Welcome to the Writing with Coach McCoach Podcast. A podcast for busy writers who want to cut through the fluff with exact strategies for launching their author career. I'm Katie McCoach, your book coach, guide, unqualified therapist, and cheerleader. Since 2012, I've helped hundreds of writers become authors, gain confidence, and grow their best stories yet. Let's do the same for you. This is the Writing with Coach McCoach Podcast.
Welcome to another episode of Writing with Coach McCoach. Today we are talking about imposter syndrome.
Has this topic been covered enough in the world of writers and businesses and literally anything? My answer is no, because it constantly crops up. It constantly is something that people deal with, especially writers.
And I would say even more so than just writers, if you are a female writer, you're more susceptible because women tend to deal with imposter syndrome so much more than men. And I'm not even going to begin to touch on why that could be. I'm sure we all have an idea.
But I wanted to talk about imposter syndrome because it's something I deal with. It's something, if you're listening to this episode, you saw the title, you deal with it too. This is something that you're probably thinking about. It comes up a lot. It comes up for writers all the time. Years ago, I ran a seven-day challenge and it was to overcome imposter syndrome. And so many people signed up because it was just so important.
And before I dive too far in, I really want to break down imposter syndrome versus self-doubt. A lot of times what we're really dealing with is self-doubt, but we call it imposter syndrome. It doesn't always mean the same thing, but it doesn't mean that learning about how to work through imposter syndrome won't help if you have self-doubt. But first let's do a little definition work.
So here's the definition of imposter syndrome from Merriam-Webster, which is, if you're in the writing world, the end-all be-all of dictionaries. So this is a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments, accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite evidence of one's ongoing success.
There are so many pieces in here that's so great, right? It is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments. It is accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud and it lingers despite the evidence of one's ongoing success. Even just breaking down the definition, you're like, yeah, okay. The definition itself is telling you, you are not a fraud and yet you believe you are.
So imposter syndrome, pretty straightforwardly, is when you think you're a fraud and or that someone's going to find out that you don't deserve the success you've hit or you don't deserve to be where you are. You don't deserve to be writing about something or talking about something. And self-doubt is similar because obviously you see with imposter syndrome, you have doubt of your abilities, but a lot of times it's a little more internal, like, am I good enough? Do I have anything worth saying, sharing? So it can be a little different than I'm here and everyone's going to call me out as being a fraud.
Well, what I'm going to talk to you about today is both really. It's going to lean into both because there's so much overlap and with writers, there are points in our journey where we will hit a point and we're like, it might be success in some way. It could be a variety of different levels of success or things that require success. It could be finishing a book, right? First time you finish your book, you can be like, well, someone's going to read it and know that I'm an imposter. I didn't actually deserve to get recognition for finishing a book. And it's like, but you did, you finished the book. But we convince ourselves that we don't deserve the recognition. I do think that that's a huge part of what plagues us is that we convince ourselves we don't deserve the recognition or the success we reached because of our hard work. And thus we think we're going to be exposed as an imposter.
Ouch, right? It just hurts to think about. It hurts to know that we are going through this. So many writers go through this, women, business owners, entrepreneurs. We go through this. And artists, it's even harder, right? Because as a writer or someone in a creative field, we're putting so much that is so personal and vulnerable out there and then saying, okay, now you can give me your feedback or I'm letting myself be judged or I'm putting it out in the world. And art is so subjective. And yet we still think someone could turn around and look at our art and say, that's not art, right?
I think there's this deep down fear of someone turning around and reading your book and saying, that wasn't really a good book. That wasn't a book that wasn't worth reading. And that is subjective to them. It's in the eye of the beholder, right? So you producing that does not make you an imposter. The feedback other people have on you does not make you an imposter. You have produced the work, you have shared your art.
It is art. It is writing. It is a book that exists in the world. You did the work. You are not an imposter. You can call yourself a writer because you are a writer.
You can have doubt, right? So that's the other side of it is you can have a lot of doubt about your work. I want to talk about this a little bit today. I'm going to dive in just like how it shows up and some ways to help think you through it in a different way. Maybe it's something you've heard before, maybe not. It's something that I have really gone through many times in my life to think about imposter syndrome and how it shows up. And I like the idea that we're just going to overcome it.
But the truth is, I don't think that's possible to overcome it forever. I don't think you just deal with it one time. I think it comes up many times in our lives. And that is actually why I'm here today because if you're an avid follower of this podcast, you might have noticed that I haven't released episodes in the past month. And this is my vulnerable truth of my own current issue with imposter syndrome and how it's showing up and why I realized I needed to record a podcast on this because it's literally happening to me right now.
Because I this morning started diagnosing within myself, why haven't you posted up any podcast, Katie? You have the content. You know it's good content. Why haven't you put it up?
And I found myself making up excuses, right? And I had been clearly making up excuses for a month. The sound quality is imperfect. It'll take time to edit it. I have other tasks to do. No one listens. Will anyone even notice if I don't post new episodes? Who even cares? Am I worth listening to? Do I have anything of value to add to someone else?
The imposter thoughts just crept on in and then they took root. I realized that I feared showing up because I feared being judged. I feared being seen as an imposter. I feared someone thinking, does she really have the best advice? Is she even worth my time or my money? Is she worth my energy? I worried and feared that someone would say, you don't deserve to be here.
This morning I was listening to another podcast. It made me, even if it wasn't totally related, how often does that happen? You listen to something but you think about something else and you're like, oh my God, they listened to this and made me think of this even though it's totally off track. That happened to me today where I listened to this podcast and I just realized, oh my God, Katie, you haven't put out like four episodes. The content's there. It's not for a lack of content. The content is there. It's that I've gotten in my head. I have these amazing interviews with some authors. I have reader questions ready for sharing, but the imposter syndrome took over before I knew it.
It crept in because I think there are many layers. I think one of it is by doing a podcast, this is something I'm not familiar with. This is something I'm new to. I've done a handful of episodes in the past year, but I want to call myself a podcaster. It's the same thing as a writer. They're like, I want to call myself a writer. If you're doing it, you are. If you're writing, you're a writer. If you have published your work, you're an author. If you are putting out a podcast, you're a podcaster. I'm a podcaster and saying that feels very weird, even though I have added it on my email signature line because I really like the way it looks and I want to be one.
I am one. I am one.
But I feel like an imposter. I feel like, well, are you really a podcaster, Katie? Do you deserve to be here?
People are going to call you a fraud. They're going to call you out and be like, you don't deserve to be up here. You don't really know what it's like to podcast. The truth is that I might be new at something, but it doesn't mean I am not that. I might be new at podcasting and I might be learning a lot as I go through it.
What I'm not new at is the information I share on my podcast. I'm not new at helping authors. So the platform might be new to me, but how I'm helping people isn't new. It's just a new method.
If only I listened to myself, right? I love giving advice and it's always the advice I want to hear. When I tell you, when I share these episodes with you guys, a lot of times it's the thing that I want someone to tell to me, right? I'm really bad at hearing it myself, but I am trying to take this moment in and say, Katie, you're recording this episode about imposter syndrome because you're currently dealing with imposter syndrome and you want others to work through it as well while you work through it, right? Let's all be in it together. So how much does that rate you?
I think if someone said, gave feedback or said something, what I would internalize it as if they said something negative, right, is you don't deserve to share your words. This is just not true. There's a lot of gatekeeping and publishing and there's a lot of people who can tell you something negative that might really hit you hard and it might make you think, I don't deserve to be here. I'm an imposter. My words don't matter.
No one's going to read what I have to say.
I want you to think about this and recognize the truth of this. If your friend were to say this to you, what would you say to them? And here's what I will say to you. If you ever think someone is thinking you don't deserve to be here, I want you to say, shut the fuck up. Just shut the fuck up.
Yes, I do. I've put in the work. I'm writing. I'm growing as a writer. Every time I write something new, I'm growing, I'm getting better and I'm writing for a reason. I have shit to say and I'm going to say it. And one person might be like, no, you're not going to say it here. That's okay. I will find somewhere else to say it.
I will make my own place to say it. My words will exist in the world. And it's only up to me.
The great thing about self-publishing is this is 100% true. And also there are many other means of getting your work in the world than just getting an agent and getting a publisher to pay you to put your work in the world. There's so many other ways that you can share your vision, your joy, your perspective. You're the only one who is in your way.
I say all this because I'm saying it to myself too, right? If I really thought I didn't deserve to be here podcasting, then I would just close up shop, right? I would just not do it. No one would listen, which is fine. Maybe no one listens right now. That's okay. If there's one person who hears something I have to say and it resonates and it helps, my job is done. That's the whole point. Who gets to say that I deserve to be here or not?
If someone thinks I don't deserve to be here, you know what they can do? Just ignore me. Walk away. I'm not taking space from someone else. Me having a podcast is not keeping someone else from having a podcast. And I want you to remember that with your writing too. You putting your work in the world, it's not taking away from someone else's opportunity to do so. If you hit a success that to you is success, that's all that matters. You're not an imposter because you worked hard for it. You did it.
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I have lots of feelings about this clearly. One of the things I think is that when we deal with imposter syndrome and self-doubt is like the idea of being judged. And I started telling myself with this podcast and I'm repeating habits. I've done this already. I've been afraid to put podcasts out because I'm afraid of being judged. Then I just kind of disappear and hide because who can judge me if I'm not in front of them,
right? But people will judge no matter what. So if there is a person who's going to judge us, they're going to do it no matter what we do. And then also who cares, right?
Like I said, I'm not doing this for the people who judge me to do it. They don't have to pay attention to me if they want to pay attention to me. Awesome. But for them, I didn't ask for their attention, right? I'm putting out my work for someone else who needs it. If there is someone who wants to judge me for how I'm helping others, that is okay. That's on them. That's not going to stop me from doing what I can to help people.
And so I have to remind myself of this, that I'm not doing it for the people who will judge me. I'm doing it for the people who will find some nugget of value in my words, in something that I can do for you to help you be the best writer you can be. That is all I want. I have this tiny bit of nugget of information or this thought or something I'm working through that I'm like, you know what? I think someone else might be able to benefit from this, especially a writer. I think a writer could benefit from this because I get them. I know writers. I am a writer, right? I get it. I've been writing for writers for over a decade now. So there might be some nugget in what I've learned that might help someone else. That's why I do this.
So I share my experience with imposter syndrome, like literally what I'm currently experiencing 10 years into running this business. I'm still dealing with it because I want you to know that we all face the struggle at some point, but also I guess what I'm saying is here I am telling you that you are going to always face challenges. When you decide this is what I'm going to do, you're going to face a challenge. And every time you write a book and say, this is the story I'm going to tell, you're going to face a challenge.
It might be self-doubt. It might be feeling like an imposter when that story goes out in the world. It might be not believing your work is worthy. It might be the fear of it being seen, the fear of it never being seen.
There's so many things that can stand in our way, and that's going to happen when we take on new challenges.
It might be an old issue we deal with, imposter syndrome, for example, but when it crops up with something new we do, it'll feel brand new. And you'll be like, wait, why do I have no idea how to make this work?
It's because you have to apply the tools that you use to overcome these things to the new thing. As we grow as humans, as we grow as writers, we're constantly going to take on more challenges. We're not just going to hit a point and say, all done. I did X, Y, Z, and I'm good. I never want to do more. I never want to learn how to write more. I never want to write another book. You could decide that, and if you do, cool.
But if you say, I am going to be an author for the rest of my life, then you're going to constantly have these moments of success you're going to hit, and then you're going to say, okay, what's next? And you're going to constantly be adapting to a new challenge because that's the joy, right? But every time we put a new challenge in front of ourselves, or the universe does, we feel new again. We feel green again. And we might have to go back to some of those tools we've used in the past and say, okay, I need to use these tools again because it's a new situation and I have to readjust, I have to readapt.
And so that's where I am right now, and I'm coming to you as someone who is currently working through imposter syndrome and self-doubt and saying, let's just be in the thick of it together. Like, yes, it's really good to hear from experts who have done this stuff a long time ago, right? And they have come so far and they're doing amazing things. They made massive improvements in their career, in their life, their business, their books. And yeah, they've proven their shit works. Look, I'm here in the thick of it with you.
I'm going to show you that this shit might've worked for me in the past. Currently I have to work through it again. And I'm just going to show up with you as I do it. And hopefully you can feel a little more like someone's in it with you, right? Like I'm in it, man, but it doesn't mean what I have to say and share is invaluable or needed. You could potentially be taking something you hear from me today and utilize that information much more than I will of myself, right?
It'd be beautiful if you outgrew me on this. I would rather see you go way past not deal with imposter syndrome anymore and leave me in the dust saying, hey, that was fun because all I want is to see you succeed.
So let's just do it together, right? So I'm showing up to you in a place where I'm constantly feeling like I am an imposter because you can still show up even when you feel that way, right? It's basically fake it till you make it. And a lot of people with imposter syndrome, a lot of times you hear that advice, fake
it till you make it. And a lot of times it's because confidence comes after you do something. And if you stop, you will begin to lose confidence.
And that's what's happened with me here. I stopped putting on episodes in the podcast because I was scared.
I was feeling like an imposter. I wasn't confident. And then I lost a lot more confidence every time I didn't put something up. Each week that went fine, I didn't release an episode. There was just a little bit, it hurt a little bit inside of me because I knew like I'm getting further and further. If I'm not careful, I'm just going to not put anything else out there.
And who is that helping? If the whole point of having this podcast of free information is to help someone else, one person who might be struggling with that topic, it's literally, it's worth it then, right?
It's worth it. So I'm here to recommit with y'all. We're doing this together. Let's all just show up even when we're not comfortable and just do it anyway. Because eventually we're going to look back and be like, I fucking did that. I fucking did that shit.
How cool is that? How often do you find yourself giving advice to others and it's like the best advice ever?
It's like the advice that if you were to listen to it yourself, it would be game changing. Or how often does someone tell you the same advice you literally just gave to someone else, but suddenly now you're willing to listen because someone else said it to you? I don't know about you, but I am terrible at listening to myself because I question myself constantly. But when someone else says something, we're like, wait, you were so right. I mean, I knew that, but because I was thinking it, I didn't really believe it. Now that you're saying it, well, now there's two people who believe it. Okay, then I believe it.
I think this is part of what imposter syndrome stems from. We don't have the same internal confidence in ourselves that others have in us. So we pretend we do, or we constantly wonder when they'll figure out we were just full of shit. But newsflash, we are not full of shit. We are freaking awesome and deserving of the good, of the recognition. Because if we did something to reach something, then we earned it. If we put in the effort to reach something, we earned it.
Now, yes, it's possible this is not true for some folks, but let's be real. The people who actually got something they didn't work for, the people who are actual imposters who have been given something they didn't earn, those people will literally never deal with imposter syndrome. Let's be real. The people who are so privileged that they are given an opportunity they have not earned, they are not thinking, I didn't earn this.
You know why? Because they're like, you know what, someone else did the work for me. I'm going to enjoy it.
And let's be real. People who are actual imposters, like here's an example, maybe a super rich white man with
a rich daddy is given a job that he literally didn't earn. That man, oh, that guy is, he is not thinking he's an imposter. If he did, he'd put in the work and he would no longer be an imposter. But most likely he's not thinking a second about it. He's thinking I freaking earned this. I deserve this.
So if you are actually plagued by imposter syndrome, consider this thought. Only the people who are plagued by it are actually the ones who've earned the shit out of where they are and what they've achieved. If you are struggling with imposter syndrome, I will guarantee you actually have nothing to be an imposter about. You have actually earned something about what you're doing. If it plagues you, then that means you are constantly evaluating if you deserve to be somewhere. And I'm going to tell you right now, the answer is always going to be yes, because your concern alone is enough that has made you work to get somewhere. And even if you were a middle-aged dude who was just, or hey, 20 year old guy who just handed his company from his dad, let's say he never went to school, did nothing, but he was literally handed this company. In that moment when he's handed the company and in charge, he might be an imposter. But if the next moment his decision is to do everything it takes to run the company, he is immediately no longer an imposter because he is putting in the work to earn where he is.
So if you are actively working for something and doing something, I'm going to tell you right now, then you're not an imposter because you're doing it. Remember that imposter syndrome is characterized by persistent doubt about your abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite the evidence of one's ongoing success. So your abilities and your accomplishments and the evidence shows you should be here and you're still questioning, should I be here? And the answer is always yes, if you are there, then you've put in the work to be there. If you're listening to this podcast because you're like, oh, imposter syndrome, I need to hear about that. Then I'm going to say there's no possible way you don't deserve everything that you've gotten at this point. If you are really concerned about imposter syndrome, you probably have worked really hard to get where you are. You've probably earned the shit out of what you have reached at this point.
So that's one of those like ironic moments, right? Where I should probably pause and ask if I've listened to my own advice, right? Did I hear that right? By constantly working hard to make sure I'm providing value to others, I'm not an imposter. By actually recording and posting content, I am a podcaster. I'm not an imposter podcaster because I'm literally doing the work. I am a podcaster, right? So I want you to tell that to yourself too, writer.
You are not an imposter. Have you written a book? Five books, 20 pages of outlines? Have you read stories?
Have you journaled? Have you taken one class? Have you pitched your work? Have you self-published? Read a book review of your work? Have you done even just one thing? Just write? Then you are actively doing something and growing on it.
So when you reach any level of success, getting an agent, getting your first five star review, teaching a class, giving advice to another writer who is where you were two months ago, you've earned that. You've done the work. You are not an imposter because you work toward it. If you were an imposter, you probably wouldn't even be concerned about being one. Truly. Think about that. People who are actual imposters probably are not thinking twice about it. They're like, yep, yeah, I don't deserve where I am. That's fine. I'm living it anyway, right? So I think it's safe to say if you're listening to this episode, imposter syndrome hits you.
Remind yourself the real imposters don't give a shit about being imposters. So you are not one. End of story.
So now go write, go share your words with the world. And I will do the same by reminding myself I am also not an imposter so I can keep showing up for you and share some of the awesome content that I already have ready to go in store for you.
If you want to do some work on working through imposter syndrome, if you're like, okay, this is all good and great, but can you just help me with some really practical tips? Then I want you to go to my website at katiemccoach.com slash self doubt. And there you will find a free mini ebook to download. It has eight strategies to overcome self doubt and slash imposter syndrome. And I want to hear how that goes for you.
Go ahead and tag me on social media at katiemccoach for Twitter and Instagram or at coachmccoach on TikTok and let me know which strategy worked best for you. Was it all of them together or what mind shift thing just did you have to just switch in your brain to say, you're right. If I give a shit about being an imposter, then I'm probably not one.
All right, writers until next time, keep growing.
