I have no idea what I’m doing, this was a mistake. 
 

Everyone here is so much smarter than me.

 

I can’t get up there and sing, everyone else is just so good. 

 

I’ll never fit in, everyone has so much more experience.

 

It’s too late to start my own business, everyone has already done it all in the market place.

 

Everyone else is so much (prettier/smarter/thinner/funnier/more educated/more experienced) than I am.

 

    Any of this sound familiar?  Have you ever had this “talk” with yourself?  Have you ever debated your own worthiness to yourself and ultimately decided against doing the thing you wanted to do simply because you’re not the best at it?

 

    Yeah… me too. And here’s the thing.  In any situation, under any circumstances, it most likely will be true that there is someone more qualified or more experienced or more knowledgeable at the thing you want to undertake. 

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    But here's a secret – they weren’t always that way.  One day, perhaps not even that long ago, they were where you are.  Unsure, lacking self confidence, but so wanting to do the thing. 

 

                                        Know what the difference is? 

 

    They did it.  They did the thing – unwell, imperfect, but they did it. And then they did it again, and again and then once more.  And each time became a little bit better.  They got feedback (some solicited, most of it not) and they learned, they reshaped, they refocused. 

 

    Now they trust their own voice, their own experience and their own expertise. 

 

    I recently went to the Art Institute here in Chicago to see an exhibit on Andy Warhol.  Warhol and his “fifteen minutes” of fame were essentially borrowed.  Now, I’m not denying his pulse on society and the talent of his craft, but what is considered his most famous work, Orange Marilyn, wasn’t even his photograph.     He took a still photo from the movie "Niagara" and added his own spin. 

 

    He didn’t look at the art world and say “I don’t belong”; Warhol looked at the art world as something in need of disruption with enough room for everyone.  While his screen-printing technics were new, his subject matter primarily was not.  Marilyn, Liz, Mao and Elvis all lend their celebrity to his work.  Andy didn’t stop and think – well, thousands of pictures have already been taken of these celebrities so my adding one more won’t do anything.  No, he simply created and put it into the world.

 

    I get it, its so much easier said than done.  Take this blog and website for example - it was in the contemplation phase for over a year! Imposter syndrome is real and stifles so much creativity.  But I promise you (as I promise myself daily) , if you keep trying, if you do the thing, there IS room for you.