Recently I was a guest speaker at a conference for entrepreneurs and business people from all over the world. I was not the first speaker to take the microphone. I took to the stage after several other enthusiastic and intensely driven speakers had seized their opportunity to inspire and motivate the conference participants about their ability to build and conquer their multi-million dollar ideas and businesses.
The energy was high but something was off. I watched the participants as each speaker whipped them up with their ‘can do’ positivity and techniques. I watched the audience as the speakers left the stage. I was intrigued by their body language and facial gestures which told me they were excited at the potential of what they had just heard, yet many also looked wistful and defeated.
When my time came to speak, I asked if they were enjoying the conference. A resounding ‘Yes’. I then asked for a show of hands of who was excited to go and build their multi-million dollar business. Another resounding response of hands excitedly reaching up high in the air. Then I asked for a show of hands of those who felt that building a multi-million dollar business was beyond their capabilities and resources. About half the room put their hands up, somewhat sheepishly. Finally, I asked who felt that they were in the wrong room and didn’t belong among all the success-magnets around them. About a third of the room raised their hands.
It was at this point that I informed them that I was here to speak directly to them. To the people who doubted their ability to succeed. The people who felt the acute pressure to deliver something big but believed it to be beyond them. The people who felt like imposters in this room full of driven go-getters. In the following minutes I looked them in the eye and shared with them some important truths.
If you feel like those people who raised their hands and admitted that they felt like imposters among a sea of successful high achievers, I am here to share those same truths with you too.
- More people around you than you realise suffer from imposter syndrome also.
- Nobody else sees you as an imposter.
- You are already doing much better than you realise.
- You have valuable skills, experience and energy.
- You weren’t just lucky and you didn’t get to where you are by accident.
- You deserve to be where you are.
- It is up to you to choose to believe you are a success – it’s not up to others to persuade you.
- What you choose to believe, you will move towards and fulfil.
So, choose to believe that you are talented, knowledgeable, experienced, creative, energised, motivational, spectacular and are in the right place at the right time to work your magic.
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