“I wonder how long it will take before someone figures out that I’m not very good at this. I shouldn’t have been given this job. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Have you ever caught yourself thinking this way? These types of thoughts are common in those that experience Impostor Syndrome.
And it is an insidious affliction, causing you to suffer with pervasive and consistent thoughts of inadequacy, even when you’ve proven yourself to be entirely capable. It’s as if you can’t convince yourself how great you are!
And the person experiencing Impostor Syndrome feels this way all of the time.
Advancing your career usually depends on your ability to earn recognition outside the office.
As much as you may like your coworkers, your next job offer or major client is likely to come from someone who doesn’t work by your side each day.
Regardless of your position, you can gain people’s attention.
Try these techniques for promoting your career while helping others online and off. That way they’ll remember you when they’re ready to make new hires or looking for a consultant.
Build Recognition Online
Update your LinkedIn Profile. Your LinkedIn profile may be more important than your resume these days. Keep your summary current and compelling. Recruiters may be shopping for passive candidates or potential clients may be looking for someone with your qualifications.
Seek testimonials. Collecting positive feedback from others strengthens your credibility. Ask for recommendations and endorsements on LinkedIn. Gather quotes that you can use on your website. Offer testimonials to others too.
Join forums. Take part in discussion groups related to your field. Be positive and focus on people who you may want to follow up with.
Post comments. Let colleagues know when you’re impressed with their articles or find them thought provoking. Provide useful information and links to other reputable sources. When appropriate, include your website or other contact information so others can get in touch with you.
Start a blog. Contribute to your company blog or start your own. Stay on topic and provide fresh content so readers will have a reason to keep coming back. Interview leaders in your field or comment on a popular news story. Review a new software package or report on a major conference.
Publish articles. Contact sites that advertise for outside authors. Check their policies on making payments or providing bylines. If possible, include your photo, social media links, and other contact information to drive traffic to your website.
Become a media source. Journalists need experts in all kinds of fields to verify facts and give them quotes. Develop a relationship with reporters who specialize in your field or work at local newspapers. Email them with a brief bio and story ideas. Reply promptly if they request details for a piece they’re working on.
Building Recognition Offline
Participate in your professional association. Become active in the local chapter of your professional association. Attend the monthly lunches and show up early for networking. Volunteer to serve on the welcoming committee or help with planning the annual fundraising dinner.
Attend networking events. Check the community calendar in your local newspaper. Register for a workshop on social media or drop in on a book signing by a leader in your field.
Be prepared. Business leads can turn up anywhere. Carry business cards with you in case you run into someone interesting while you’re having your dog groomed or washing your car.
Speak in public. Brush up on your public speaking skills. You may be able to arrange high-paying appearances, or arrange a slot on the schedule at the next career day at your daughter’s middle school.
Volunteer in your community. Select a charity you care about and propose a volunteer project that will involve working with others. You could research historical information or strategize a marketing campaign.
Mentor others. Reach out to students and young professionals. You can learn a lot by teaching others. Uncover exciting opportunities by making your strengths and accomplishments widely known. Sharing your expertise with others online and face-to-face is a great way to extend your network and become more marketable.
Success is interesting. No two successes are exactly the same, but there are many similarities. As your success grows, you’ll notice certain signs along the way. Knowing these signs in advance can be motivating. As you notice one, you’ll feel a new wave of motivation since you know you’re making progress.
Keep your eyes open for the signs of success:
A greater willingness to take risks. Playing it safe is sure sign that nothing spectacular is going to happen. You’ll find yourself taking more risks if you’re on the road to success. There’s no other way to do it.
More integrity. Success requires the involvement of others. One of the most effective ways to build relationships is to demonstrate a lot of integrity. You’ll even find yourself doing the right thing when no one is watching. It becomes a habit.
The ability to deal with obstacles and setbacks more easily. The more you attempt, the more obstacles and setbacks you’ll face. You’ll get plenty of practice and soon learn that these phenomena aren’t that big of a deal. You just deal with them and continue toward your goals. This is an important sign. Great successes require dealing with great obstacles.
Gratitude. The more you attempt to accomplish, the more you appreciate all the “little” things you already possess. The importance of many things the average person takes for granted becomes more clear. Your family, friends, home, food, and clothes are more critical to your happiness than a shiny, new car.
Less concern regarding the opinions of others. You’ll find that many of the least successful people you know are those most concerned with the opinions of others. They’re paralyzed by fear and refuse to do anything that might lead to failure and criticism.
Raising of your standards. Once you’re satisfied, you’re done making progress. Can you imagine Oprah Winfrey only making $75,000 per year? She would do everything she could to increase that amount. When you raise your standards, what was your ceiling becomes your new floor for your behavior and your results.
A clear vision for the future. It’s hard to be successful if you don’t know where you’re headed. A clear objective makes the next step much more clear. If you don’t have clear vision for your future, get busy creating one.
Freedom from the past. Successful people are focused on today and the future. They don’t have the time to worry about what happened 10 years ago or even 10 days ago.
More self-discipline. Those that struggle with success imagine that success requires amazing effort and spectacular accomplishments. But success is boring 99% of the time. It’s the result of taking effective, and often boring, actions day after day after day.
The ability to laugh at yourself. When you see what success entails, you’ll laugh at your former self. It’s easy to see how silly you’ve been once you taste success on a regular basis. Being successful is a game that doesn’t need to be taken so seriously. Enjoy life and laugh at yourself.
Some successes are easier to witness than others.
Other successes come more subtly and take longer periods of time. However, there are signs you can expect to see on the road to success. Learn these signs and keep your eyes open. Each time you see one, you’ll gain a boost of motivation and know you’re on the right path.
One way to quickstart your road to success is by setting an income goal.
When you set an income goal, and remove the resistance behind the goal, all of your actions, ideas, inspirations, strategies and tactics will line up with the goal.You will also remove distractions and clear obstacles to getting to your income goal.
Yet, many never take this critical goal setting step because of their current belief system, or resistance is going unobserved and unchecked.
When you do not take the time to observe the resistance (and clear it) you will automatically default to your belief system, your set point.
There is no mystery in where your set point is.It is exactly where you are right now.The amount of money you have right now is your set point.
Without setting an income goal and getting crystal clear on what resistance comes up, in 3, 5 or 10 years you will default to your set point, which is exactly where you are right now.It will look just like today.
What am I talking about? Well, your money set point. If you’re wondering what on earth that is, your set point is simply where your money is now.
The interesting part is how and why it became that way. Because like anything, folks, you need awareness before you can clear it.
This one is all about your history. Where the beliefs began. With your parents.
I want you to really think about this. As a child:
How money was discussed, or not as the case may be?
What expressions do you notice, thinking back to things like income and bills being discussed?
What emotions do you remember? Was there anged, sadness or maybe even a void or vacuum?
Through working with my clients (and working through this myself) I’ve seen that there are 2 camps.
The Loyalists
They have an INTENSE loyalty to their parents. They understand that their parents did their best, despite the struggles.
They may have totally different upbringings, totally different lives and yet they will still match their set points to be in line with their parents.
Limiting themselves as if to say, “I know you did the best you could. You were right. I won’t get ahead of you, I won’t hurt you. I’ll stay loyal to you”
When we say it out loud we can see how none of this makes logical sense but our subconscious is not working with logic!
The Rebels
These guys’ battle cry is “I WILL NEVER BE LIKE THEM” <– this was so me!
Everything about the way their parents handled money turns these guys off. And honestly, these types of clients have the ability to make massive amounts of money.
But guess what? Something ALWAYS happens and they lose it all. Boom and bust right back down to their parents’ level.
The sweet spot in creating your wealth reality is in disassociating yourself from your parents’ money paradigm. It is not about anyone being good or bad parents.
It is not about whether your parents were “good” or “bad” with money.
It’s not YOUR story. And you can never have the power to create your wealth reality with someone else’s story as your standard.
To all my U.S. friends, I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I certainly did, plus it was my birthday weekend! I really had a blast.
The day after Thanksgiving, however, I stayed in bed for an entire 24 hours. I didn’t shop, I didn’t read, just stayed in bed and Netflix watched me. And I felt a little guilty, my daughters even asked if I was despressed. The following day I felt like a million bucks, because I used some of the principles that Lynnis Woods-Mullins and I talk about in our Total Wellness Transformation program. I began to take the steps necessary to transform my self-care.
It is so important, as women, that we honor the flow of our mind, body and spirit. Often we just keep going, going, going, without giving much thought to our own self-care. Thanksgiving, and the holiday season in general, is a time of joy, peace and gratitude, and it also can be a time of stress, overwhelm, exhaustion and overeating.
In fact by the Sunday after Thanksgiving many of us are feeling sluggish, tired, having issues getting a good night sleep, a bit stressed and perhaps a little bit tighter around the waistline! Lynnis Woods-Mullins (Holistic Wellness and Living Expert) calls that the Turkey Bloat Blues.
As you can see, Lynnis and I are literally taking control!
We are taking control of our self-care and doing the things that are within our power from a holistic standpoint to stay vibrant, energized, and fit. No pills, no crash diets, no starvation! What do you do to get more energy, drop those unwanted pounds and inches, get rid of feelings of overwhelm and brain fog?
Total Wellness Transformation addresses all those concerns.
Total Wellness Transformation is a weight release and wellness program that is based on holistic practices, movement, and spiritual renewal. The best thing is that it works!!
We know Black Friday is over, Small Business Saturday has passed, Cyber Monday came to an end. But, the good news is that Total Wellness Transformation Week has just begun! That’s right for the next week we are offering this awesome course at a 50% discount. There is no time like the present to get started taking better care of you AND with lifetime access, you can use the information in this program again and again.
Stop putting off addressing your unwanted pounds and inches, fatigue, brain fog, and sleeplessness. The time is now to enhance your wellness and your life.
It’s not YOUR story. And you can never have the power to create your wealth reality with someone else’s story as your standard.
To all my U.S. friends, I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I certainly did, plus it was my birthday weekend! I really had a blast.
Keisha Dixon 