Are You Doubting Yourself?
Did you ever show up for a presentation and you were confident and prepared to WOW the
group? You selected the perfect outfit, your presentation looked great and you were ready to
engage and inspire your audience.
Then, without warning a little voice inside your head started sharing little prompts such as:
● Who are you to be presenting in this meeting or this conference?
● You are an imposter and someone will find out.
● You don’t belong with this group of people.
Now, this can happen in a weekly presentation at work, at church when you are speaking to a
class, at a party–you name the place, and when you least expect it the old imposter syndrome
voice (doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud) is ready to set in and attempt to derail your
plans.
Your negative voice starts to take over and you instantly agree. You begin to look for proof that
the negative voice is true and you are not worthy of your current situation.You might start to feel
anxious and distracted. You might feel it in your chest or stomach. You panic that you are
about to be called out as a fraud or that you are going to underdeliver and underwhelm your
audience or peers.
Take a minute to think about the last time this happened to you.
Think about the last time you felt you were an imposter or that you were in an environment
where you didn’t belong. Did you enter the arena confident and ready to perform and instantly
you shrunk from large and ready to small and questioning?
Did you recover or did you engage the negative thoughts and go down a spiral pulling out
mountains of evidence for why you didn’t belong and others did?
I help women:
● Acknowledge the thoughts
● Discuss the accuracy of the thoughts and the accuracy of their evidence
● Identify helpful new thoughts and language
● Create a plan in preparation for the next round of negative thoughts
● Set a non-negotiable intention on a result they desire
Here is the good news, this happens to everyone and with work we can diminish the number of
occurrences and begin to laugh at the negative thoughts and push them away.
If you are questioning yourself or finding that you are entering spaces and you believe you don’t
fit in, contact me through email (nancybeardcoaching@gmail.com) and we will set up a time for
a quick 30 minute Zoom chat and I will share how just a few sessions of life coaching might be
the confidence builder that you need to take control of your negative thoughts.
Wishing you a week filled with JOY, Nancy
P.S. In May I will be announcing my Women With Strength Intergenerational Conference
coming up in the fall.
