The Imposter Holding Back Your Growth

End Hype with Callye Keen

“Be wary of anyone selling you help without a deliverable.”
Callye Keen hits on a topic that he has a love/hate relationship with, mindset, personal development, and imposter syndrome.

More entrepreneurs fail from inaction than they do lack of funds, and inaction can frequently be mapped directly back to imposter syndrome. We know the exact right thing to do and still not take action. Why?

Fear. Fear of failure. Fear of judgment. Fear that everyone else can see that we aren’t ready. That we aren’t smart enough. Imposter syndrome holds us back in so many ways that it's hard to see. It stops us from asking for the sale, from sending an email, and from living. It’s prevalent in our business and personal lives. It also makes us vulnerable to the bloodsucking gurus that prey on uncertainty.

Because we are so consumed with our own inadequacies we don’t realize everyone has them. Those who take action, who lean into their fears, they win. They recognize they are the biggest obstacle to their own success, and they address it.

[02:44] Just start

Around 2007 I started professionally using CAD and helping people reverse engineer simple products. I thought I'm not an expert in AutoCAD, but I started helping people design products. I took action knowing that abilities can be developed.

[05:21] Imposter syndrome

When I decided to go outside the walls of our business and start speaking at colleges, and other events. I wondered why somebody would listen to what I have to say about developing products. Why would someone want me as a mentor? Eventually I realized I'm not an imposter.

[07:00] Fear of rejection

Why aren't we just doing whatever the hell we want? Because we're not psychopaths. We're human beings. We're regular people. We're smart people. We see risks. Imposter syndrome is really just a version of that fear that you're going to be rejected. The only way to become good enough is to take action and gain experience. No one's going to come and magically save you. Mindset is the new psychology of success.

[10:15] Experience comes from action

Society says that growth is linear. When you approach next level opportunities, you think you don't have any experience running a $10 million company. You think you need a Harvard MBA. Well, the Harvard MBA is busy earning $150,000 as a mid-level manager at a consulting firm pushing paperwork. The Harvard MBA couldn't run that company because they don't have the experience. The experience only comes from action. The Harvard MBA needs to start a business to gain confidence.

[12:30] Leverage communities for growth

Very successful people curate and develop communities. If you want to meet other people that are doing amazing things join a group. There's a lot of entrepreneurship groups or development groups to choose from. Start your own mastermind. Develop your own community to meet people that are more successful than you.

[14:37] Imposters everywhere

Imposter syndrome is everywhere. It prevents us from building the right team. How can you talk at an event? How can you help your customers when you're not honest with yourself about where you are? How can you have a mentor relationship? Develop a new product line? The mindset you've created doesn't support growth.

[16:20] No is easier than yes

How are you going to deal with the rejection of all of the nos? How are you going to deal with the yeses? Because when you get a yes, that's when you really have to think, what am I going to do? Am I good enough? How am I going to pull this off? And this happens at every single stage from your product launch to the biggest collaboration that you can lock down.