Is it Imposter syndrome (or do you just need more practice)?

IMPORTANT: THIS TRANSCRIPT IS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED. WE GIVE IT A QUICK CHECK THROUGH BUT WE DON’T CORRECT EVERYTHING AS IT’S INTENDED TO HELP YOU FIND PARTS YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO AGAIN - NOT AS AN EXACT TRANSCRIPT. SO THERE MIGHT BE A FEW QUIRKY WORDS/PHRASES HERE!

:: 00:00

Hi, it's Janet Murray here. And if you've ever wondered, if you're suffering from imposter syndrome, you definitely want to give this episode or listen. I recently trained as a lone leader, which means I'm qualified to lead running training sessions, including warmup and cool-down sessions. I've been helping run a couch to 5k program in my local area, and it's been great,

:: 00:24

but I really don't feel confident leaving the up sessions or the cool-down stretches. Now I'm not saying I don't appear confident. I am a confident public speaker. So to the untrained hire, I probably look fine, but inside I have this critical voice telling me that everyone is laughing at me. They can tell, I don't know what I'm doing. They're wondering why someone who doesn't know anything about running,

:: 00:50

we're putting themselves forward at a run later. It's just incessant because I felt like a fraud. Although I'm an experienced runner with almost a decade of learning under my belt, I've run five marathons, dozens of half marathons, shorter distances, cross country. And I've done years of gym work, which means I've done most of the warmup exercises and stretches on demonstrating hundreds of times that I just feel like sport has never been my thing.

:: 01:19

I wasn't one of the sporty kids at school, I was that nerdy kid hanging around the music beam at lunchtime. So I was chatting to Kate Cocker about this. Who's coached me for this very podcast. And she said to me, you're a public speaker. How do you practice your talks? I told her exactly what I do. I create my talks in three to five minute blocks that I practice each session separately.

:: 01:45

Then I start to string them together. Then I practice the transitions between the sections. So by the time I do a 25 or 30 minute talk, I have done hours of practice, which is why, if you've ever seen me deliver a keynote speech, I say, without any embarrassment or any fear that you might think on big headed, you will probably think it's pretty polished because it is so Kate nodded.

:: 02:10

And she said to me, how do you practice your warmup and cool-down sessions for the running then? And I said, well, I tell him, which was a massive light bulb moment for me. Not that I was thinking that I needed to be putting hours and hours of practice in for something I do in my spare time. I don't think that's realistic,

:: 02:33

but two big takeaways for me. Number one, I will get better. The more I do it, which is why I need to keep doing it. And number two, practicing would probably help just five minutes a day in front of the mirror would probably make me feel a lot more confident in running those sessions and would be well worth it. So get that nasty imposter voice out of my head.

:: 02:57

I'm sharing this because if you're like any of my clients, you have probably asked yourself the question, am I suffering from imposter syndrome? Because you have a voice in your head that tells you that your content is stupid, that people will laugh at you. That no one will be interested in what you have to say anyway. So why are you even bothering if that sounds familiar and you've ever wondered whether you're suffering from imposter syndrome,

:: 03:24

here's a reframe for you. Is it imposter syndrome or is it just that you need more practice? Just like me with my one leading. Now, the difficult thing about content of course, is that your practice has to be public. So if you don't publish your content, then how will you find out what lands with your audience and what doesn't, but you can put your content out there and you can still be kind to yourself.

:: 03:49

And you can remind yourself something that I often remind you of on the podcast is that content creation is a job. People get paid for it. They go to university to study it. So starting a business and then working up online, posting a few things on Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram, and expecting to get great engagement after a few months, or maybe even a few years,

:: 04:14

he's actually expecting a lot of yourself. So have the courage to be a beginner, just keep showing up and give yourself the time you need to learn and practice.