How to Overcome Your Fears When Writing
“It’s important to know that imposter syndrome can affect anyone regardless of their background or their accomplishments.” —Azul Terronez
One of the biggest struggles that most creators face when writing and sharing their work is the notion of imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome isn’t something new and isn’t even something to be afraid of, but it is something you want to understand so that you can attack and destroy it.
On this week’s episode of “Authors Who Lead,” I share six secret strategies that can help you defeat and kill imposter syndrome and lead to a more positive and accurate self-image, reduce doubt, and build the confidence you need to share your book.
Secret #1: Acknowledge Your Feelings
It’s important to acknowledge that you have feelings of imposter syndrome so that you can understand them and work toward defeating them.
Secret #2: Reframe the Negatives
Our self-talk is often negative, which brings out feelings of being an imposter. I want to challenge you to reframe your negative self-talk into positive thoughts. Sometimes we need to pay attention to our thoughts to realize how much negative self-talk we are actually doing.
Secret #3: Celebrate Your Successes
We don’t celebrate our successes enough, and sometimes we can negate our accomplishments by thinking they’re not important. I encourage you to keep a journal, a bulletin board, or a list of your accomplishments so that you can celebrate yourself often. Seeing and celebrating them can help reinforce a sense of competence and self-worth.
Secret #4: Seek Support
Writers often think they need to be alone to work and create in isolation. But seeking support is imperative to creating compelling and fulfilling art. Hearing different perspectives on our work will strengthen, motivate, and guide us on our creative journey.
Secret #5: Embrace Vulnerability
Instead of trying to hide your insecurities and feelings of imposter syndrome, I want you to embrace them. Start sharing your feelings with others so that by embracing your vulnerability you can actually defeat and crush imposter syndrome.
Secret #6: Focus on the Process
Instead of celebrating that we have a great idea and that we’re writing a book, sometimes we can feel like an imposter because we haven’t written enough words that day. We’re so focused on the outcome that we forget to enjoy the process. By focusing on the journey, the challenge, and the joy that creating brings us, we will feel more confident as we create.
In this podcast, I also share:
- Why imposter syndrome is not a real thing
- Five ways that imposter syndrome can enter our lives
- That even high achievers feel imposter syndrome
- That we need internal validation as well as external
I’m so grateful that you listened to this podcast. I appreciate anybody who leaves a review, it really helps inspire us to keep contributing and giving content here.
What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Are you working on writing a book? Do you suffer from imposter syndrome? In the comments, share your biggest challenge in writing your book.
That’s all for this week. If you have a message inside you that needs to be written, know that you can write and publish the book that’s been on your heart. Don’t delay—get out of your head, put words on the page today, and make a movement with your message!
Episode Resource:
Membership Community
TEDX
Press Publish
Authors Who Lead
Fiction Group
Publishing: Mandala Tree Press
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