When a big change or project is coming, we often get stressed out because we start questioning whether or not we can do the work. This is what most call imposter syndrome. We start eroding our confidence, asking if we are capable.
I want you to know that you are. When confronted with change, especially if it is something new and out of your realm, remember that although you may not know everything about it yet, you are smart enough to figure it out and capable enough to put in the effort. You don’t have to know everything from the start. Trust that with effort and time, you will figure it out.
You are Smart and Capable | Full Transcript
This transcript was created with speech-to-text and lightly edited by a human. Some errors may still exist.
With the end of the year coming up, and everything that’s happened in the last two years, lots of people are looking at making big changes in their life. Over the last six months, lots of people have changed jobs, they’ve decided to go different paths, including me where I’ve gone into becoming a freelancer instead of working for another company.
And with those big changes, and when big projects like that come up, we start questioning whether or not we can do the work. Whether we are capable, smart enough, to be able to take on that new challenge. You just got that job, you changed jobs, when you got there you started to feel that impostor syndrome hitting you. They’re going to find out who I am. They’re gonna know that I actually don’t know as much as maybe I put on my resume and I’m gonna be outed. And that is something that I’ve talked about a lot, and something that comes up frequently, when we’re making big changes.
Now if you’re really feeling that weight of the imposter syndrome and you can’t break it, I want you to consider that maybe the change that you’re making isn’t the one that you want and this is your instincts trying to tell you, “Hey, we might be going down the wrong path here.” So, even though you’re smart enough and you’re capable enough, I want you to ask yourself these questions.
Is this actually getting me closer to where I want to go. Is this part of my long-term vision that I have for myself and I want to be able to do this in order to get there. It’s okay if it’s not, but just acknowledge the fact that maybe what you’ve chosen isn’t the right path for you and you you still need to go find your path.
The next one is, will I regret this change in a month, six months, a year? Will I regret that I did this. Now, you can’t see into the future and know like, oh, this ended up being like a really crappy place to work. But is the job itself, the tasks that you’re doing, the life that you will be leading, is that the place you want to go or will you regret going down that path.
The last question I want you to ask yourself is, is this a game worth winning? And this comes from the great James Clear in his 3-2-1 newsletter and I think about this one a lot. At the end of this path that you’re taking, the game that you’re playing, the change that you’re making, will you celebrate winning it or will it just be another check box? Will it just be, “Oh well, I did that I guess.” Will it be something that you will truly celebrate and you will be happy that you won. Will you be there holding up the trophy or will it just be like, all right let’s move on, I was able to do that thing. Because if it ends up being a game that you don’t want to play but you’re playing it just to win, is it really worth winning? Ask yourself that before you make that change.
And remember, it’s… don’t be afraid to quit. If you get into that new scenario, and that change, and you fight that imposter syndrome and you realize this, “I don’t care about winning this game and it’s not getting me closer to where I want to go… and I don’t like this company or this place that I’m working, ” don’t be afraid to quit. Because no matter what you do, if it’s putting all the work, put in all the time, putting in all the effort, the wrong thing is still the wrong thing. It’s okay to acknowledge that and make that change because what’s important is that you find what will make you happy and you’ll be continuing to work on the right thing for you, not the right thing for other people and not what you think is the right thing that other people want you to say.
I’ve talked before about climbing wrong mountains and walking down the wrong paths and still ends up being the wrong path. When you look at the path to be going down is it climbing the right mountain? If not, maybe that’s why your instincts are telling you that you’re out of water.
And I want you to know that you are smart enough. You are capable enough. It just takes time. If you’re going into something and you’re like, “I don’t know how to do this, I’m really nervous about it, ” you have the skills and the capability and you are smart enough that once you get there you will figure it out. And if you think back on the jobs that you’ve had before, you’ve more than likely came into it not knowing everything that it took to be able to do that job. And over time and the confidence that you had in yourself that you are smart enough, you are capable enough to figure it out. And that’s what’s the most important for you to know that when you make that big change I trust you, other people trust you, trust yourself to know that you are smart enough and you are capable enough to figure it out. The only path is forward and you will be able to do it.
So that’s what I got this time. I’d love to hear your feedback on this. Leave a comment below wherever you’re watching, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on the next year, what you’re working on, what stops you from making those big changes. I’d love to hear that. Leave a comment below wherever you’re watching this video. That’s what i got this time, see you later pals