The Journey from Imposter to Hero

You don't need to be a business owner, leader, or entrepreneur to have the pursuit of contentment. It's not just for people who are working their way up in the corporate world either. You can feel unfulfilled and unhappy with your life even if you're living the dream.

The key is to find your purpose and pursue what it is that will make you happy because that's when you'll have true fulfillment in life.

I've always been a fidgety person. I couldn't sit still to save my life and it seemed like every time I thought about the future, all of the potentials was sooo far away. It just made me want to do more, try new things, be with different people, but that doesn't last forever…

"I mean, what in the world have I been doing this whole time?" I asked. "It's like someone threw me a curveball and now it feels like I'm left out to dry. What was happening? Was it all about luck, really?"

My mind has always had that secret sense of fate that would lead me through my life one way or another. There were times where it guided me away from danger but there were also those moments where it led me to opportunities. As long as I listened when my heart told me something was right for my future, then anything could happen. I was just allowing fate to guide my daily actions, without a plan, without direction. That constant nagging fidgety feeling of having to do more, accomplish more, please more people, and bring back the results. All of this lead to the feeling that I’d been left out to dry.

It took me years to figure out what this was, but one day when I was finally disgusted enough with the way that things were going I was, finally prepared to listen and change my way of thinking. Jim Rohn spoke often about the concept that if you will change then everything will change for you. But in order for you to want to change you have to be at the point in your life where you are willing to change. Through this process of change, I noticed several phases of growth. Stages that took me from this restless, fidgety imposter toward finding my calling and embracing my purpose in life.

Stage 1

Why do I have this fidgety feeling of restlessness? Napoleon Hill talks of his own personal experience through his book Outwitting the Devil. It is the powerful draw to something different, but yet it is something that most are not able to identify. Society tells us that we need to find our happiness. We fall prey to this false narrative in the constant pursuit of happiness thinking it will bring the satisfaction we desire. Pursuit of happiness is a song of the siren calling many a soul to the end of their life.

Stage 2

Jim Rohn has described this stage as total disgust with the current circumstances. You have entered into the stage where your comfort zone is what is disgusting to you. All the surroundings and experiences you created within your life led you to the realization that you are no longer going to put up with the way things are then you will change. Most individuals miss this stage. They think like Napoleon Hill did “My distress was so great that it never occurred to me to sit down and analyze its cause and seek its cure.” This analytic approach is exactly what is needed to come to your point of change.

Two thoughts as you enter into the reflection of your life:

1.      You are in this place due to a wound that hasn’t healed.

Every human has an area of greatness. The superpower that our world needs. However, our enemies know our greatness and will attack in that specific strength, thus creating some of our deepest wounds. These wounds scar over and we become ashamed of our scars. Our shame causes us to hide our greatest strength from the rest of the world. The one thing that makes us unique, the one thing the world needs from us, is now hidden due to our shame. Be proud of your scars, it is these experiences that will lead others into their greatness as well.

2.      You are in this place due to neglecting your calling to find your purpose.

Others will just fall into a position because it is easy. Some neglect to search for their calling because they have fallen into a position or role of responsibility. Getting comfortable with the role, adding on responsibilities leads to a feeling of being trapped. This was your choice, you made the decision to be in this position and the great news is that you can decide to change, but how?

Stage 3

Dealing with indecision. I felt this within my own soul dealing with knowing what to do but scared to step off the edge to explore what I was truly called to do. I have seen this within those that I am coaching, the weight of the world resting on their shoulders, and the overwhelming pain of judgment. Indecision casts a spell upon us that lures us into isolation. We become consumed with our own thoughts and beliefs. It is in this false narrative that we believe we are the only one that is dealing with this challenge and have the arrogance to think we are going to pull out of this on our own. We need others to see what we cannot and to encourage us to take the next step by making a decision.

Stage 4

Finding your purpose isn’t a fairy tale. The “Happily ever after” stories do not apply to your purpose. Finding your purpose is like finding the adventure that can only be thought of as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Adventures are full of questions, challenges, highs, and lows, all of this coming together to create a legacy to leave behind once you have left this world. Your purpose is that “North Star” leading you forever onward but not something that can be attained with one action. It will allow you to clarify your decision-making, giving you clarity on how you will be living your life. How exciting to think that you have this opportunity in front of you to create a fulfilling life.

Stage 5

Everything thing good in life must be fought for and defended. Your fortitude and determination will be tested. Stage 5 will be the moment you are tempted to give up on the direction and embracing your purpose. This testing phase will cause you to move in one of two directions. It will either, solidify your strength of will to continue on your journey or it will cause you to fall back into one of the previous phases. This will prolong your journey toward embracing your greatness along your heroic journey.

Stage 6

Entering into your “Hero story” with confidence. Embrace the greatness that is already there within your superpower. It is this boldness that attracts others to you, they want the confidence of living as a hero. By embracing your strength and living fully each day you can share your experiences with others, showing them the path, and encouraging them to take the next step on their journey, inspiring others to live out their own hero story.

Moving through these stages in my life, I have found that I will make great strides and move through quickly one day. The next day I find myself falling back into old patterns of thought. I have determined in my life that I will continue to move forward each day. I will not focus on the setbacks but will focus on the next step that is in front of me. Finding the next right thing and acting on the decision made.