I think most people have experienced imposter syndrome at one time or another. I talk about dealing with imposter syndrome in my free guide Happiness Club for Unlimited Self-Esteem, my online course for self-esteem and in my previous blog post about overcoming fear and imposter syndrome.
I recently learnt a new trick for dealing with imposter syndrome, when I completed Subscribed with Amy Porterfield. Amy taught us the ‘4 Ns’ exercise during one of her mindset sessions.
In my experience, imposter syndrome manifests when I am moving forward with Happiness Club. I start questioning whether I am good enough and whether I’ve got what it takes. There’s a lot of fear of putting myself out there and worrying about what other people think. Amy reminds us that “other people’s opinions do not pay the bills”, “anything they say is a direct reflection of how they think about themselves anyway” and “people have probably got better things to think about!” The other thing Amy says, is that when we feel like this, it can be a valuable reminder to just double check that we are in integrity and delivering on what we’ve promised.
In this blog post, I am sharing Amy’s 4Ns exercise with you in the hope it helps. I am certainly going to try it out next time I notice imposter syndrome creeping in.
Exercise for dealing with imposter syndrome
Notice it
When imposter syndrome kicks in, notice the thought.
Normalise it
Remind yourself that it’s normal to feel like that and that other people also feel like that. It’s natural to feel scared when we try something new or put ourselves out there.
Neutralise it
Neutralise the thought by taking the emotive language out of it. So, for example, change “I am writing a blog post, what if people think “who is she to write a blog post about that?”” to just “I am writing a blog post.” Keep to the facts.
Next best thought
Ask yourself, “what is my next best thought?” Avoid going over the top with this, such as “this is the best blog post ever!” unless you’re actually feeling that. Make it something believable, like “I’ve written blog posts before, and I’ve always had good feedback”.
I hope you find this exercise helpful. Let me know in the comments or in the Happiness Club Facebook group how you get on with this exercise and how imposter syndrome shows up for you. This will help others to know they are not alone.
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