The key to overcoming impostor syndrome is in your heart, not your mind

I was thinking recently that mindset is actually more about where your heart is set. People say that mindset is everything. I disagree. Think about it. What lives with you more, someone offending your mind, or someone hurting your heart? Hurt people hurt people, and healed people heal people. Where your heart is determines how you can handle other people and how you handle growth. The larger the heart, the greater the confidence.

With the recent emergence of Clubhouse, I’ve heard many entrepreneurs hustling and there are lots of entrepreneurial groups out there discussing mindset or how to get the right one. I believe that our mindset is determined by what we have set our hearts on. Setting our hearts on the right thing is where the power lies. The mind is where we process stuff, but the heart is who we really are. 

Leading with the heart isn’t an emotional thing, it’s a deeper thing. Your heart can say no to something even if it ticks all the right boxes in the mind. The challenge is, many of us are not connected to our heart, we don’t want to go there. It hurts. If we’ve been hurt we can only flourish to a point.

Real success lies in having peace in the heart.

A growth mindset (or the lack of one) is connected to our hearts. Hurt (in our hearts) leads to fear and a need to protect ourselves and it’s irrational. It doesn’t make sense because it’s a hurt heart, not a damaged mind. Too often we say the mind is sick, when in fact it’s a hurt heart.

So can we help our hearts to process life? Is it possible to be more in tune with how our hearts react? If we can focus on the heart, we’ll process life more positively and thence improve our mindset.

You have a heart beat:

Learn to listen to it, still yourself and just listen, beyond the heartbeat. When you listen to your heart your timing will improve. The heart beats and we are often out of step because we are over stimulated by distractions. When we are in tune, we make better choices.

You give your heart rest:

It’s important not to stay out on the battlefield for too long. Resting and unplugging from the day to day is so important, whether it’s going for a walk in the country or reading a book. Allowing yourself time out and devoting it to something else allows your heart to be happy.

You allow yourself to win:

We live in a world that likes to win, only not everyone celebrates our wins. Fear of failure is massive and dealing with it is difficult, however, a greater enemy than the fear of failure can be the fear of success. Fear of a negative reaction from others means we don’t let our hearts rejoice at the right time. It’s not that we stay there and become arrogant, but we need to allow ourselves to experience the joy of the moment, unapologetically – even if that is in front of a mirror.

You can enjoy happiness and it’s more than a state of mind:

Happiness is where your heart is connected to the mind and processes things positively. Personally, what keeps my heart healed, whole and connected is my belief in God. Without that connection in the past, life was sometimes hard to process. It’s what keeps me grounded and focussed. 

You need people with whom you can share, heart to heart:

You know them, even as you read, these people come straight to mind. They are the people on your inner circle, the ones you can trust. You can open up to them without judgment. They are your listening ear and you allow them to speak into your life. They know your heart and your motivations. They remind you who you are, and they call you back when you’re lost in the mental mind fog! They have your back and they also have your heart.

Living free from impostor syndrome:

Hurt people hurt people and healed people heal people. When people talk about mindset, it’s only half of the story, and unless you allow your heart the time to heal, and the right people to speak into your life, you’ll always have that impostor syndrome. 

Impostor Syndrome is feeling inadequate in the sphere you are in. In business it’s about not feeling professional enough. If it’s from a lack of knowledge it will lead to a lack of confidence, so you’ll lead doubtfully. Often, though, lack of knowledge is not the issue, it’s more about perception. It happens when we aren’t leading from the heart. We might be more qualified than the next person, but because their heart and mind are aligned and they are operating out of passion and purpose, their knowledge and skill seem to land more effectively. So, yes we need to feed the mind with the right knowledge and the skills to execute, but we also need to keep the fires of passion burning and never lose site of purpose. Connecting the heart and the mind removes that feeling of being an impostor and leads to the right mindset. 

Authenticity is electricity.