How imposter syndrome can stop women entrepreneurs from gaining success in their business.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were wondering how did I get here? Feeling that you fooled everyone around you, and you are basically a “Fraud” waiting to get caught? That could be in a job that you got and thought was out of your league or a high-profile client that you landed in your business.

If you answered yes to those question, then congratulations, at least you’re being honest with yourself!

Most of us have this little voice in our heads that keeps telling us that we are not good enough, that we made it this far by pure coincidence and good luck. So we try to hide it because we are ashamed, or we fear that we’ll lose our status in everyone’s eyes if we talk about it.

?

Let me introduce you to that little voice and how it affects our experience of success, especially for women entrepreneurs.

That little voice is called “Imposter Syndrome.” It is that feeling of inadequacy or phoniness that makes one believe that they are undeserving of success. No one is immune to that feeling, and it affects some people more than others.

Women entrepreneurs face many challenges from fear of failure, gender inequality to balancing multiple responsibilities. Experiencing imposter syndrome adds a whole new ingredient to the mix, especially when they think that they are alone in this. Those feelings can prevent them from sharing their ideas or dare to dream big in the first place.?

2 of 3 women who are about to start their business experience that block on an on-going basis, no matter how successful they may be at the time. The more your business grows, those feelings of incompetence (if not taken care of) will grow as well.

As it turns out, no threshold of accomplishment can put those feelings to rest.

If you don’t believe me, ask Maya Angelou. Even after publishing 11 books and receiving many prestigious awards, she states that she couldn’t escape the nagging doubt that she hasn’t really earned her accomplishment.

Sometimes those feelings can also be triggered by one negative review that you receive among 100 great ones. If your experience of inadequacy is deeply ingrained in your brain, that one negative comment could open the floodgates to hell in your mind, your self-doubt will take over, leaving you feeling paralyzed at times. Unable to take simple actions that could take your business forward. It’s like you’re handing over your success to those limiting patterns in your head.

Is that what really what want? After all this hard work of getting your business off the ground?

Imagine this scenario for a second, you get this amazing idea on how to scale your business and generate 3x your current income. Behind door A, is trusting your intuition and taking intentional action. At the same time, behind door B, self-doubt welcomes you with open arms, questioning your skills and asking you “Who do you think you are to do this?”

While door A doesn’t completely guarantee your success, door B makes sure that you keep playing small, and as a bonus, you feel guilty for not taking any action to move forward.

Most of us can relate to this situation, simply because we have been through it at one point or another. So the question becomes how can we choose Door A more often?

If you’re a women entrepreneur who’s dealing with imposter syndrome, the first thing you get to do is recognize it and just be aware of it. You know how like in meditation when we get distracted by an idea, we can simply name it and that would bring us back to the present?

The same applies here, when you’re feeling overwhelmed with doubt, you get to acknowledge it and change your relationship to it. That will help shift your focus to the present moment and ground you in all that you have accomplished thus far. You did not get here by accident, you earned it!?

Another valuable thing is having open conversations about it. Reaching out to your support system would allow you to stand confident in your truth. When you recognize how common imposter syndrome is, you are not only freeing yourself from the shame that it carries, you are also empowering others to come forward and share their stories.

?

In short, imposter syndrome can stand in the way of our success on so many levels. A great way to cope is to practice and invest in our brains, whether that was through coaching, mentoring, or a good support network. As Tony Robbins says: “Success is only 20% skill and the rest is all in your head.” So taking care of that will allow us to fulfill our vision and commitment to the world.

Next time you find yourself asking, Who am I to do this? Why would anyone care?

Remember that you got this, you are competent, and you belong!

https://www.ruqayaibrahim.com/

IG: @ruqayaibrahim_

?