Imposter Syndrome is a Gnat in Your Ear at a Picnic

We’ve all been at a picnic, enjoying the food, having a great time with the company, and then it happens…

A gnat invades your ear and hovers round and round. The buzz, the tickle, the…annoyance!

All of a sudden, you can’t enjoy the food, the people are more noise around you, and what was fun has now become awful!

This is exactly how it feels when imposter syndrome sneaks in and takes over when you’re presented with an opportunity to level up.

Let’s face it (and you don’t have to play modestly)— you’re awesome.

You are. It’s okay to admit it.

You’re smart, talented, skillful, nice to play with, and you have imagination.

When you show up in that way, life is going to present you with opportunities to take the stage and show up as your best.

Life is the picnic and everyone is glad you’re here.

You’re valued and people want what you have to bring.

But then the gnat sneaks in…

It whispers to you, “Are you smart enough? Are you capable to do it all? Aren’t you really a big fake?!”

This tiny gnat has become a beast.

You can swat it away first by acknowledging what expression of imposter syndrome it is assuming:

1. The Superman/Superwoman— This is the person who feels they have to do it all to be of value
2. The Expert— This is the person who feels they have to know it all to be able to do what’s expected of him/her/them. They always take on more training and classes to feel they are ready. But they never feel truly ready.
3. The Natural Genius— This is the person who feels ashamed when they have to learn something— they feel they ought to know it all because skills have always come easily to them.
4. The Soloist— This is the person who feels he/she/they has to go at a major task alone and feels ashamed asking for help because he/she/they feels it is a weakness.
5. The Perfectionist— This is the person who feels the work has to be perfect and will not stop until it gets there….except there is no such thing as perfect..so he/she/they end up self-sabotaging and picking the work apart endlessly.

Now ask the gnat, “Why do you feel I have to be (fill in one of the expressions) to show up well?”

You won’t get a straight answer. That gnat will buzz in circles. Keep with it in mediation and you’ll be able to trace it back to an origination story of where this idea came from.

You pass over memories throughout your life, working backward to the moment you were first struck…maybe you remember a teacher, a coach, a caregiver…someone you cared about and looked up to…that person said something to you that made you feel you had to step up in a superhuman way to prove yourself.

And so, when faced with an amazing opportunity, a part of you brings the gnat to tell you what you need to be to fulfill this part of your destiny.

The sad part of the story you see is that the gnat always held you back. Even if you did great at a task, you couldn’t enjoy the riches because you stayed in a self-critical mindset. That gnat grabbed the pen from you and took over your story.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

How do you escape this hardship?

• Call out the gnat for the expression of imposter syndrome that it is.
• Get to the root of it to the origination story.
• Make peace with that story. You’re not the age you were back then. You have a ton more knowledge and wisdom now than you did at that age. In fact, you actually have what you need to step into the opportunities life presents you.
• Get real with THAT truth. Feel it in your body. Let it light you up. (Feeling that truth in your body will re-wire your brain for the better!)
• Move forward on the opportunity in spite of the gnat. Move. Go. The only wrong action is inaction, so you must move forward and take the stage. It’s your time.

The gnat might not go away, but you can certainly shoo it away.

You’ll stay in your power the more you get real with the circumstances as they were then and as they are now. Once you do, you can take action for your highest good. You’ll never go wrong when operating in that mindset.

Now go out there and keep being awesome.

If you want to move through a practice to overcome imposter syndrome, check out this video. Be sure to like the video and leave a comment so I can help you personally overcome this nuisance!

Melissa Hurt is a personal development coach with a Ph.D. in acting theory. She is the owner of Integrative Studio where she teaches clients how to release stale energy holding them back to become their true selves. Get a free 10-minute video of her most sought-after tools as a daily practice at?www.melissahurt.com/opt-in-home.