“I AM A TOTAL FRAUD.”
This was the phrase I used to tell myself every time I put words on paper.
Ever since I was an elementary kid, I already knew I was into words.
While most of my classmates played in the schoolyard during recess, little me would spend her time devouring stories in her English books.
My love for reading continued in high school, and I almost became crazily obsessed.
To get access to exclusive books in our library, I befriended our librarian just so I could spend all of my free time reading silently in a small corner.
When I was in college, I took a Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English because I wanted to teach and share my love for words.
I became a student publication writer, and a few months before I graduated, I was awarded “The Most Promising Editorial Writer” by one of our country’s top information agencies.
After I finished my degree, I taught in a private school for a year and passed my licensure exam, not knowing I wouldn’t be using it for good.
I permanently said goodbye to my dream of becoming an English public school teacher and pursued a different path.
I tried being a virtual assistant, social media manager, recruitment specialist, financial advisor, real estate agent, and forex trader.
I earned some good money doing those jobs, and I genuinely enjoyed them.
But deep inside, I knew something was missing.
Around 2018, I started a blog and wrote over a dozen articles.
But every day, I was haunted by the fact that I wasn’t good enough to do it, so I stopped.
Two years later, I discovered copywriting and fell in love with it.
Being a lover of words and a huge fan of Robert Greene’s books, I felt that being a copywriter was the perfect career I was looking for.
Unfortunately, it dawned on me that just because you enjoy studying direct-response marketing doesn’t mean you’ll automatically become a good writer.
That harsh thought made me doubt myself, and I almost didn’t pursue it.
Luckily, my desire to improve my skills outweighs my desire to just call it quits.
In 2022, I worked with a copywriting coach who helped me land a full-time role in an Australian marketing agency.
Before getting hired, I had written social media posts, YouTube copy, podcast show notes, emails, and articles for clients and myself.
If you think those are enough to make me feel confident in my job, you’re wrong.
Because the opposite happened.
My imposter syndrome went through the roof!
For the first few weeks, I constantly asked these useless questions:
- Why did they hire me?
- Do I really deserve this role?
- Do I have what it takes to write properly?
- What if they think I’m just faking it?
Yeah, I know those are stupid thoughts because why would I get hired if my boss didn’t believe I’m capable, right?
Since I got tired of dealing with self-doubt, I decided to dig deeper and stumbled upon the concept of imposter syndrome.
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re also tired of doubting yourself and want to do something about it.
Don’t worry.
I’ll share what I’ve learned so you can empower yourself to push through.
But first, let’s define what imposter syndrome is.
Imposter syndrome is your inability to recognize and accept your own success.
Whatever accomplishment you have, you downplay your efforts because you believe it has more to do with luck or other external factors.
You feel like anytime soon, people will call you out and expose you as a fraud.
This level of anxiety usually happens if you’re trying to build something like a business, starting a new job, getting promoted to a higher role, or developing a new skill.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I felt imposter syndrome so strongly when I got hired as a copywriter.
Now if you want to know whether you suffer from imposter syndrome, try asking yourself the following questions.
- Do you think you’re not as good as others think you are?
- Do you constantly worry that you’re not qualified for your job?
- Do you often set unrealistic goals and get frustrated with yourself because you can’t achieve them?
- Do you belittle your performance even when others compliment you?
- Do you over-prepare and overwork yourself just to avoid mistakes or failures?
- Do you often dread evaluation because you’re scared that others might think you’re an imposter?
If you get more YES than NO, there’s a good chance imposter syndrome affects your life more than you know.
But the thing is, you’re not the only one who feels that way.
I also feel it, and the majority of people as well.
In actual fact, according to studies, 70% of adults experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives.
Yes, it’s a real feeling, but you don’t have to let it run the course of your life.
Because if you do, you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities to learn, improve, and grow.
- You’ll be stuck in your own comfortable bubble, feeling stagnant.
- You’ll be constantly worried and anxious about what others think about you.
- You’ll hold yourself back from pursuing interests that light you up.
Like me, you’ll only wish for a time machine so you can go back and start as early as possible.
Fortunately, it’s not all doom and gloom.
There are proven strategies and solution-based approaches that you can use to lessen the frequency and intensity of imposter syndrome.
Once you learn how to adjust your negative thinking patterns, you’ll feel more confident in yourself.
You’ll have the motivation to take action and build momentum.
You must be open to embracing the fact that failures and mistakes are all part of the process.
You’ll build a habit of going outside your comfort zone, feeling the fear, and doing it anyway.
The result? An incomparable sense of progress and fulfilment.
So now, let’s talk about these three simple but powerful strategies you can immediately implement.
1. Start a hype file
As a copywriter, I have this precious swipe file where I put all the copy that caught my attention.
What I do with these copy is dissect them in my free time to analyze why and how they work.
Now, you can borrow the same concept and create a hype file.
A hype file is simply a collection of positive feedback, compliments, and nice words you receive from other people.
You would want to visit this every time imposter syndrome creeps into your head.
When I worked with my coach before, I told him I wasn’t sure if I’d make it as a copywriter.
For me, my writing just sucks.
So he made me list down all the writing wins and accomplishments I’ve ever gotten.
I thought it was a weird exercise at first, but I was pretty shocked to see that I had almost filled out one whole document.
That simple exercise was one of the best things I did for my career.
You know why?
Because it gave me the confidence to apply for a role for which I didn’t feel qualified.
Until now, I’ve continued to collect kudos and positive feedback, especially from my work, because they help me self-regulate whenever I doubt myself.
Here are a few kudos I received from the team and my previous clients:
Without these words, I probably wouldn’t be confident enough to keep showing up at work and start building my writing project.
So my advice for you is to revisit your Messenger, email, or Slack messages and hunt for the good feedback and compliments you receive.
Screenshot them and create a specific folder in your phone gallery so you have something to read to hype yourself up.
Your hype file is proof that you’re not a fraud, and people have some nice things to say about you.
2. Invest in a mentor (and take action!)
One of imposter syndrome’s favourite times to pop up is when you learn something new.
Since you’re in the early part of the process, you’ll feel like you don’t know anything yet.
You’ll feel like you are nothing compared to the writers, bloggers, and public figures you see online.
When I started to learn copywriting, I joined a Facebook group of copywriters, which made me feel so behind.
When members shared their portfolios, I can’t help but think, “Wow, their copy is well-written. I don’t think I can write something this good.”
Sounds like a disempowering, limiting belief, doesn’t it?
But the thing is, everybody goes through a period where they suck at something before they get good at it.
Since I badly wanted to become a copywriter, I went outside my comfort zone and bought a copywriting course.
I learned a lot from that course, but the unfortunate thing is that I just hoard all the information and keep it in my head.
In short, I didn’t take any action at all.
Aside from learning how to write copy, the main goal of the course was to get clients, but I didn’t do it.
And if you think it’s because of imposter syndrome, you’re right.
A year later, I worked with a copywriting coach, and that changed the game for me.
The short coaching program and lessons I learned from the course (as I mentioned earlier) landed me a full-time copywriting role in a content marketing agency.
The difference between having a coach and simply buying a course?
ACCOUNTABILTY.
During the program, I had to report to my coach what I learned and what I did.
What that made me do was force myself to take action, no matter how scared or lazy I was.
When you’re doing a course alone, there’s a good chance you’ll get stuck in tutorial hell, getting cheap dopamine from consuming without doing anything.
Now, I understand that hiring a coach or a mentor comes with a higher price tag.
So if you can’t afford it yet, investing in a course is fine as long as you can apply what you learn.
A few months ago, I invested in a course to improve my writing skills.
To ensure I take action, I built this blog (as my writing project) and committed to writing one article per week.
Here are a few of my tips to help you get the most out of the course you invested in:
- Study the whole course from start to finish and take detailed notes.
- Go over the whole course again.
- Write down all the action steps you need to take after each lesson. This will help you fill in any knowledge gaps and get the whole picture.
- Close the course and improve those action steps every day.
Yes, I know my first few posts will be ugly, and that’s okay.
My goal is to slowly overcome my imposter syndrome by writing a library of content and seeing my progress.
Note: Don’t try to implement 100 action steps in a day. That will just overwhelm the hell out of you, especially if you have a 9-5 job like me.
Just take 2 action steps a day (5 max) and slowly go from there.
As you see your progress, you’ll slowly gain confidence in your chosen skill, reducing the imposter feeling.
3. Be a guide, not a guru
One of the most common misconceptions people have is that they need to be experts before sharing something.
Believe me, I also used to think this way.
I assumed that before I could write on the internet, I would first need to study a dozen writing courses or read hundreds of books.
But then I figured out this assumption is nothing but B.S.
At the end of the day, it will only give you a brain full of writing knowledge that has nothing to show for it.
So, like me, you must constantly remind yourself that nobody expects you to be perfect.
Those people who you think are demanding you to be perfect?
They’re not also perfect themselves.
So why chase perfection?
In the digital age, people are more drawn to read stories and first-hand experiences over hard-cold facts.
And why is that?
Because AI can spit expert information in a matter of seconds.
But what AI can’t compete with is sharing experiences with human emotions and relatable content.
So, if you’ve been itching to start your passion project or side hustle, this is your sign.
Learn something.
Connect it with your real-life experiences.
Share it in a compelling way.
Don’t worry if other people are also talking about the same topic.
Your personal story will make it unique, and that’s what will relate to others.
If you produce something you’re happy with, pat yourself on the back.
It means you did a great job.
Nothing beats self-doubt more than execution and progress.
Final Words
You feel like an imposter because you want to do something meaningful.
So, if you want to share your ideas on the internet, the best thing you can do is focus more on documenting your journey rather than trying to appear as an expert.
When you’re raw, honest, and transparent, it removes the unnecessary pressure to be the best.
After all, you’re a human being, not a robot.
It’s normal to feel self-doubt from time to time. But I hope you’ll not let doubt kill the creativity within you.
Explore your potential. Pursue opportunities.
As the famous quote goes, feel the fear, but do it anyway.
