Hey business dreamers,

in this episode I am sharing eight tips that have been hugely important for me in working through imposter syndrome, which I know is sometimes coming up for all of us. If you are worried about not being ready or good enough this episode is for you!

Here is the live tarot class I mentioned: httpss://www.yarrowmagdalena.com/tarot-as-a-light-in-the-dark-live-class/

And here is more info about the DIY Business Community: httpss://pinkwellstudio.com/diy-business-school/

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⋒ Hi, my name is Yarrow and I am your host.

My Embodied Business podcast explores what it means to build a livelihood with integrity, joy and anti capitalist values. I offer practical guidance on tech, strategy, ethical marketing, creativity and money and interview other small business owners who do things their own way. 

You can learn more about my work, listen to other episodes or join my community at PinkWellStudio.com

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Transcript

Hey, everyone, my name is Yarrow and you’re listening to the DIY small business podcast. I lead designer, a business mentor and the tech fairy. And they support small business owners in building an online platform that’s really fun to work with. I want to talk today about imposter syndrome. And I have a tips to share with you on how you can deal with it and let it go. I think that’s a really common issue for most of us. And I’ve gathered some ideas. Before I get into them, I want to give you a quick update on my work. So I’m currently booking for 2020, both web design and business mentoring projects, which is very exciting. And there’s been some really cool things coming through. And yeah, I’m just looking forward to get to know everyone. The DIY business community is currently closed for enrollment, because I’m kind of making the onboarding welcoming process even better. And also, because I just wanted to have a little bit of a break from the openness and really think about the things I want to offer in 2020. So I’ll be mapping out the dates for our coaching calls and live workshops, they soon and then in January, you can enrol again, in case you didn’t know about this, this is a an online community programme. There’s an 10 module video course at its core that everyone can take at that one time. And then we have monthly group coaching and live workshops. And it’s a really supportive, super sweet community. So if you’re feeling alone in your business, and like you need support, support, and just like minded people around you, then I think that’s a great place to check out. I’ll be offering a year long package next month. And I’m just letting you know now it’s not open for enrollment yet or you can purchase it does on the website at the moment. But you will be able to do that soon. So if you listen to this episode a bit later, take the website, Yarrow, digital comm add the link in the show notes as well. But basically, it’ll be $300. And that’s a year of access to the community. So you get the 10 module core is a whole year of monthly group coaching and live workshops, quarterly business planner workshops, and a 90 minute deep dive session with me in January. And which will map out your your year in business. And really think about your goals and how we can make sure they take good that she will and you know exactly what your next steps are, and how to navigate the programme. So yeah, I’m excited for that. I’m also running a live class over a day Joe rose calm in January, it will be a three part class on Saturdays, about her as a light in the dark. And that feels really cool to offer in winter, because I think it’s such a beautiful tool for decision making and self care and creative expression. So we’ll be working with the archetypes and her rituals and really dive deeper into creating a committed practice. And that class currently is on sale for $44 as an early bird price until December 1. So the link to that will also be in the show notes. But now I want to talk about imposter syndrome. Okay, so first of all, I really want to see say that I hear from people all the time people at all stages of their business, saying that they’re worried about not being ready to do what they’re doing, that maybe they’re not the right person to do the thing that they want to do, or that they should have more training, or that they feel really ambivalent about being seen. So on one hand, there’s this really big desire to be seen and understood and to be able to be of service. And then on the other hand, there’s also nervousness around that. I think that’s really human because reading a small business, for many of us is a completely new path. It’s not usually something that we learn in school. Many of us don’t have role models in our immediate family of people that have built businesses. So it’s a new unknown thing, and it can bring up a lot of stuff. So yeah, so the first tip I have for you is to see if there’s any way that you can release some shame. So for me, that could look like digging into childhood stories, bringing some memories up and for experiences in which I have picked up the message that maybe my work isn’t good enough and really kind of trying to expand compassion and kindness to my younger self, for taking that in and for being in that kind of environment. And remember that I’ve always been trying my best and I totally get to express myself and have that be appreciated. Another way of dealing with shame, I think is to really remind yourself that everyone is feeling this sometimes. So if you look around yourself and as other business owners
very likely you’ll hear similar feelings about similar things have kind of not being good enough or feeling like an imposter or worrying about being You found out in some way. And I think just kind of really remembering and grounding into this fact that it’s not just you really helps a chain as well. And the last part around shame I will share is that it’s really important to remember that being in shame and living, that experience is not going to help you to be of service. And that’s probably what you want to do. So regardless of what your business is, or what kind of business you’re hoping to build, whether that’s service based or practice based, you probably want to be of service in some way. And living with shame is not going to allow you to do that. So there’s a really totally unselfish reason to work around letting that go and really kind of owning what you’re trying to do. The second tip is to do some market research, because I really think that connecting with people’s needs is helping us to understand that what we’re trying to offer is actually really needed. So especially in my first few years, there’s been a lot of time in Facebook groups, for example, just to see what what questions people were asking around tech, they made a note of them. Sometimes I recorded podcast episodes about them. Sometimes I was blogging about them or recorded YouTube videos. And I was just trying to kind of dive into the kinds of communities that I wanted to be serving, I wanted to see what what they needed. And I wanted to kind of then go away and try and develop that. And obviously, sometimes people don’t really know what they need, or maybe they’re using a different language. So again, using the example of text, sometimes maybe someone will say, Well, I want to build a newsletter list, but they might not say, I don’t know how to integrate my opt in, I don’t know how to write a good welcome, email, that kind of stuff. So, you know, there’s sometimes a dance, and it’s not about telling people what they need. But it’s just about like feeling, feeling into a common shared language, and kind of sometimes reaching beyond language to kind of see what might be helpful. But yeah, I think it’s just really about doing market research and staying connected with what is needed in the community that you want to serve. Another idea, and as I think that, that this idea that you can also lead by example. So especially if you’re doing something pretty neat, that people might not know about yet, or that they might not necessarily directly see the solution to a problem that they have the sharing about what’s working for you, rather than telling them what to do, might be a really beautiful way. And so I think, for example, if you’re sharing about something that has really worked for you, you might see people commenting and saying like, hey, that sounds amazing. How did you get there, and that’s a message for you clearly that what you’re trying to do offer is indeed needed. And then I would also recommend that you always ask existing clients for feedback, and ideally, to even automate that in some way. So that does mean that it has to be automated in a in a kind of robotic kind of way. But you know, for example, when you complete a project with someone have this little checklist to go through, that’s going to say things like, you know, have you handed all the information your client needed over? Have you invoice them? Have you done your bookkeeping, and also have you asked them for feedback. And then my third tip is keep a feedback folder. So that could be direct feedback from existing clients. Or it could be really positive three comments on social media. Or it could be questions that have, that you have received that kind of tell you that you are seen as someone who knows about this, that make you feel good about yourself and your work. And then whenever imposter syndrome comes up, you can refer it to your feedback folder. And that might be a really way great way to not spend too deeply into that feeling and that anxiety. And to stop yourself in those tracks, basically, my first tip is to be very intentional with the training that you do and the support that you get. So I think when we are in imposter syndrome, this has been totally true for me, it’s very easy to bounce from training, to training and to constantly be in this feeling of never being good enough. And always needing to learn just one more thing until you’re able to do an offer the thing that you want to do so 100%, I’ve done that I have wasted a lot of money on trainings that either I didn’t actually have the bandwidth to fully take in or that weren’t actually relevant to the work that I wanted to do. And I think that’s because we live in a culture where, yeah, that is a lot of shiny stuff. And I think we have to be really discerning online with the information that we’re consuming and the things that we’re engaging with and the support that we’re asking for.
I think the support piece for me was really important. I’ve done a lot of self study courses where it really took me a lot of commitment and strength and bandwidth to kind of keep myself motivated to go really deep into them. And sometimes that has hasn’t worked. And I think that that’s a big piece of why I’m offering the DIY small business community the way I do in a way that’s very supportive, where we have a network of other people and coaching calls, and all that kind of stuff. Because I think self study can work and sometimes is really amazing for like small practical things that you want to teach yourself. But it’s also very valid to want direct support and to be in a community as you learn. And so, if you feel imposter syndrome coming up our education, I think it’s really cool and beautiful to find the sweet spot between really being curious and wanting to learn and understanding that your development is worth an investment and time and energy. And also remembering that you probably know a lot already. And that you don’t have to take every single course that’s being offered to you, that you do deserve support and community as you learn, and that you can be very discerning with what you engage with. You don’t have to know all the different modalities and do all the different things unless you really want to, and it’s coming from a place of intention and like a real desire to learn all these things. So, you know, really, this is not to say that learning isn’t good, or that you shouldn’t take courses that you’re excited about. But to really check in with yourself where this intention of coming from my first tip, our first one is offering free service for a limited time in a contained way. So if you’re really feeling imposter syndrome, at the moment that the products or services you’re offering, and ready yet to be offered for monetary exchange, then maybe it is a good idea to offer some free sessions. And I would recommend to really think about what the boundaries around that for you might be. So maybe you’re apprenticing with someone in some way, maybe you’re supporting someone else’s classes, maybe you’re doing a limited number of free sessions or donation based sessions in your community online or offline or local. To kind of gain some experience and, and confidence. And then really important with that. Also, obviously, you want to ask for feedback and see how people found it and what was useful and that for them. The sixth tip I want to share is to look behind the scenes of other businesses that you admire. So if you’re in a feeling of Oh, my God, everyone is so far ahead, I’m never going to get there, then really kind of try and see if you can go into the archives, look at all the posts, go all the way down. And remind yourself that we have all started somewhere and that no one was born, getting 10,000 likes on the Instagram post, most likely, some people’s websites, including my own also looked very different from what they are looking now just a few years back, do you Google something called a website Time Machine, you’re sometimes able to see what someone of someone’s website looked like in the past. And that can be very interesting. And it’s not about comparing yourself. Like I said, it’s more about seeing that we are all on a journey. No one is born perfect. You know, we are definitely born perfect. As babies, obviously. But you know, we’re not we all evolving continuously. And you’re a part of that too. My second tip is to take a break from social media, if you find that you’re comparing yourself too much. So I think sometimes when we’re kind of at the cusp of birthing someone, something new, no businesses are like leaping forward in some way. It can be tricky to be on social media, because we’re looking to the left or and right too much, rather than focusing on what we actually want to do in that moment. So taking a break from social media can be really good. It doesn’t have to be forever. But maybe just for a week or two could be helpful as you’re writing a website copy, for example, or as you’re thinking about what you want to do for your pricing.
And then my eighth and last tip is to surround yourself with people who really believe in you and form a small mastermind. So I’m in two masterminds, that afraid I’ve started myself. And they’re really wonderful, and they’re so supportive. And we’re really kind of witnessing each other on this journey and reminding ourselves and mirroring that to each other that we have already come so far. And that we’re really not struggling with the same stuff we have been struggling through years ago, which is so easy to look at. And I think when we forget, then the imposter syndrome comes up. So find yourself people that will marry you, and that believe in what you’re trying to do. And just ask them if they want to meet you maybe once a month or every other week or so on Skype or zoom or in real life in a cafe to talk about what’s going on for you right now. And then you can release some shame together, which is really great. Yeah. Okay, so these are all my tips. If you have any questions, please let me know. I hope this is useful and I’m really grateful for your time and listening. Thank you.