What if Imposter Syndrome doesn't Exist?
Today as I was scrolling through the profiles of new Twitter followers and I kept thinking, "This is where I was a year ago. This poor soul doesn't know a thing about engaging an audience yet."
Many of them are newer to the Twitter game. It's so clear that they are following some internet how-to guide on what to post and how to word their bio. Most of them look like copies of each other... and that's probably how we all start.
I remember when I began trying to grow an audience on Twitter and when I started writing content. I was fucking awful at it. Lots of posts like the one below 🙄
It took me a while to figure it all out. And still, I'm sure that people with 10K+ followers must look at my profile, shake their heads with pity, and think, "This is where I was a year ago. This poor soul doesn't know a thing about engaging an audience yet."
Looking back, most times when I've had 'imposter syndrome', it's been justified. I really did suck! I sucked when I was scared of starting that new job, I sucked when I started tweeting, I sucked when I first started a blog. I sucked at every single thing I was a beginner at.
But that's okay! It's okay to suck. We don't have to give it a fancy label and pretend it doesn't exist. Sucking is part of the process to becoming great. When we feel imposter syndrome, maybe it's because we know that we're trying something outside of our current skill level, and that we have no idea what we are doing. There's nothing wrong with that.
The next time I have imposter syndrome, I'll accept that I'm probably going to fail, and that it's also the only way to eventually become great.
I need to start, and suck, and keep sucking until one day I suck less than I suck now. And then one day further in the future, I'll actually start being good at those things. There is no other way.
"Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled." -Mindy Kaling