To be honest, I was awfully quiet on my blog at the beginning because I kept telling myself that I didn’t have anything interesting enough to say, that nothing I could come up with was original enough for others to want to read it, and that I’d probably just end up embarrassing myself (nobody wants to get dragged on social media, right?). How’s that for negative self talk? What a mess.
I feel the imposter syndrome creeping up on me pretty regularly, and when it does, I try to manage it using two techniques I’ve learned over the last few years. The first is I ask myself, “would I allow a dear friend to talk about herself that way?” If the answer is no, then I’m not allowed to say it about myself, either.
The second technique involves asking myself a series of three questions: 1. Is it true? 2. Does it help me feel the way I want to feel? 3. Does it help me achieve the goals I want to achieve? If the answer to any of those is no, I try to think of a way to reframe my thoughts.