I talk to women day in, day out who tell me they feel like an imposter or that they are worried about how they can match up against other seemingly more confident colleagues or more successful business owners in the same niche as them or even just against other mums at the school gate. What I tell them is…
NEVER compare yourself to someone else.
- Don’t compare yourself to a colleague in accounts who always looks cool, calm and collected (maybe she sobs all the way home about how unhappy she is)
- Don’t compare yourself to a competitor who has a website that looks fabulous (she might not have many clients)
- Don’t compare how tidy your house is to other peoples (a tidy house is not equal to being a good mum)
- Don’t compare how many holidays you take to the number that your neighbour takes (maybe they have a mountain of debt)
- Don’t compare how clean your car is to others in the car park (it might be the first wash the other car has had all year)
- Don’t compare your child’s ability at reading or how quickly they are potty trained (children are individuals and that is to be celebrated)
Instead of comparing yourself to others work on building your confidence and start taking steps towards those things which are important to you
Stop thinking about not being able to do something or not having the job you want or the number of clients you want. Start thinking that you haven’t got the job yet or you can’t do that thing yet.
As Henry Ford would say… Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right
I have always been a big believer in “acting as if…” some people would refer to this as “fake it ’til you make it” but to me there was nothing fake about it. It is just the first step towards learning to be whatever you want to be or to achieve whatever you want to achieve.
Don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it – Amy Cuddy
I came across this video lately which is all about faking it until you believe it. It’s 21 minutes of awesome content and you won’t regret watching it!
If you enjoy the video please do 3 very quick things for me:
- Once you’ve watched the video come back here and leave a comment below to let me know when you are going to do the Super Woman pose…
- If you are a busy working mum who wants to be part of a community of supportive, likeminded working mums come and join this private Facebook group
- Use the share buttons at the top or bottom of this post so others start faking it until they believe it!