Greg :
What I have seen is that the majority of people today that are successful are successful because they are operating in a different type of model, meaning that they're giving themselves the opportunity to be leveraged. Here's the reality. The reality is that most people are not putting themselves in any type of leverage position. You. This is secrets for success. Welcome to the secrets for Success podcast. I'm your host, Greg Todd. Thank you, as always, for joining me.
Greg :
Today we're going to talk about that subject, impostor syndrome. We've been hearing this over and over and over again since I decided to be a coach, a consultant. It's probably the biggest thing that people struggle with, and I think it's one of the biggest reasons why people don't move forward in going after their goals and their dreams. And that is because they are dealing with impostor syndrome, and they don't know how to handle it. So what I'm going to do is this. I'm going to read from my phone the definition from the Oxford language of imposter syndrome. It is the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills. Okay? So, there's a lot of things I want to say about this.
Greg :
I'm going to read a few parts of the definition, and then I want to discuss each of those parts. Okay. So, the persistent inability to believe that one success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved. Okay. So let's talk about that. First. Do you believe that you deserve the success that you have? Obviously, someone that's struggling with imposter syndrome doesn't believe that. Right? Okay.
Greg :
And I have struggled with that in my life many times as well. Okay? So I'm not here to say, oh, I've never dealt with imposter syndrome. No, I have. I felt for many times in my life that I did not deserve my success. Why me? Like, I come from Jamaica, I'm not even from this country. I'm a black man. I have all these things in my mind of why I don't deserve what it is that I deserve. So, what I'm telling you, I am no therapist.
Greg :
I'm not some anxiety expert. I'm just telling you how GT deals with all this stuff. Number one, every time that I am doing something hard, every time that I'm doing things very different than others or difficult. And I also realize that there are many other people that have gotten the opportunity to do the difficult thing that I'm doing and have said, no, I'm not doing them. That's the things that I have to remind myself of when I'm dealing with imposter syndrome or when I have dealt with it in the past. Meaning that the reality is that every single day, if you have had success or you are gearing to have success every single day, you are more than likely doing things that the majority of people will not do. Okay, here's the reality. Reality is this.
Greg :
7% of our population are entrepreneurs. That means that 93% don't want any part of this. And by the way, that's totally fine. If I had my way, I wouldn't have a part of this either. Okay? If I just had a good job, that they gave me opportunities for growth, there's no way in hell I'd do it. But I did it because I didn't have that opportunity. So I have to remind myself that when I see family or I see this person sharp, da da da da. Look, I did things that most of them would not do.
Greg :
That's like the first thing I just have to constantly remind myself of, that most people wouldn't do this and they don't want to do it. And that's right. That's totally fine. There are certain things that I deal with on a daily basis that they never have to deal with. The responsibilities that I have, the sometimes burdens that I feel, the obligations that I have, they don't have to deal with it. But at the same time, when I am getting successes, well, they're not going to deal with that either. And that's okay. But I just have to remind myself of that as if there's any times that I'm dealing with this impostor syndrome.
Greg :
So here, let's go back to the definition. Definition is the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved. Well, listen, if you get in your success by slanging dope and it's not legitimately achieved, then you know what? Maybe you should be feeling the way that you're feeling, but I'm assuming that you're legit in the way that you are achieving your success. Now, here's the thing that I have learned. What I have seen is that the majority of people today that are successful are successful because they are operating in a different type of model, meaning that they're giving themselves the opportunity to be leveraged. Here's the reality. The reality is that most people are not putting themselves in any type of leverage position and so don't feel like it's not legitimate. It just might be different than the way that everybody else does it because they're not doing it in the leveraged way that you're doing it.
Greg :
You just might be doing it in a unique way. Now, remember that, because you're doing it in this unique way, most people think it's stupid. When I started my business, when I went online, when I did all these different endeavors that I'm doing that are successful. Now, there were people that initially said, why are you doing that? That is not the norm. That is not the pathway. So just understand that the reason why you might think it's not legitimate is just because the majority of people don't do it that way. That does not mean it's not legitimate. It just means that the majority have not followed this path.
Greg :
So let's not confuse legitimacy with it just not being the path that everybody follows. Okay? So just consider that. All right, here's the next thing. So it says, the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills. Here's what I understand. It is not my efforts, it is not my skills that is allowing me to be able to achieve the success anyways. The way that I've been able to overcome this with regard to imposter syndrome is understanding that I am just a steward. I'm a steward of what God has given me.
Greg :
My house, the cars, the office, the employees, the team, the staff, everything that I have is not mine. I'm currently the manager of it. I'm the manager of smart success healthcare. I'm the overseer of Bay Shore Boulevard where I live. I'm the overseer of my other properties. I'm overseeing it. But every single skill, every single opportunity, every single experience, anything that I have has been given to me by God. So I don't look at it.
Greg :
It's so much pressure. It's so much pressure. If you think, oh, it's my skills, oh, it's my efforts, that means that you believe you are self made. I am not self made. There are so many things that God had to do for me, people, places, opportunities to put me in in order for all this stuff to happen. So if you could just stop looking at the things like you actually did it and start looking at it as you were given a gift and you were allowed to be a steward over something, and you just happen to be the one that capitalized off of saying, lord, you gave me stewardship over this. I'm going to do something with this. It reminds me of the parable of the talents.
Greg :
The parable of the talents is the master giving three of his servants talents. And those talents back in those days were millions of dollars. And he gave one, I think four, and he made back four. And he said, well done, good and faithful servant, you have been diligent over a few. Let me give you more. And then the person that had two talents, he said, here, you know what? I'm going to go do it. Let me go. Use this.
Greg :
Let me go. Double his money. He doubled the money. When he came back to the master, the master said, well and done, good and faithful servant, you were diligent over a few. Let me make you diligent over more. But the last person said, you know something? He gave him one talent. He said, I know you mastered to be a hard man, and I didn't want to lose your money. So I did nothing with it and I buried it in the ground.
Greg :
And the master said, you slothful servant, said, I will give you nothing moving forward in some other nasty words, basically, that's what he said. Okay, so the reality is that if you look at everything that way, it's not just your efforts, your skills have been given to you. The ability for you to have that effort has only been given to you through the opportunities that the Lord has given you. So when I stop looking at it as though it's all me, and I put it on some being something else, someone else. God, I don't feel that imposter thing anymore because I'm like, I'm just a steward of this. I'm just a steward of what he's given me. He gave me this opportunity. He gave me this skill.
Greg :
I have a responsibility to get better at the skill, to seize the opportunity, to maybe even create new opportunities. But it's such a game changer if you start to look at things that way. So that's how I look at impostor syndrome. I understand that in every single instance when I'm doing something hard, I jot it down and I write, you know what? The reality is that this has happened for me because I'm willing to do things that most other people won't do. The reality is that most people, you're playing around right now because you want to have online money, but you don't want to have your face anywhere online. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you're not willing to do what I do. So you need a struggle. Okay, I'm not trying to be a jerk about it.
Greg :
Just keep it in 100, right? Some of y'all, the minute you hear a no from somebody, you're like, I'm done. My ego is too bruised. I'm not going to move forward. Okay, well, if I heard 500 no's and I keep on going, shouldn't I get more than you? That's just the way that it is, y'all. So understand that all the obstacles that you're going through right now, use that and have that in the bank. Put that in your back pocket. As you're dealing with any of those impostor syndrome thoughts, remember that you're willing to do things that everybody else ain't willing to do. And then when you start to think of your own skills and your own efforts, remember who gave you those skills and remember who gave you the opportunity to be able to use those efforts.
Greg :
And it wasn't you. It was the creator. So that's how I do it. Imposter syndrome. You guys, I hope that helps you, and I hope you just move out of your way and understand that if you're going to be success, so you're going to have to do things scared. You're going to have to do it in a fretful way. Okay? So I hope that helps. See you guys on the next one.
Greg :
Till next time.
