Successful Creators Channel Imposter Syndrome Into Growth, Not Self-Doubt
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Shawn Buttner: Every creator faces imposter syndrome in their careers. You know, some get trapped in feeling like they don't belong and others feel constantly stressed, overwhelmed, and fearful that they're going to get found out. While other creators sit with it and channel it into excellence. So, are you a creator that feels like you're always behind your peers because you don't have the experience, credentials, or right to talk about your topic, space, or area?
Are you a creator that feels like someone is going to point out how you're a fake and imposter and have your audience turn on you? Or are you a creator that feels like you're constantly having to prove yourself to your audience, to potential guests, to sponsors, to your team, to your family, to yourself?
What if You saw imposter syndrome as a sign that you're on the right track. Or what if you could do what [00:01:00] all creators at Crush do and channel imposter syndrome into personal growth, productivity, and excellence.
Welcome to Creators at Crush, the show where we help you move from crush to crushing it as a creator. I'm your host and certified high performance coach, Shawn Buttner.
in today's episode...
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Shawn Buttner: In today's episode, we'll answer the question, How do successful creators channel imposter syndrome into personal growth, not self doubt and burnout?
And five strategies to help you channel your imposter syndrome, if you're feeling it, into something positive. Positive psychology. So, let's get started. Why do creators sometimes feel like imposters? Well, for me personally, the biggest time that I felt like an imposter was during my first job as a programmer right after business school.
And yes, you heard me correctly. I went to business school and thought, Hey, I can code. I should do that for my career. So [00:02:00] like so many creators, I had a passion in my life that I turned into a job. That wasn't maybe my main focus. And so I didn't have the computer science degree. I didn't have a lot of work experience as a software engineer.
And therefore I didn't feel like I should be called a software engineer. And on this team, I felt like my team would figure it out, that I get fired. And then I would never ever find a job ever again because they're like, Hey, you lied about what you could do. And so therefore at that job, even though they selected me and hired me for the, uh, the programming position, I didn't feel like I belonged there.
And so I never said no to any opportunity to join a project, to help out because I needed to prove that I deserve to be there to my team, to my customers and to me. And because I never said no, I always felt like I wasn't measuring up. You know, I was spread too thin because I said yes to everything. So I wasn't completing tasks or the, Things that were actually assigned to [00:03:00] me or everything I agreed to help my teammates with .
So I didn't ever feel like I could make enough progress or create space to, to learn or optimize or change anything, right? I was always flying by the seat of my pants. And that. turned me into a stress ball that never slept, which made it harder to think and get things done, which led to lack of progress, which led to stress, which led to lack of sleep, and there was a doom cycle that happened.
And maybe you've experienced that in your creative career. Eventually, I realized, after too long, that either I was going to change or something was going to pop in my brain and I was going to drop dead. So, surprisingly, though, by that time, I had gained experience to hold my own as a software engineer and that allowed me to chill out a bit, right?
And to, to live into that identity a little bit more, which then allowed me to bring in some [00:04:00] outside ideas from software engineering or outside of software engineering. So my business background to an organizational theory and interpersonal skills that helped me develop a specialty as a tech person and that I could talk to the business people because I had the terminology and education and could understand how things worked on the business process side and then translate that to the engineers to put it in technical documents and software and vice So That led to promotions that eventually led to me becoming a software engineer for Apple years later.
And which is crazy to me, but I suffered way too longer than I needed to. And what helped me get out of the stress loop? I had to change how I felt about the work and about myself. So I had to develop a stronger positive psychology.
The difference between a creator that is crushed vs crushing in spite of imposter syndrome
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Shawn Buttner: So the difference between a [00:05:00] creator that. is crushed by imposter syndrome and one that crushes because or in spite of imposter syndrome comes down to creating a positive psychology.
Sign up for the free 5 day email course
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Shawn Buttner: And real quick, if you want more help on creating a positive psychology, check out my five day email course called creators that crush in five days at creators that crush. com. So you get one email a day and it goes over on day two, developing a positive psychology, we go through the creator crush path.
People are loving it. I know that you'll love it. You'll find a lot of value in it. So, if you're curious, check it out. If not, let's get back to
 How do successful creators channel imposter syndrome positively?
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Shawn Buttner: how do successful creators channel imposter syndrome positively.
First Idea
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Shawn Buttner: And so So, the first idea I have, and that worked for me, is, and at the top of the show I hinted that, you know, what if imposter syndrome was a sign, a good sign, right?
And here's [00:06:00] the reframe for that, is that, you know, you can choose how you feel, that's the first thing is to reframe, and you should reframe for positivity. So, in the case of my story, that I shared, I, Had imposter syndrome because I cared so much about being a software engineer and being in tech. It's something that I'd wanted to do when I was little, um, and I had an opportunity to make it happen, even though I was not fully experienced or fully educated to do so.
And it was short term pain, but it paid off for me. But, you know, this reframe thing is so powerful too because I had a client years ago and they were burning themselves out. They were a teacher. They were burning themselves out for their students and they were talking one day and they're like, I don't understand why I feel like I can't [00:07:00] ever really like connect or I never feel connected to the work.
I just feel stressed all the time. And. The reframe, I'm like, I pointed out to this client that oh, it's because you love being a teacher so much and you care so much that these folks are, your students understand the lessons and are learning and are growing and you take that responsibility very seriously and so you love the job so much you sacrifice so much else in your life.
And they're like, whoa, and you could see like the stress kind of drain. You could see the demeanor change after, you know, discovering that with them. And it was true for me too. Like I really cared about, you know, being a programmer. This client really cared about being a teacher. And when you love something so deeply, Yeah.
It switches the focus and you're able to [00:08:00] channel self doubt and I'm not doing enough, I'm not enough to be here into excitement because, you know, for that client, they're like, Oh, I get to, I get to do this, I get to go and teach and make a difference in these kids lives every day. And that's actually a really cool thing, you know, and so, Switching or channeling that imposter syndrome feeling of self doubt into excitement can help propel you into success and momentum, right?
So that's the first idea.
Second Idea
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Shawn Buttner: The second idea I have for you is to develop a growth mindset. Focus on curiosity in learning. Because you can answer the question, what do I need to learn? In my field and where I'm feeling a little insecure or have that imposter syndrome, uh, it makes it very easy [00:09:00] to get into action because you get clear on what you got to do, right?
For example, I had a different client who, uh, was a professional their whole career and she's like, I want to start a business. I'm like, okay. Um, and I want to do, do this particular thing. methodology. I'm like, okay, cool. And she's like, I don't identify as a business. I'm a creative person. My idea is person.
I don't. run businesses. Okay, well, what do we need to figure out, right? Where do you need to learn? The golden question. She's like, oh, I need to know how to set up a business entity. I need to know how to, um, reach my potential clients for the thing. I would need to, and we created a long list of things she would need to learn.
And like, okay, this is easy. Your homework right now is to learn how to do this. You know, start a bit, you know, create a business entity, set up your bank account, [00:10:00] you know, going down the list and you don't have to do anything about it. You just have to learn how to do it, right? Just go on Google, spend a half a day and see what you can find and coming back from that list, you can tell there was like a fire lit under here.
You're just like, okay, like, this isn't as hard as I thought and I think, like, The thing that I'm getting caught up in is that I don't feel like I'm a businesswoman. And I'm like, okay, like, what would that take to feel like you're a businesswoman? And came out a couple more things. And so that back and forth, one was, was fun.
Two, it engaged the, the, um, curiosity part of her brain. But more importantly, because she was curious, she could explore in a safe way without a lot of commitment, what it would take to be a businesswoman. And so as soon as that got crystal clear, off to the races, she created a big organization. She ended up selling a couple of years later.
So it's pretty [00:11:00] cool. So that's the power of channeling the focus that you don't know, or the uncertainty into opportunities and problem solving, right? That lead to momentum. So that's the second idea I had for you, growth mindset. So reframe. Your imposter syndrome into something positive. Figure out what you need to learn.
Number two.
Number three
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Shawn Buttner: Number three is to not hide what you don't know, right? And so many times, especially if you're starting and uh, if you don't feel like you have the credentials that you might need to really thrive in a particular feel or situation or topic, it's We try to, like, hide our ignorance, and, you know, that was something, it was probably more of a mindset from, like, 30 years ago.
Like, in today's world of social media and everything being open, [00:12:00] like, you don't need to hide that, and you can actually, uh, hurt you in connecting with your audience if you do. So, um, you know, you need to share what you're learning along the way. You know, and you need to channel that feeling fake into authenticity.
So, if you're new to covering the topic of AI, say, Hey, I'm kind of discovering this as I go. Here are the people I'm paying attention to. Here's what they're saying in common. Here's what I kind of think about it. Um, but, you know, let me report back. What I'm researching right now, just share the research with you, right?
So that's kind of like the researcher role. Uh, if you are getting results and like, Hey, I am implementing this type of AI stuff in my business, and this is how it's going. You know, you are, it grew my list [00:13:00] by X percent, or social engagement, like, met through the roof, or flatlined, or whatever, right? Um, Ben, you're sharing the results you're getting as you're experimenting stuff, which is, you know, true, right?
It's not you trying to hide that like, hey, I'm an expert in AI and, but I can't show you the results because they're not perfect. It's like, no, show the mess, right? Um, and that's allowing you to be authentic in what's going on in your life without feeling like, um, You're being inauthentic, right? So it's channeling fake into authentic in the journey, which then allows you to really connect with, um, the work you're doing.
You get excited, right? Cause you, you don't have to put on this extra layer of being this expert that you're not, it's just like, no, this is where we're going. [00:14:00] Um, and you'll, you'll find too, that, um, When you are vulnerable, people really connect with it and I want to do a shout out to Gracie. I got an email from last week's episode of Creators That Crush, uh, where she, Gracie said that she really connected with some of the, um, stories that I told on that about, you know, imposter syndrome and perfectionism, which is crazy.
And like, I'm really thankful for that. So thanks, Gracie, for reaching out. Um, you should have an email from me soon. Um, but, um, That's neither here nor there. Um, share what you're learning along the way, share your journey, share you to make it authentic. That'll switch imposter syndrome into something that works more for you.
All right. So we have reframed, we have growth mindset, we have authentic identity.
Number four
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Shawn Buttner: Uh, the fourth idea for shifting imposter syndrome into something more productive is to, you know, adopt servant leadership to focus on what [00:15:00] others gained through your content. So an example would be this episode, if I'm doing my job and I know as a high performance coach, how to do this, and I'm exploring this, um, in the context of creators, uh, with this podcast, but this episode should help you move from.
Feeling imposter syndrome or those moments when you feel imposter syndrome, because that'll happen probably sometime in the future, to feeling confident, to feeling like there are things you can actionably do to shift out of it and get back into motion, right? And so thinking about how you're helping people really channels the fear of not measuring up into the potential.
help you can do for folks, which is great. So that's how I would think about that. And then, okay, so we have the reframe, we have growth mindset, we have adopt authentic identity, we have servant [00:16:00] leadership.
Number five
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Shawn Buttner: And the final thing, magic trick that you could do to move imposter syndrome into something more productive is to take bold action.
If you don't have credentials, you don't have experience, you don't have research, The one thing you can do is to get into action and learn from those actions, Meaning that, you know, if you try something and you learn, you have that growth mindset. If you are authentically sharing, like, hey.
This is what I'm seeing right now. If you're doing it in a way where you're trying to help people and you really care about the subject, which is everything we've talked about before, then, you know, trying some stuff and doing the learnings and setting big goals and taking on challenges, um, can help you then get the experience you need to be an expert, which solves part of the problem of being an imposter.
An example of this is [00:17:00] when I left that first job after five years, I was so overwhelmed. Like I knew I wanted to do something different. I knew I wanted to do something that helped people.
And so I had some ideas. I had a, uh, My tour, ask a question. Are you living your truth? And I really didn't like that answer. Um, which kind of kicked into, okay, so if I don't like that answer, what are some bold things I can do? I could switch my career and turn it upside down. and what would that look like?
What do I need to do? You know, that would be in two months putting in my two weeks notice. It would be, making a big move across the country. It would be betting on myself and seeing what would happen. And feeling like I was taking control of my life, feeling like I was going to figure things out no matter what, you know, the confidence there helped me try a lot of things.
And I'm like, Oh, I really [00:18:00] don't know what I'm doing when I left that job and started a different business. but. I learned a lot and the experience at the first job at Walmart with this venture that I went on for nine months, trying to start a business and figure it out.
All had work that led me to getting that job at Apple, right? Which is crazy to me, That was a huge confidence booster. But, you know, I tried some stuff. I took some bold action. I got feedback from the world. I survived it. I had more confidence in my ability to figure things out
And it channeled the fear of messing up into strategic learning, Into things, I am very proud of in my life that I left that job tried something crazy, um, didn't have it work out the way that I wanted to, but it worked out in a way I could never have imagined. And that's what I hope for each of you.
In conclusion /
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Shawn Buttner: So, creators that crush, channel any imposter [00:19:00] syndrome into excitement, into learning mindset, into authenticity, into helping others, and into bold actions. And remember, Imposter syndrome is a good sign that you highly care for the thing that you're making, the career that you're building, the things that you're doing, and trust in that, okay?
With that, we'll see you in the next episode of, uh, Creators That Crush. This is Shawn Buttner signing off. Take care, everyone.
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