Day 25
Today’s Takeaway: Celebrate the win & quiet the inner critic.
I woke up this morning to a message from Scott Markovits, host of the podcast, Leading From Afar, that he had just published our episode! Woohoo! 🙌 🥂 My chat with Scott centers on the importance of IRL time with your teams and making sure to plan those events with thoughtfulness, intention & purpose. Check it out if you got some extra time. I have included the links in the comments. :)
Today’s post is not just a shameless plug for listeners though. Sure, would I love if this got a huge audience and went viral?
Umm, yeah! Who wouldn’t want that?
The takeaway today is about the effect doing stuff like this has on my self-esteem. Listening to it again, I was proud! Of course, I nit-picked myself a little, because that’s who I am, but ultimately it silenced my inner critic for a minute. And let me tell you, that b*&ch is hard to please.
The truth is it’s taken me a long time to get here. Yes, I’ve always been a positive, opinionated extrovert who loves to be in the middle of it all and responsible for creating whatever IT is. However, I didn’t always believe I deserved a seat at the table, or knew enough to ask for one. It didn’t matter what big events I was in charge of, how many people I was managing, or what kind of influence I could wield, for a very long time I felt like I was hitting out of my weight class.
Yup, that’s right…I suffer from an acute case of Imposter Syndrome.
And yes I use the present tense because it’s never really gone. When I do anything big, like, I don’t know…start a blog, talk on a podcast, reach out to someone I feel holds a higher rank than me, this fun little psychology flaw will rear it’s ugly head.
I have worked really hard over the years to quiet her down. Listening to the podcast today, was a win. So if you want to find a way to quiet down your inner critic, here’s a few things that have helped me along the way:
Take some time and pull together a list of your wins. When I was considering starting my own business and 2nd guessed myself, I thought back to all the offsites I had done & wrote them down. Before I knew it I had a list of over 100 events. Undeniable proof that I was ready.
Start to post more about the things you care about. It builds trust with your community and in yourself.
Start reading every book you can about your chosen area. That voice can’t speak if she’s drowning in facts!
Say yes to everything. Someone asks you to be a guest on their podcast, do it! Remember they came to YOU for a reason.
This isn’t a prescription, just something that worked for me. I found that as I incorporated these tactics I slowly built myself up. Before long, I could hardly hear that voice. Just a faint, naggy whisper every now & then. She actually serves as a good gut-check. Can you imagine what monsters we would be if we had no fear?!
So keep her around, just be in control of the volume. 😉
