
Like you, I know exactly how it feels to be at the hands of those imposter mind gremlins!
On the outside, you’ll see a confident outgoing and successful person but underneath that, the inner confidence for most of my life was just not there.
I grew up feeling like a square peg in a round hole. This made me feel angry and unhappy for many years.
It affected my behaviour and led to my teachers telling me I'd go nowhere and come to nothing…..this just cemented my lack of self-belief.
I started life in the pharmaceutical industry and was very good at sales, hitting all my targets and often topped the tree when it came to results but this did not seem to be helping me to get into the more senior-level roles that I went for.
I felt so frustrated and started to wonder what was wrong with me.
The more I felt like this the more my Imposter mindset took hold….
This affected everything in my personal and professional life and I was pretty unhappy underneath that larger-than-life, confident extrovert mask I wore.
I tried switching jobs and sectors but that was a disaster and made me ill….
I ended up in a high-paying, toxic, high-stress, bullying and belittling environment that nearly broke me.
I left with no job to go to but my self-esteem was firmly intact.
This was the point when it dawned on me I had more control over my life than I had realised.
I went back to my roots but found it hard to fit in at work, I made friends but often felt on the outside looking in…..this definitely got worse when I eventually got the promotion I wanted into the sales leadership team….
I year later after I had my first child, and went back to work after maternity leave feeling very stressed about leaving my baby and soon after that got made redundant.
I was relieved to be released but also felt crushed by it at the same time….why didn’t they fight for me to stay … I was a mess!
A few years later after baby number 2 I did go back to work but went for a low-level role as I didn’t think I’d get the job I wanted as ’d been off for so long.
I worked in some unpleasant environments that led by fear and resulted in illness and extremely low levels of self-esteem.
I diced with death… I was seriously ill and scared but did some powerful soul-searching whilst bed-bound...and survived obviously 😁
I knew that I wanted to quit the rat race and run my own business but I was scared.
The opportunity arose (funny how that happens when you start thinking about what you want)....and I did it.
Every year I worried it would be my last, even though things were going really well.
When covid hit my whole training business disappeared…. I had one choice, give in and give up or pivot!
In reality, it was a perfect time to reinvent myself and focus on the things I could really make a difference with so I shifted my focus to Executive Coaching….
Yes, the negative self-talk hit me hard but I got the help and support to keep going…
Business started to go really well, my new clients ended up being senior leaders who had been made redundant. They were scared and felt ‘naked’ without a job.... and with the pandemic in full swing, no job to go to.
I knew I could help and pulled everything I knew into a program to empower them to develop a strong resilient mindset that would attract others to them and skills that would help them handle the situation they were in.
It worked - they started getting jobs, setting up their own businesses and more….
When I started writing the book ‘LEADER UNLEASHED’ the final piece of my missing confidence puzzle slotted into place.
The SPARK. (formerly EAGLE) was carefully structured into a life-changing programme. A program my clients and I use daily to keep ourselves in the mindset we need to be in for success to be infinitely possible.
And you could develop this empowering mindset too......ready to take the leap?
The SPARK. Programme
So how did I overcome Imposter Syndrome?
I invested in my own personal and professional development.
I worked with the experts on my brain (and all its weird and wonderful connections) and found out how all of the experiences I'd had in my life had led me to some pretty unhelpful beliefs about myself.
I learned about human and performance psychology, our emotional needs and how biased we all are in our way of thinking…..
It became crystal clear that there is a strong link between these biases, where they come from and how this leads us to the results that we get…
I understood how capable we are of blocking ourselves from the lives and opportunities we could be having.
I learnt new skills and tools to stop my old unwanted behaviour from being in charge and have the confidence, self-awareness and self-control to replace this with new helpful and positive beliefs that would change my behaviour and change my life.
I started to believe in myself and my inner confidence was starting to soar….
I started to like myself more which I hadn't done for years!
I became able to make better faster decisions with confidence, I became more resilient and able to bounce back when things went wrong.
I knew what to focus on and why which saved me so much time and energy.
I developed greater self-control through learning about myself and gaining a deep understanding of how I was thinking, feeling and behaving.
I learned what to do to stop old unwanted patterns of behaviour and replace them with something more helpful.
I practised a lot….
I got feedback and learned to self-coach on purpose every day….
My life changed and continues to do so in more ways I could never have believed possible.
I realised this is possible for everyone, and I want this for you too…..
Find out more about The SPARK. Programme