And the Gift of my Spirit Guide
We’ve all seen the images of a person with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The devil yells things to lead the person astray. The angel whispers guidance to keep the person on the straight and narrow. This is kind of how I picture my Imposter and my Spirit Guide whenever I am working on my business. My Spirit Guide is on one shoulder quietly guiding me on to success. The Imposter sits on the other shoulder yelling all kinds of things trying to derail me from succeeding in my business. It seems a ridiculous idea to try to make friends with such an unruly character like the Imposter.
Both are tenacious beyond belief, both know me better than I know myself, and both are teaching me in their own way. Without both, I could not be successful in my business.
Becoming Friends with the Imposter
Yes, I said both are helping me to succeed.
I remember the Eckhart Tolle quote, “Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” When I fight the Imposter, he grows stronger. When I resist what he is trying to tell me, he gets more and more insistent. The key is to make friends with the Imposter.
Yes, find a way to make friends with your Imposter.
Most of the time the Imposter has some really crazy ideas. Did you see my post about my three outfit changes while batch recording videos? And he’s talked me out of moving forward with more businesses than I care to count. The Imposter knows me so well. He has a list of all my biggest fears, he knows where all my tender spots are, he understands my greatest longings, and he is very familiar with my inner child and how to trigger her.
The Imposter Has Some Good Points
He does have some good points. And when he points out my weaknesses, I listen. I know that they are only my weaknesses for now. I can learn, grow and evolve and I will turn my weaknesses into strengths. And when I can’t or choose not to, I know I can find help. While I do what I do best, my trusty helper will pick up the slack in my weak areas.
My Spirit Guide knows me well, too. She knows my heart and she recognizes what feeds my soul. Even when I didn’t know it was there, she could see where my superpower was hidden. My Spirit Guide can feel my love, joy, and excitement when I am doing what I love and what I am good at. While the Imposter is loud and insistent, my Spirit Guide is quiet and patient.
The Imposter LOVES to Push Buttons
Lately, the Imposter’s favorite button of mine to press is the one that says, “I don’t do sales.” Yes, I taught him well. I repeated that phrase since I started my first business. That button definitely plays in my voice. Whereas many others play in the voice of well-meaning adults who tried to lead me throughout my younger years to their idea of success or to keep me from failing.
At first, I would hang my head and agree with him. “You’re right, of course, I never have been successful at sales.” I’d slump down, hang my head, and go back to doing what I know and love – teaching and creating.
Listen Carefully for Spirit’s Guidance
The Imposter would grin victoriously and settle down for a few moments. In that quiet, I’d hear the voice of my Spirit Guide whispering, “You don’t have to do sales like a used car salesman, you know.”
The Imposter, realizing he could lose, started in even more relentlessly. “Sales is sales and you’re going to hate all of the ways out there to do sales.” My Spirit Guide was quiet because she knew she had planted the seed. Once she has planted her seed, my Spirit Guide knows that it’ll grow and flourish in its own time.
And it is! I am actually seeing success at selling!
My Spirit Guide has known that all takes is whispering the seed of an idea to me and waiting for it to grow. When the Imposter was reminding me of how burned out I got years ago trying to keep up with all the different kinds of software, my Spirit Guide whispered to remind me of the dream I had of teaching people to start their own businesses. The Imposter grew silent when I declared to the world I was changing from tech coach to business coach.
What The Imposter Has Told Me
When the Imposter was telling me to look and act professionally and to only show up when everything was perfect, my Spirit Guide murmured that people would love the real me far better than the fake front I was putting on. I signed for a program that taught me how to get paid to be myself and realized I could be the goofy, fun, nerdy me and attract my ideal clients.
When the Imposter told me to give up and just get a “real job”, my Spirit Guide quietly reminded me of how much I love being with Ava, how much I like being outside with my dog, my cats, and my plants, and all the plans I have of traveling, working on creative projects, and all the stories that I want to tell. She reminded me of my “why” for starting my business and gently let me know that I would succeed beyond my wildest dreams.
When the Imposter screamed that I was just a two-bit, faker of a business coach who was nothing special and would never be successful, my Spirit Guide silently reached into the depths of my soul to the vault where so many of my hopes, dreams, and fears were locked away and pulled out a beautiful gem and showed it to me. The Imposter screamed in horror when he saw it and tried to distract me from looking. What I saw when my Spirit Guide held it up for me to see was the twisted face of the Imposter reflected in the facets.
Uncovering My Superpower
“This is your superpower,” she said clearly. “This is the one thing the Imposter cannot take from you or damage in any way. The worst he can do is to make you forget it, but I will forever remind you.”
So, yes, I owe a debt of gratitude to the Imposter. Because of him, I have learned to do sales in a way that makes me happy. Thanks to the Imposter, I am no longer hiding behind a seemingly perfect veneer, but showing up as my quirky, imperfect self when I am representing my business. And because of him not only do I know my business superpower – showing others how to befriend the Imposter – I also have a mission of helping entrepreneurs to discover their own business superpower and use it in all areas of their business so they can go from stuck to unstoppable.
If you are feeling stuck in your business, I invite you to attend The Three Keys to Becoming Unstoppable in Your Business Masterclass on July 19 – 21, at noon EDT. It’s free to attend and you’ll leave with resources, tips, and tricks to help you make friends with the Imposter, uncover your business superpower, and show up as the lighthouse when marketing your business.
