What Is Imposter Syndrome?

I woke up one day on my first real trip for the podcast, blog, and YouTube channel and wondered what it would be like when I was really doing my dream job. WHILE I WAS DOING MY DREAM JOB. Stupid, right?

No matter what you told me, I would say I wasn’t a real travel blogger, or my podcast wasn’t a real travel podcast. What is a real podcast, you ask? Seems like it would be a podcast that is available on all the major podcast platforms, right? Coie’s Questions checks that box. So why did I feel like I wasn’t exactly real?

I was afraid people would laugh at me and tell me I was basically a fraud. That I wasn’t really traveling and learning from it and sharing it on multiple social media platforms and outlets. That I was basically playing pretend.

I felt like that while I was on a trip to film and blog and do exactly what I was afraid people were going to tell me I wasn’t really doing. That makes zero sense.

Why Is Imposter Syndrome Bullshit?

I may not be on the travel channel, have a blue checkmark on Instagram, or have an entire team of people working for me but that doesn’t mean I’m not traveling and sharing that on multiple platforms.

No one starts out the best. Not even me. I’m nowhere near where I am going to take Coie’s Questions. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still doing it. McDonalds isn’t Ruth Chris but they are still a restaurant serving food to the public.

It took a really long time and a few pep talks from my biggest cheerleaders for me to realize that while I may have to work harder than others to get the same results, I’m still getting them. I may not be the best at what I’m doing, but I’m doing it.

It takes time and I can not give up or I won’t ever be able to inspire someone sitting at home right now watching videos of all the cool places I’ve been and the amazing foods I’ve eaten. No one may ever say, “I want to be Courtney Hawkey when I grow up” but I hope that I at least inspire one person to follow their dreams and not let themselves be whats holding them back.

Thinking you’re not doing something because you aren’t doing it the exact same way as someone else is crap. Your fears are lying to you.

You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You deserve to be where you are because you’ve worked hard as hell to get there. You aren’t lucky, you are a badass.

How do you overcome imposter syndrome?

First of all, it’s important you realize that you’re dealing with imposter syndrome. Once you realize that you are a badass doing badass things and you aren’t the fraud you feel like you are  you can overcome feeling like this once and for all.

Like I mentioned I was on a work trip when I first really dealt with imposter syndrome. I don’t think I can quite emphasize enough the fact that I felt like I was playing pretend WHILE I WAS DOING THE VERY THING I felt like I wasn’t “really” doing.

When it comes to imposter syndrome there are 5 types of ‘imposters’ and I had to overcome all of them.

1. the perfectionist
   1. I felt like if the podcast episodes weren’t perfect they weren’t real. They were on all the major platforms, people were listening to them, but I still felt like they weren’t real. Just because they aren’t the same quality as podcasts with a team of people giving them the polished finish didn’t make them any less real and I had to learn to quit putting other podcasts on a pedestal. I was on the very same app they were. Coies Questions is just as real.
2. the soloist
   1. I felt like because I couldn’t do everything myself perfectly it wasn’t real. When the podcast originally started I had a cohost. He was supposed to be a partner but I took most of the workload and that was our agreement. I was so hard on myself for not being able to do everything alone and felt like because of that the podcast was less real than others. Then we interviewed someone who worked with podcasts and talked about how they had a team of 7 people to do what I was doing alone. I was doing it and still coming up with a finished product. The podcast was just as real.
3. the natural genius
   1. I felt like if I didn’t get something right away I should just give up. Yes, I know when I write those words out it sounds stupid. But this is the one I struggle with the most. I don’t like to not be good at something, but nothing worth while is ever easy. Every episode I got better at editing, interviewing, and planning. Just like every blog post gets better, every YouTube video gets better, it all takes time a practice and just because I have to google how to do something doesn’t make it any less real. The episodes and posts are on the same platforms as everyone elses.
4. the expert
   1. I felt like if someone asked me a question and I didn’t know the answer I would be outed as a fraud. What in the hell? There is no one that knows everything and just because I don’t have the answer doesn’t mean that I am not working in travel media. This was one of the easier aspects for me to overcome because it was pointed out to me the most that I was putting ridiculous pressure on myself.
5. the superwoman
   1. I felt like if I were “real” I would be crushing it every. single. time. Are you kidding me? Why do I put so much pressure on myself? Howard Schultz (the Starbucks dude – look him up) was denied a loan 217 times before he finally got a yes. TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN TIMES. Bruh. You can not go anywhere with out seeing a freakin Starbucks. And he had to hear nah your plan sucks over two hundred times before he got to prove it didn’t. I needed to give myself some grace and this is is the one aspect I am still really working to overcome.

Does my life look just like the people with a million followers and their own show on cable tv? Hell no it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean I’m not doing the same job. The difference is I’m me, and no one else could ever be Coie. Thats my super power.

Do you deal with imposter syndrome? What have you done to change your outlook and help yourself overcome it? Let me know in the comments below!