The Survey Results Are In!

A few years ago, when I was experiencing an early onset midlife crisis, a mentor put me in touch with the kind of person I assumed would never need a midlife crisis because he had already done everything. He founded a beloved purpose-driven tech company that IPO’d at over $250 million and, prior to being tech famous, he'd been a guitarist in a rather cool indy band big enough to make an appearance on my turquoise Apple iPod Mini (2nd Generation) in the mid-aughts. So like, a very cool guy.

Even though I don't usually get celeb-struck, I was nervous to speak with him.

Here I was, not knowing what to do in my life, and even if I was able to figure it out, I was afraid my somewhat specific skillset and lack of varied work experience would render me worthless at whatever I did decide.

Before our convo, I set to puffing myself up and inventing a story — a marketing pitch of sorts — so I would come across as a better and more sure-footed version of myself: "Hi famous tech/guitarist guy! I'm Vanessa. I'm an X, I help A do B in order to accomplish C, I am *so close* to doing [something amazing] and would love your input on Z."

Though I started the conversation with a made-up jazzy story, there was something about this person that was totally real, totally disarming, that — thankfully — I let this puff piece go and confessed I wasn't even sure what to talk to him about because I was at a crossroads in my life and I didn't really believe I could do whatever what on the other side.

I was therefore blown away when the-guy-who-was-on-ipod-mini said: “I know where you're at. I’ve felt like an imposter at some point at every step of the way in my career. Everyone does.”

You are not alone.

Before this conversation, I had assumed my feelings of unworthiness were because something was objectively lacking in my life. It short-circuited my brain to think that this guy felt the same way because - objectively, OBJECTIVELY! - he was not lacking anything that I could see. 

Fast forward a ton of introspection, self-reflection, and three courageous career jumps later, I finally found "what I wanted to do with my life" - be a coach. And when I contemplated what I wanted to base my coaching practice around - imposter syndrome was at the top of the list.

Earlier this year, I conducted a survey entitled, "Imposter Syndrome & Self-doubt at Work: A Survey of 100 Talented Women."

Learn what 100+ talented women had to say about how imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and lack of confidence show up for them at work.

Get useful strategies — and learn some common misconceptions — to defeat self-doubt and the negative thought cycle. Included is a TON of peer advice and a robust list of resources so you can start your own journey toward uncaged confidence.