Issue 3 | May 17, 2024
I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have. —Leonardo da Vinci
The Competence Rulebook for Mere Mortals
All achievers want to do their best.
But when you feel like an impostor, your “best” includes a host of self-expectations that go far beyond doing well.
Whether you know it or not, your view of competence is a major contributor to perpetuating your belief that you are an impostor.
Over the years you’ve adopted notions about what’s required for you to be considered talented, knowledgeable, skilled, or, in a word, “good” enough. And these notions have everything to do with how competent and confident you feel.
The fact that everyone else sees a capable individual, where you see an inadequate fraud, tells me you operate from a competence playbook that bears little resemblance to reality.
It doesn’t matter how intelligent, talented, or skilled you are right now because I have news for you:
You are never going to consistently reach that absurdly high bar you’ve set for yourself… e-v-e-r.
That’s why, if you truly want to unlearn impostor syndrome, you must adjust your self-limiting thinking about what it takes to be competent.
The goal is to learn to think like someone who is genuinely humble but who has never experienced impostor feelings. A person I refer to as a Humble Realist™.
This redefining process is, bar none, your fastest path to confidence.
Coaches, have you ever thought you could be doing more to help your clients navigate impostor feelings?
Get the guide that explains the most common – and potentially harmful – mistakes even the best coaches make. You’ll also get a video with Dr. Young explaining her 5 Types of Impostor Syndrome.
The Impostor Syndrome Handbook for Coaches™
Espanol?
The updated (2023) version of Valerie Young’s award-winning book, The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: And Men, Why Capable People Suffer from Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It is now available in Spanish!
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