Building it in Flight

[Imposter - I]

Imposter Syndrome is a real thing. If you’ve ever worried that you might be exposed as a fraud, struggled with self-doubt, questioned whether your own success is real or valid or legitimate, or feared your public self and private self are incongruent, you’ve experienced some of the symptoms of the syndrome.

Notice I did not say: “If you are a fraud” or “If your success is not legitimate” or “If you are a hypocrite”.

Being an imposter is one thing. Feeling like an imposter is something completely different. The former is unsustainable; the latter is usually an indication you are sensitive to the value of authenticity (and are actually working to embody the message you preach).

Having said that, listen closely: You ought to feel like an imposter.

Inherent to seeing a different future, imagining real change, innovating, and bringing value and beauty and evolution to you industry is that you are pushing forward, out beyond where you (and everyone else!) currently are. That, my friend, is new territory, new land, a new arena, a new frontier.

Out there, where the trail is yet to be blazed, is where you are headed. You’re building the plane while you fly it, you’re piecing it together and trying to give it words as it comes to you.

You are an imposter by virtue of being in front.
Accept it. Own it.
Keep pushing.