Are You an Imposter or the Genuine Article?

Imposter Syndrome as Feedback

In today's environment of having access to an endless amount of choices in regards to the work that we do in the world, it's very common for people to feel like an imposter. And it's even more common in the quote-unquote self-development arena to tell you how to not feel like an imposter.

You'll come across this in articles, in videos, and in podcasts.
How to not feel like an imposter.
Ten ways to get over imposter syndrome.
Why you shouldn't feel like an imposter.

And in a lot of ways, this dialogue is often doing a disservice to people. Because I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you.

There is the possibility that what you are choosing to do is, in fact, something that makes you an imposter.

Leaning Into the Signal

And instead of running away from that, I'm going to suggest the opposite.
That you lean into that feeling as important feedback.

It's feedback that's letting you know that what you are doing is an imitation of something and not the actual thing itself. And this is really valuable feedback.

I wouldn't squander it with the idea that you shouldn't feel like an imposter. Because if that were the case, then it would mean that there are no genuine articles.

The Genuine Article

And a genuine article is somebody who is truly transmitting their medicine, their wisdom, their embodied skills into the world from a place of having truly owned it.

And this is something that is often not talked about in these articles.

It's always about,
“Oh, just continue to do what you're doing,”
or, “Everybody starts somewhere,”
or something along those lines.

And it really has this orientation that you are equally suited to do whatever you choose to do, rather than something that perhaps you are truly suited for in a more limited context.

Imitation Versus Embodiment

But let's step aside from this and take a look at it with the example of being a coach.

It's a very common theme these days that people want to be coaches and are practicing to be coaches. And there are drawbacks and benefits to that whole idea of being a coach. But let's step aside from that and look at it from a technical standpoint.

A lot of people pursue that career path through getting certifications, taking courses, getting their notes down, making sure they understand the algorithms and search engine optimization. And then they start to churn out content in this very template-like fashion.

Just replicating a formula.
Over and over again.

And a lot of those people feel like imposters precisely because they have approached this as someone ready to imitate something that they have not owned.

Knowledge Is Not Wisdom

If you show up and you want to teach what other people have taught you to teach, but it's not something that has deeply been taught and embodied by you, then there is truly no substance behind it.

Because in today's world, we have this illusion that the only thing that's valuable in terms of teaching and transmitting is knowledge.

But often the people who truly make an impact in your life are not just transmitting knowledge.

They are transmitting wisdom.

And wisdom is not the same as information in the mind.

One might say that wisdom does not come from the mind.
Wisdom comes from embodiment.
Wisdom comes from soul.
Wisdom comes from essence.

Authority Through Experience

And in order to transmit wisdom, which is what allows you to actually move people, it requires that it's something emerging from you authentically. That it is reflected by your experience. That your experience can support it.

That there is a context for what you are actually offering the world.

And the way to approach this is not necessarily to avoid the technicalities of a particular field.

It is to approach them in such a way that only you could.

Technique as Reference, Not Identity

So this doesn't mean completely avoiding the track of getting a certification, taking a course, or learning the technical information of a field.

But it does mean that these things act only as reference points.
They act as ways of potentially organizing what you already are capable of doing.

What you transmit is not a highly formulaic, replicated process.

What you transmit is your own process.
What you have understood through your own blood, sweat, tears, practices, and experience.

You do it in a way that only you could do it.

And that is how you get closer to being the genuine article.

Standing Out in a Sea of Replication

In this environment, this ocean of replicated formulas where all the content looks like everybody else's content, the way that you stand out is by being the genuine article.

By approaching the process in your own unique way.
By transmitting from your own embodied experience of what you are actually teaching and offering the world.

Let the Feeling Teach You

So if you're feeling this sense of being an imposter, lean into that.

Listen to what it's telling you.

Look for where you're trying to imitate.
Look for where you're trying to be something that you are not.

And then imposter syndrome begins to fall away.

Because no one else could possibly be better at doing you than you.