HOW I DEAL WITH IMPOSTER SYNDROME
The excitement is real and I’m so happy to officially start sharing more with you on the things I’ve learned over the past few years, following my passion of being a professional photographer capturing weddings and family portraits!
I’m kicking off my first educational blogpost series on a personal note. I’ve often been told that I’m a very creative person and that I have wonderful innovative ideas. I would get a new business idea and become so excited about it that I would spend most nights lying awake thinking about it.
How will it work? What should I call it? What should the logo look like/ design elements/ packaging? My social media feed & my website. How would I market it etc.? And then after a week or two the excitement would wear off and then the ‘imposter syndrome’ (self doubt) would start kicking in…
Would people actually buy into this new idea of mine? What makes me think they would want to spend their hard earned money on this concept I’ve created? Do I even know what I’m doing? Do I have enough knowledge/ experience in this field? I would have continuous dialogs going on in my mind.
This is something I’ve struggled with in the past and I don’t think ‘self doubt’ has a quick fix but one day I made the conscious decision to start working on this part of myself. To try and immediately identify when I’m starting to go down the ‘I’m not ready or my idea is not ready yet’’ rabbit hole and it’s time to regroup.
Have you been wanting to photograph your first portrait session or wedding but feel like you are not ready yet? Or start marketing for higher-end clients but you’ve been talking yourself out of it for too long with self-doubt thoughts?
HERE’S MY 4 HELPFUL TIPS:
1. WRITE IT DOWN:
You would be surprised what a difference it makes to keep a journal of your ideas/ dreams / goals. I used to try and keep it all wrapped up in my mind and found that it would actually make me emotionally tired to try and keep track of all my thoughts. Now as soon as I have a new idea I would start brainstorming on a piece of paper, when words or new thoughts pop up I would quickly jot them down. This is also great if you would like to go back to past ideas or need some motivation that you’re actually making progress on that dream you’ve had for so long.
2. CREATE GOAL LISTS NOT A TO-DO LIST
The concept of making a goal list is pretty similar to what we’ve always been taught to do but, I’ve found in the past that I would have a long to-do list on my table and it would sometimes take me days/ even weeks to tick off all the things on the list. I would get so demotivated! So now I’ve decided to take a new approach, I would write down 5 weekly goals and then 3 “mini” daily goals that I know are achievable and that I need to finish off in order to move closer to my ultimate goal. This has given me a clearer view of what I need to get done so that I don’t procrastinate and start to think of reasons why this idea/ dream/ goal is too far out of reach.
3. FIND A MENTOR
Whether it’s in the form of self-help books you can read, a podcast you can listen to, someone that you can have a one-on-one coaching session with or even a trusted friend/ family member that can keep you on track whenever you know that the ‘self doubt’ monster is creeping in again.
4. START BEFORE YOU ARE READY
I think most of us can relate to the ‘I’m not ready yet’ thoughts! I used to firmly believe that I needed to have it all figured out before sharing a new idea or work towards my dream job. l should have all the right equipment, the perfectly personalised branded stationery, the website, all the knowledge etc.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned the past few months - the best thing you can do is, start right now!
Don’t have the gear - rent it! Can’t afford the branding and a website - share your work on Social Media. Feel like you don’t have enough knowledge & experience to photograph a portrait session or wedding on your own - reachout to other photographers and assist them or second-shoot for them. Don’t have enough portfolio work to show to clients - organize a styled shoot with vendors in your area.
Whatever you need to do, stop overthinking it and just start!
XO,
Alicia
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at hello@alicialandman.co.za.
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