At this point, I feel like I have created an online journal rather than a blog but either way we are moving forward. I have stories to tell about this one but I am only going to tell you about the one I am living it right now.
"Who do I think I am to start a blog that tells people how to start and run a charity project?"
"Me, who has not successfully grown her project yet, and might not even have the necessary qualifications?"
"So what? Just because I have been playing around this thing for some years, I think that I am now an expert?"
You see how eager you were to tell me that I am not that bad? That is what imposter syndrome is.
We do things that we are not experts at all the time and for me, that is drawing my eyebrows. Please hear me out, I promise that this is relevant to the topic at hand. I am great at a lot of things but when it comes to make up, sigh, I get very confused. It almost doesn't turn out well and on days when I, sort of, draw my eyebrows, I feel like the whole world is telling me to wipe it off because it's not good enough. Even though, I know that most of the people around me don't notice and they wouldn't care even if they did.
Does the fact that I am not Dimma Ummeh stop me from drawing my eyebrows? Nope. So why does the fact that you are not an expert video creator stop you from making videos that can help people effectively recycle?
An article on Times.com says that an estimated 70% of people suffer from imposter syndrome at a point in their lives so you are not alone in your struggles.
Almost everything under the sun can be learnt. The people that we looked up to today started as amateurs at some point.
I know this is sort of cliché but when you started crawling and walking and fell down a couple of times, did you lock yourself in a room and say "I suck at crawling and walking, you will have to carry me everywhere mama/dad/grandma/grandpa/legal guardian?"
We both know that as soon as you mastered walking, you were eager to learn how to run.
Some times our minds lie to us and sometimes we hide under the cover of not being good enough to avoid going after certain opportunities. It's scary to try things that are not in our comfort zones, a lot of things can go wrong but a lot of things can also go right.
Today, I put the link to my blog on my Linked In profile and even now I am still thinking that maybe it's not good enough to be shared yet; that people are going to realize that I am a fraud and pretending to be a writer; and that I might even get a few requests to take it down.
This year we agreed to take the first step towards achieving our goals and we are not going to allow imposter syndrome to stop us. From the little research that I have done, some ways that you can deal with these thoughts is to recognize them and then pay attention to what you are telling yourself. If you can, talk to someone who can help you with it.
Yes, you have failed some things but you should also think about the successes that you have had so far. Most of us are making it up as we go and we have learnt that the more that we practice, the better we become at it
You are good enough. You are competent enough. You weren't just lucky, you worked hard for what you all that you have achieved, and that seat that you are sitting on at that table is yours. So, sit up straight and give it your best shot.
Find below some resources for additional reading.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-and-diverse/201801/fight-back-against-imposter-syndrome