S3 Bonus 06: Reimagining Impostor Syndrome Part 2

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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Genius Womxn podcast. I'm your host, Yulia, Denisyuk, an award-winning travel photographer and writer with work in some incredible publications like National Geographic farm magazine and more. And this year you see my name in places like Conde Nast Traveler. I'm on a mission to help other women who wants to grow their trouble, storytelling, careers, go after their dreams while feeling supported, worthy, and bold. If you're ready to ditch your fear and doubts to the side, step into your brilliance and take action on your dreams. You're in the right place. Let's go. 

[00:00:37] I'm bringing part two of our imposter syndrome workshop to you. We recently did this workshop in our circle membership, creative retreat. This June the workshop was among our members favorites in the retreat. No surprise there. Many of us, myself included experience imposter syndrome from time to time more.

[00:00:57] So if we're growing and expanding our skillset in new directions in the last episode, we'll look at how imposter syndrome manifests. And so they. We're going to cover ways in which we can reimagine our imposter syndrome and even use it as an opportunity to grow. At the end of the episode, I refer to a worksheet.

[00:01:17] I shared with our members during the retreat, and I encourage you to follow along and apply what we share in this worksheet to your own situation. Workshops and conversations like these are part of what we do in the circle. Our membership for women, interested in growing their creative careers in the travel media space.

[00:01:36] Enrollments of the circle is currently closed. As we're getting ready for a one year anniversary, this sober. If you want to know, when we opened the doors back up, visit geniuswomxn.co/circlewaitlist to get on a list. All right, let's jump into today's episode. 

[00:01:55] So how we can start reimagining what our imposter syndrome is, is we can actually start looking at it as an opportunity to grow an opportunity to grow.

[00:02:04] And what I mean here is that. Just in general. a lot of people go through life without awareness of how their thoughts impact their behavior, which then in turns impacts what happens to them in their real life. Right. We sort of go through life on autopilot. A lot of us do, and to me, at least that's how I define growth.

[00:02:26] I define growth. In this way that you grow as a well rounded human beings. When you learn how to identify those thoughts and learn to discern what's happening to you and learn to see how the thoughts that you have affects the behaviors that you do, which then affects the reality, which then reinforces the thoughts that you have.

[00:02:46] Right? So it's like this, I talk about this circle, the circle of life, which. Yeah. It's like a, self-fulfilling prophecy. You're thinking thoughts. You act a certain way. The world responds a certain way based on your actions and it reinforces where you saw it in the first place. And that's the reason why it's so difficult for us to change behavior is to do something new with our lives to achieve the dreams that we have.

[00:03:09] Right. Because that cycle thought behavior reality reinforces again. It's very hard to get out of that cycle, but it starts with our thoughts. We're actually, it starts even before it starts with awareness and recognition, but that's what's happening. Right? So this is why I say that imposter syndrome could be an opportunity to grow because we can become aware of the thoughts that are happening to us.

[00:03:31] Now, one step before that we need to do is that structural reality that I was talking about earlier in our society, right? Women, anyone who doesn't fit the sort of yeah, the most accepted definition of, a worthy person in our society, which is a white man. Anyone who doesn't fit that is automatically at a disadvantage.

[00:03:52] And that's the structural reality that, Reinforces imposter syndrome you know, it's not just that all of a sudden 70% of the population are somehow broken, . Or somehow deficient. That's not about that at all. There is a structural reality that makes us feel this way. And that's all I'm going to say right now.

[00:04:10] Again, if you want Google structural structural reasons for imposter syndrome, you'll find a lot of interesting information there, but that's the first step, right? There's nothing wrong with us for feeling this way.

[00:04:22] There's a reasons why we do then we have to become aware of our thoughts that reinforce this reality, this structural reality, and then perhaps the most interesting one of the three.

[00:04:34] This is an opportunity for us to reflect on and to work with some of our deepest fears because imposter syndrome is really great at feeding and uncovering. The fears that we have, and all of us have fears, right? Fear is very human. It prevents us from being killed on the road where we have to look both ways before we cross the road.

[00:04:54] It kept us safe for many, many, many thousands of years. So, you know, it's a very natural part of us. The problem is that a lot of times it sort of starts over running, our actions and we don't even realize it again. We don't even realize it. So a very interesting way to think about imposter syndrome is to see it as an opportunity to work with your fears.

[00:05:15] It's to get to know your fears and to see what you can do about some of them. So again, recognize structural reality, become aware of our thoughts and then see if you can work with some of those fears. And what I'll say here is that I know a lot of you have given us giving me feedback. both last year and this year cohorts that the fears and poetry exercise was very interesting for you, right?

[00:05:39] Which sort of is part of what's happening, what I'm talking about here. When we write our fears and then we find a way to sort of turned them on their head. These are old ways in which we can become better at managing our fears and, not let them prevent us from doing what we want to do. 

[00:05:56] So some thoughts, some strategies on how we can deal with, and work through imposter syndrome.

[00:06:03] I already told you earlier about that wave, concept some other concepts first acknowledge that it's happening again. Think about or recognize that this is what's happening. Talk about it. Again, I think it's really important. The stories that we tell ourselves, the stories that we saw, others matter, the story that I told you about my recent imposter syndrome experience.

[00:06:24] Every time I'm telling that story, , I'm building my own muscle of dealing with it. So next time it comes, I will be even better prepared to work with it. Which some distance between yourself and the situation that's happening, that also is helpful in some, cases , to look at the situation from a more objective point of view, get some data to find the feeling.

[00:06:47] I love this one and I actually practice this every time I get any kind of positive reinforcement. When you guys send me your amazing feedback. On the class on the membership, anything when people sending great messages on social media, I screenshot it. I put it all in the folder. I have a folder on my computer called praise and I go there, especially when I'm feeling particularly unsure, particularly vulnerable.

[00:07:11] I go there and I see that, you know, and in three forces, reinforces my belief in myself. So that's a really great strategy. And finally make this part of your routine because as with everything that we do in life practice is where impact is. If we do something once that's great, but it's really continuous, consistent practice is where the impact is.

[00:07:34] And you've heard me speak about this before about this career even, right. It's what we do consistently on a daily basis is what matters because that's how we're going to get results. And that's where we're going to see him back. So some strategies for you to think about as we, think about imposter syndrome.

[00:07:51] Most importantly, perhaps understanding and knowing that again, there's nothing wrong with you when you feel this way, when you feel that doubt and that fear creeping. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. It's very normal to feel imposter syndrome, many of us feel it. And, hopefully with these strategies and , with these discussions, we can get better and better at managing it.

[00:08:11] So now let's do another guided activity. How does feel? You guys, what I've just shared with you? This is it resonating? Is it making sense? Oh, yes. Good. 

[00:08:22] So here's the imposter worksheet and there's only one more worksheet left for today. You guys, I promise you so no more. Um, but here's one for, for this session. So what I want us to do now, again, , for the next 10 minutes or so let's spend some time, Thinking about how imposter syndrome is manifesting in our own life.

[00:08:44] And in this worksheet,

[00:08:46] there is a technique, there is a tool to start looking at imposter syndrome again, in a very interesting way. So basically in this world, What we're doing is we're looking at a specific situation that's perhaps playing off for you right now. Maybe there's an opportunity that you're presented with.

[00:09:04] Maybe there's something that's happening in your life. That's making you feel like you don't belong. Like you're an imposter, or perhaps you can take any of the past situations that you've been in recently that you can recall and think about that past situation and sort of look at it through this. And in the first, part of this practice this technique, we want to really tease apart. What does that voice, that imposter voice tell you when you think about that situation and we want to tease apart how it makes you feel when you believe that. And most importantly, we want to also think about how does that make you behave then when you believe those things, right?

[00:09:45] Do you reach out for that opportunity or do you contract you expand and become bigger or do you contract and become smaller when that same situation within also wants to say, once I analyze, well, what happens if I don't believe that impossible? What happens if I believe the voice that says you're brilliant and you can absolutely do it and you deserve it and you are good enough.

[00:10:08] And how do you feel when you believe that voice and how do you act when you believe that voice? So this practice is really powerful. You guys, Andy, if we adopt even like. 5% of that for our daily lives. And we really, really work with it. We become really unstoppable. thing is though that it's hard, right?

[00:10:30] Because it requires you to sit down, to think about, to analyze some things. And it's sometimes it's just boring. Right? We don't want to do that. , that's not fun, but it's very powerful. It's very powerful. I've done this practice myself several times. I'm yet to become consistent with it, which is something I'm working on, but I've done it several times and it's really powerful.

[00:10:52] So what I want to encourage you to do now is let's take maybe 10 minutes work through a scenario that you have in your hand and then see, see what comes up. And then we'll, we're going to come back here and we're going to discuss it a little. If you're offering. before I turned on the music and we do it, the other part of that worksheet, right.

[00:11:13] Then you extend that further. So again, remember that wheel. , thoughts, behaviors, reality, and how it reinforces. This is basically that same principle. So what are the outcomes, if you believe your imposter syndrome voice and what are the outcomes. When you believe your brilliance voice, right? You extend that.

[00:11:31] What if scenario either way in either case. And then I want to point out something very important here that in either case you guys, whether you choose to stay with imposter or whether you choose to believe your brilliance, it's going to be unconscious. Because when we're feeling imposter syndrome, it's also uncomfortable, right?

[00:11:51] We're feeling doubt. We're feeling fear. It's like, we're not sure of ourselves. That's uncomfortable when we're feeling our brilliance and we're doing bigger and better things. That's also uncomfortable. So the question at the end there is I think a brilliant question itself, which discomfort do you want to choose and why, which this conference do you want to do?

[00:12:12] The imposter syndrome, discomfort or being brilliant discomfort. Okay. We just wanted to point that out. Now I'm going to turn on some music. let's say take 10 minutes, work through a situation that you have again, if you want right. Everything here is an invitation and then we're going to come back and discuss.

[00:12:30] Thank you so much for listening to our imposter syndrome bonus episode today, I hope it's resonated with you and sparked some ideas on how you can start working with your own imposter syndrome as well. If you're looking for support opportunities and community in the travel media space, consider joining.

[00:12:49] In the Circle enrollments of the Circle is currently closed. As we're getting ready for a one-year anniversary this October. If you want to know, when we opened the doors back up, visit geniuswomxn.co/circlewaitlist to get on the list. Thanks again for listening and stay tuned for another bonus episode coming your way next week.