How to Stop Feeling Like a Fraud

For too long in my life, I felt like I was a fraud. I didn’t know enough to call myself an expert in anything. Most of what I’ve done for my business were things I learned along the way. I didn’t do any of these before. I spend the first few months in total disorganization every client I had a new process, I was trying out different communication methods, new contracts, new everything. I never felt more like I didn’t know what I was doing than during that time.

Do you feel imposter syndrome creeping in?

It’s all part of growing and finding what works for you and your business, it’s a healthy process but it can leave you strung out and tired and completely unconfident in what you are doing. Pile that on top of just starting out in your industry and the self-doubt starts rolling in..who am I to do this? Why makes me more qualified to do this than someone who is already in business? Why would anyone come to me?

Those thoughts really held me back. I let them rule me and my ideas about my business. I let them stop me from moving forward.

I was worried about all the different parts of the process that I didn’t know about. I was afraid to make money because then I would have to figure out how to pay the government on the money I took in. This may seem like such a small part of the process, I mean there are people out there who can walk me through it, but for me, it was personally overwhelming and stopped me for months on doing anything to move my business forward.

Moving Forward

At one point I had to decide if I was going to do something about it or stay stagnant. I decided to start looking at why I felt this way and how I could overcome it to be successful.

I looked at where I was currently and where I wanted to go with my business. I then decided to focus on one step at a time. Trying to do too much at once can lead you to be unfocused and never getting your to-do items marked off the list. I literally only did one thing on my list at a time and did my best to ignore the rest.

For example, when I started this process I didn’t have a website, sales page, a healthy active blog, a business account, a client process, or a newsletter/email list. So I started with making my portfolio site first before I ever moved on to any of the other things. I’m still in the middle of working through my list but moving forward makes me feel less of a fraud and more confident in offering my services to my clients.

I’ve even changed how I feel so much about my business that I’m working on a mini-course that will teach you how to gain confidence in your own business and take control of it rather than it controlling you.

Find a supportive community

Another thing I did was immerse myself in some supportive communities online. This really helped me see how it wasn’t just me that felt like this. Other online business owners…many of whom I looked up to as idols… also felt this way from time to time. If I had a specific question or if I just needed to see that it wasn’t just me the communities were where I went. If you are looking for a supportive online community I’d love to invite you to join me in the Passion Driven Solopreneurs Facebook Group. We are a community of online business women who love building others up and working together to grow our businesses rather than in competition.