We’ve all heard the term impostor syndrome before. It’s that feeling that no matter how good you are at something you’re really a fraud who will be found out any moment.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t struggle with this. Even if they don’t acknowledge the truth somewhere inside them there’s a little voice of insecurity.
I’ve always struggled with this. As a writer I struggled with this, as a podcaster I struggled with this, and as a business owner and artist, I struggle with this. Truth to tell it’s gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. When I was young I was unstoppable but now . . .
Even though I’ve been repairing and redesigning furniture my whole life whenever someone would come to my house and tell me how much they liked something or that expressed an interest in buying something I would demure and defer. It’s my go-to for most compliments.
This can be a problem when you decide to run a business asking people for money for your work. Impostor syndrome makes you severely undervalue what you do.
No matter how many items I sell or how many pieces of furniture I resurrect, I still feel like I’m an amateur just learning.
Still, I have to feed my family, pay the bills and have money to go junking with! So I fake it. With butterflies in my stomach, I price items at what I think is a fair price and keep my nagging little voice to myself.
I won’t lie sometimes the voice gets the better of me and that’s when I need that friend who can tell me I’m being ridiculous. The friend who loves me enough to tell me that my insecurity needs to shut up now. We all need to have that person in our corner.