Inspiration Station - Exposing The Imposter

Imposter syndrome affects content creators at all levels, and authenticity means embracing where you truly are rather than projecting a false image of success or confidence. The persistent feeling of not deserving success despite hard work is a common experience among podcasters, entrepreneurs, and creatives.

• Imposter syndrome defined as "the persistent inability to believe that a person's success is deserved or legitimately achieved"
• Content creators often battle between presenting authenticity and being genuinely authentic
• Many podcasters struggle to maintain consistency due to personal challenges and self-doubt
• Being in touch with your feelings is crucial - take breaks when emotionally drained
• Celebrate small wins rather than only focusing on major achievements
• Connect with other creators to gain perspective and avoid isolation
• Create your own system rather than copying others' approaches
• Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint - persistence matters

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Channel Growth
• 1:23 The Scooby-Doo Analogy
• 2:40 Understanding Imposter Syndrome
• 7:13 The Plight of Content Creators
• 8:36 Practical Tips for Overcoming Doubt
• 11:33 Closing Thoughts and Channel Promotion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Thank you, welcome back to the All Purpose Pod for an all-purpose life. Wherever you are and however you listen to, the Call Me Mr you and the Inspiration Station. Thanks again for making us part of your week. So glad to have you back with us. I'm excited about what we've been seeing. We've seen significant growth on many of our listening platforms and, of course, on our YouTube channel. I'm loving that. That means that people are watching the shows. They're getting something out of it. The comment sections are full with insightful, thoughtful commentary and I just love what's going on there. So thank you again for all the contributions you guys are making to this. I definitely appreciate it so much, man.

Speaker 1: 1:15

But I want to get into something that I've been. It's been kind of a theme the past several days and I kind of want to just keep it going a little bit. But I want to ask a question. Do you guys remember the Scooby-Doo cartoon? The premise was the same. They would get involved in some kind of mystery. At the end there'd be a big reveal and you find out that a person who they thought they knew or were familiar with was not who they thought and then they find out that the monster or whoever was tormenting everybody would be an actual person with some kind of agenda. You know, unmask the monster at the end. It's something that we grew up watching one of my favorite cartoons, to be honest. But I love the premise of that because I feel like, even though we don't have situations and mysteries that we are in embroiled in like sc, scooby and Shaggy and the crew were, we have a similar opportunity to unmask an imposter, if you will. And I love this because, even though it's not an easy subject to talk about, especially when it comes to those of you who I know are in our listenership, that are content creators, entrepreneurs, podcasters, etc. I know are in our listenership, that are content creators, entrepreneurs, podcasters, et cetera. I know that you deal with this kind of stuff all the time. I hear from you guys and I understand that a lot of what we talk about is confidential, but, generally speaking, we all deal with some semblance of imposter syndrome, so I definitely want to get into it a little bit. You know we ask some questions about this because I think at this point, we need to ask ourselves are you pretending to be something that you're really not? Are you pretending to be something that you're really not.

Speaker 1: 2:51

I think it's important because people talk about how they're authentic and they're real and they throw those terms around like they're catchphrases and whatnot, but in actuality they're not always really being real. But in actuality they're not always really being real. They're presenting real but it's not actually who they are, where they are, and sometimes being authentic and being open about where you are is better than trying to have a bravado about who you say you are. There's a certain sports analyst we all know I won't get the person's name because I don't want to put spotlight on them and this show is not really about them but they're known for having bravado and having a big mouth and having a lot to say. But overall, the majority of the people who are listening don't really respect the person and they call themselves being real. They present themselves as being authentic, but nobody really believes them. Nobody really believes that they're honest about who they root for. As far as sports teams go honest about their feelings about certain issues and people in the media world and they don't come off as believable. Yeah, they're entertaining People watch them just because it's kind of like watching the train wreck sometime, I guess but nobody really believes that they are believable and authentic and I think, at the end of the day, if you're a podcaster, content creator, media mogul, of any kind entrepreneur, you want to be relevant, you want to be believed, to be authentic because it's part of your brand, you are your brand. But imposter syndrome is a real thing, y'all, and we're trying to engage people from all walks of life in the hopes that they'll be like us, like we have to say what we want to talk about, anything in our attempt to be relevant, and it's a really present challenge for all of us. We want to be real, we want to be liked. No matter what we say in tweets, in posts, we do want to be liked. No matter what we say in tweets and posts, we do want to be liked.

Speaker 1: 4:44

We often find ourselves in a battle of roles and personalities. We find ourselves in a struggle who's going to be in charge when we hit record and step out into this world and put our life out here, in this public forum? Who's going to be in charge? Is it going to be the micromanager? Who's going to be the manager? Is it going to be the person who is just hoping this works and is not really sure about themselves dealing with self-esteem issues. Who's going to be in charge? Who's going to be really running this show? Is it going to be the bossy personality that just wants everything to be right? The producer types that wants everything to be right down to the very penny, down to the second? Who's going to be in charge? A second who's going to be in charge? It's a tug of war literally every single time that we step out to create a new episode or to create content, whether it be a newsletter or a blog that somebody's going to read. It's a tug of war continually and it's really time to unmask the imposter. We need to expose the imposter Deal with the fact that we're not sure all the time, that we don't know what's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 5:45

We're not sure where. With the fact that we're not sure all the time we don't know what's going to happen. We're not sure where to go next. We're not even sure if we're going to even keep doing this for the next 5, 10, 20 years. I think it's time for us to be honest about that. We need to have goals. Anybody that will tell you that's been in business coaching of any sort, they'll tell you before you start the business. Have your end in mind before you decide to even start that business and make sure you know when you plan to get out. How much money do you want to make, how many years do you want to do this? You had to have a plan before you even start implementing it. It's the same thing with this.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Imposter syndrome is rough because it's basically defined. Put that out there. Imposter syndrome is defined as the persistent inability to believe that a person's success is deserved or has been legitimately earned as a result of one's skills or efforts. So it doesn't matter how much work you do, how much efforts you bring to the table, you always feel like you don't deserve it, it's not good enough, it falls short in some way. Excuse me, that happens persistently.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Imposter syndrome is a real thing and, honestly, what I've noticed for myself because I have a story myself as well I had some issues with dealing with kind of not so much anxiety but just some self-doubt about some things. You know we all deal with the anxiety part and struggling to stay afloat and we have to balance not losing what matters most to us our families, our sanity, even even some of our time for things that are really important in our life that we put to the side so that we can do this kind of stuff. And you know we have to really recognize what is most valuable, what matters the most, and that's the plight of the podcaster. I got so many friends that have so many very different situations. Some haven't podcasted in two or three years because they're just dealing with stuff or can't get schedules right. I know some that have to take hiatuses almost 10 times a year because it's just too much. And then there's some that have started it and have done it for a while and now they can't take doing it anymore. They want to come back to podcasting and content creating and whatnot. And then there's some that are doing four or five, seven days a week. They're recording something in the hopes that they get looked at, maybe, perhaps they're picked up on somebody's network or become famous. You know there's so many different goals and hopes out here that we have with all these people who are doing some of the same things that we're doing, like this show right here, and imposter syndrome is a real thing.

Speaker 1: 8:21

But I will just encourage you guys. There's a few things I think you can do. It's going to help you with exposing that syndrome and not getting caught up in it to the point where it, you know, kind of crushes all the hopes and aspirations you have and puts you in a negative, dark space. You know, one thing is is being in touch with your feelings. I'm not the most emotional, sappy, sentimental, sentimental person in the world. I'm honest about that. I know who I am, at least you know.

Speaker 1: 8:48

But be in touch with your feelings, don't disregard it. Check out what you're good with and what you're not good with. You know, be aware of that. I know people who put in five, 10 years of work and they've scrapped it all just because of a bad night. Already. They scrapped it all because of a bad night, you know, and it's like that's not a reasonable way to address the patient self. If you have to take a break and you just feel like emotionally you're just not there, take a break, don't record the show, don't send the content out, don't even go on the platform where you would normally send it out. Just don't do anything but rest, take care of you, spend time meditating on what you need to be, thinking about, what you need to be dealing with, and deal with that.

Speaker 1: 9:27

Secondly, celebrate the little wins. We don't do that often enough. We're always looking for the big wins, all the small ones. It's nice, but I really want the big award. I want the big reward. I want the big win.

Speaker 1: 9:38

Celebrate the little ones. Pat yourself on the back, give yourself some credit. You're doing things in this realm that a lot of people have only dreamed about. I've met them. That's how I know they talk to me about it. That's how I know You're doing things that they haven't even come close to doing. If you've been consistent for a week, or even a month, that's more than most can say, so it's all good. Celebrate yourself. Love on yourself a little bit and congratulate yourself. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Nobody's perfect in doing what we do, and the little that you're doing is a lot more than many others have. There's room to grow, room to adjust, of course, but definitely don't give yourself a hard time.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Stay in the fight and, lastly, just stay in network with people who are doing the same thing you're doing, because in isolation, that's where we lose momentum, that's where we lose focus, that's where creative drives get killed, because we look at our situation only as the most unique, and how bad it is, and and how much of a struggle it is, and we don't realize that in community our situation is not as bad as we thought. Somebody has one worse than ours, 10 times worse. Even so, stay in community. It'll give you perspective. But just be thinking about that.

Speaker 1: 10:48

I feel like imposter syndrome is something that we don't have to ignore. We know that it's real, we know that it's there, but we also know that there's an answer to this, and you know what? Maybe you're not who you want to be in, whatever genre you're working in, maybe you're not where you want to be at yet, but you can get there. It's doable, it's possible. You don't have to lie and cheat and try to trick your viewers and your listeners. Just be authentic.

Speaker 1: 11:15

Do the best you can and don't try to copy anybody. That's such a mistake. Don't try to copy anybody's style or their methods. Create your own system for doing what you need to be doing, and I believe that it's going to all turn out to be good. In the end. You feel better about it. You feel more accomplished and you feel like you fulfilled something because you had a goal and you said it and you completed it. Hope that makes sense. Hope that helps out a little bit. We'll talk more about this on future episodes, but thanks again for listening and please subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtubecom at the call me, mr. You subscribe to our YouTube channel, youtubecom at the call me, mr. U Love to hear your thoughts on our show and our brand of shows. Have a great day. Thanks for listening.