is the very first step.
- 3:37Michelle Gauthier: So once you notice you have imposter syndrome and that you're feeling it, in that moment that will help you even start to shift out, when you can see it as something that is happening and it's not you and you're an imposter, but your brain is telling you that you don't know what you're doing.
- 3:54Michelle Gauthier: Even that is a step in the right direction, because having awareness is where the solution starts.
- 3:59Michelle Gauthier: The second thing to do is to, instead of taking it as a red flag like, oh my gosh, this is the wrong thing.
- 4:07Michelle Gauthier: I have no idea what I'm doing, just think of it as a growth flag.
- 4:11Michelle Gauthier: What color is a growth flag?
- 4:13Michelle Gauthier: I mean mine's pink, obviously.
- 4:15Michelle Gauthier: But think about what color your growth flag is.
- 4:17Michelle Gauthier: You feel like an imposter because you're doing something new, not because you don't know what you're doing.
- 4:22Michelle Gauthier: And when your brain is stretching and your identity is expanding, the discomfort doesn't mean you're unqualified.
- 4:29Michelle Gauthier: It just means you're learning, you're evolving.
- 4:32Michelle Gauthier: One great thing to do, when you realize you're in this situation and are able to say this isn't a red flag, it's a growth flag is to ask yourself where have I previously succeeded in learning something new?
- 4:43Michelle Gauthier: When I work with my clients on this, I literally have them tell me, tell me an example of three places where you succeeded in learning something new.
- 4:51Michelle Gauthier: So maybe it's learning a new job, maybe it's something as simple, as the son who I was so worried about is 18 now.
- 5:00Michelle Gauthier: So I did a pretty good job at getting him to this point.
- 5:02Michelle Gauthier: I've started many a new jobs.
- 5:05Michelle Gauthier: I've started my own business, and even small things Like, for example, when I first got divorced, I was like I don't know how to grill.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: I don't know why.
- 5:13Michelle Gauthier: That was intimidating.
- 5:14Michelle Gauthier: But guess what?
- 5:15Michelle Gauthier: I can totally grill now.
- 5:17Michelle Gauthier: No problem.
- 5:17Michelle Gauthier: If you take the time to write down some examples, it's really helpful because it lets your brain see the proof that you are a person who can learn new things.
- 5:27Michelle Gauthier: The third thing to do is, after you've got your list of things that you've done, where you have proven that you can learn new things and succeed at new things, is to start tracking your wins in your new situation.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: So if we go back to my example of the position where I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know how I got this job.
- 5:44Michelle Gauthier: I have no idea what I'm doing.
- 5:46Michelle Gauthier: If I would have, this would have saved me a lot of time and energy.
- 5:50Michelle Gauthier: If I would have done this, I didn't know anything about this at the time.
- 5:53Michelle Gauthier: Hopefully I'm saving you before you get into this situation the next time.
- 5:57Michelle Gauthier: But when you start taking action anyway imperfect action, knowing that you're learning then you start recording new evidence of what you figured out and ask yourself really small things like what did I figure out today?
- 6:12Michelle Gauthier: And the small wins will add up fast and then your confidence will be built.
- 6:17Michelle Gauthier: So, for example, if I'm thinking back to this job that I was apparently super underqualified for, in my own mind it's like okay, I reached out to all the clients who are going to be my clients in this job.
- 6:28Michelle Gauthier: I met with somebody else who does this job to understand how we're supposed to bill our time.
- 6:32Michelle Gauthier: I called my first client and talked about how we want to have our weekly calls.
- 6:38Michelle Gauthier: You know, I just started taking little steps and eventually you build up this list of evidence and pretty soon you're the pro that somebody else is asking for their opinion.
- 6:48Michelle Gauthier: So, in summary, imposter syndrome isn't a failure, it's feedback, and the feedback that your brain is giving you is whoa, watch out, we're doing something new.
- 6:56Michelle Gauthier: This is unfamiliar, but just change that to be.
- 6:59Michelle Gauthier: This is a growth flag.
- 7:01Michelle Gauthier: I I promise you that when you're doing something new, you're probably never going to feel ready.
- 7:07Michelle Gauthier: So just keep going, one brave step at a time.
- 7:10Michelle Gauthier: Document where you've done it before.
- 7:12Michelle Gauthier: Once you start doing the new thing, document your evidence that you're learning new things and succeeding, and you will minimize the time that you spend in that unproductive imposter syndrome and maximize your learning so that you eventually will feel completely comfortable in that new situation.
- 7:28Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week.
- 7:30Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 7:38Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthier.
- 7:42Michelle Gauthier: com.
- 7:43Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.