 The one thing that trips up everyone when they're working on their personal brand the most imposter syndrome it can hold us back from sharing our voice creating content and nurturing our communities So what is this mindset roadblock called imposter syndrome? Well, we're going to talk about it today and some of the ways that it might manifest itself in your life And of course the truths that you can start sharing with yourself. So stick around Hey, everyone. It's Leanne and I have a confession to make I suffer daily from Imposter syndrome and I know I'm not alone They say 70% of people suffer from imposter syndrome and I would even bet that number is higher for those of us We're working on projecting our personal brands It's imperative that we recognize when these thoughts are holding us back and how we can reframe them and spur us on to action So that we can get back to doing what we do. Well, and that is serving our communities Before we look at these mindset shifts Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on that little bell to be notified We're talking about imposter syndrome today But there's lots of tips about personal branding in my other videos and I don't want you to miss out on my weekly content And if you stayed to the end of the video I'm sharing one more insight about imposter syndrome that you might find to be very interesting Before we dive into these thoughts that are holding us back Let's get on the same page and define imposter syndrome. So we're all speaking the same language so imposter syndrome is defined as a Psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internal fear of being exposed as a fraud Despite external evidence of their competence those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve all that they have achieved Individuals with imposter syndrome Incorrectly attribute their success to luck or interpret it as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent Than they perceive themselves to be Now I don't know about you but that completely breaks my heart I know so many highly intelligent people and they're suffering from this syndrome every day So now we're going to go into some of those random thoughts that are creeping inside of us and how we can reframe those thoughts for good I hear this quite often for my community that they feel that they do not deserve a personal brand All of us deserve and have earned the right to amplify our personal brands If you are a sales professional or an entrepreneur You too are worthy of expressing your brand In fact, this is the area of greatest opportunity for you as a sales professional to set yourself apart from your competition Invasive thought number two. No one cares about my story Now you may have been privileged to hear the stories of those who overcame ginormous obstacles and now you find yourself comparing your molehill to someone's mountain The truth is we all have life experiences and stories in which we learned and overcame obstacles Your story can encourage others. In fact, it may even resonate better with others Because if someone can see themselves in your story, they are more encouraged to take action on their own story Invasive thought number three. Someone is already doing it And here's the truth bomb my friends Someone is already doing it, but that should not stop you from doing it yourself I've heard it said once there are no unique messages only unique messengers And the same message can be delivered by eight different people and the recipient will hear eight different things You may have the ability to relay a message that only your community can resonate with and understand So don't rob them of that learning opportunity By holding back your voice because you think someone is already out there communicating the message Invasive thought number four Somebody is doing it and they're doing it better than me and here's another truth bomb my friend You are probably right yet again But the word better is very subjective You see you only need to be Two steps ahead of someone who is willing to follow in your footsteps So whether you are at the beginning of your journey in the middle or near the end There is someone behind you that is looking for your guidance and leadership You don't have to have all the answers You just have to have enough answers so that someone can take the next step in their journey Invasive thought number five. I'm just making this up Many of us have that thought when we're providing advice for people who are maybe following along in our journey Now the truth is you may not have had a prescribed series of steps when you were going through your journey It was only at the end of the journey That you could look back and start to see the patterns emerge and see the steps almost aligning So you're not making it up. What you're doing is you're testing and re-evaluating your own journey or testing and re-evaluating a system at work This is life experience and then the patterns you see emerge from that life experience Well, you can pass that along to your community Saving them the trials that you had to go through to get to the finished product An invasive thought number six It's by sheer luck that I'm achieving success My friends this one breaks my heart again Because it's not by luck. It is by hard work Don't minimize the impact that you have and the hard work that you put in To get to this point in your journey or your career Don't dismiss your success to chance but rather acknowledge it as an indicator of all the hard work that you put in And this final thought while imposter syndrome can impact a great number of people It's typically women who feel the impacts more so than our male counterparts In particular women of color as women and women of color. We are susceptible to this for a number of reasons It could be lack of role models in leadership Or pervasive stereotypes pervasive racism and sexism about our skills and expertise Again, it's heartbreaking But if we can find some positive role models and we can lean on each other for support I believe we're better equipped to battle these invasive thoughts when they enter our minds If you have suffered from imposter syndrome You're not alone and I invite you to join our community of supporters over on facebook Men and women alike were there to hone our personal branding skills And it's a safe place for you to ask questions about the invasive thoughts that are holding you back from projecting your brand If some of these invasive thoughts has become part of your personal brand story I did a video recently about storytelling that you can find here You may find some tips on how to harness that story and create a valuable outcome for members of your community I look forward to staying connected. Find us over on facebook and please let us know your story Thanks for watching. Bye for now