Dealing with my Imposter Syndrome before it deals with me!

Hiya friends of the Fish!

Ever found yourself sitting in front of a piece of work you’ve been on for hours, felt driven and excited and ready to prove all you’ve got, only to start second-guessing your colour choices, judging wording in your copy and ultimately questioning your sanity for allowing yourself to get so far down the line on a piece that ultimately feels like pure junk? You’re not alone! Before you hover that little cursor over the “move to trash” option or contemplate a new artboard altogether, we’re here to tell you that its only your imposter syndrome stepping in front of what’s otherwise usually a really great sense of creative judgement!

We all feel a little like an imposter in our own work at some point in our creative process. The little anxiety neurons of our critical minds start suggesting that we may be a fraud, that maybe it’s not as great as we believed it to be merely 30 minutes ago and that really… how could anybody possibly want to actually allow this content to go live.

Tell those nasty thoughts to VAMOS! They have no business overriding the clear and informed thoughts and ideas that you’re responsible for. We at Fisheye are no strangers to the sense that we’re not good enough or we’re only bullsh*tting it well enough about 85% of the time and the remaining 15% leaves far too much leeway for a client to actually see through the façade.

So… how do we work through this and work past this pesky behaviour we’ve let rule us for too long?

Here’s a few positive reinforcements:

• You did not simply get lucky in getting to this point. You worked hard, put in the hours and consulted with educators and peers who’ve left the mark of incredibly strong executions that you’ve carried into your work process. This isn’t fake it till you make it, it's working hard and go far!
  

• Do not drive yourself to the point where fear is paralysing… everybody fails sometimes. Everybody misses the mark once in a while where colleagues and friends have to say ‘hold up, that’s incorrect'. Stand back, gain a little perspective, adjust your approach and go at it again. We learn when we fail and if you lead yourself to believe that the line managers and creative directors, who are our superiors, didn’t fail time and again, then you’re really lying to yourself.
  

• Pay attention to the language you use when you speak about yourself and your work! Often when we cannot overcome the boundary of accepting or offering ourselves internal praise then we cannot begin to truly accept it from outsiders. When we cannot truly accept validation then we walk a dangerous road to burnout which is never an optimal position to find ourselves in!
  

• Know that you are not alone! I feel it, Savannah feels it, hell the most senior players in companies we all admire certainly feel it. What truly helps is having somebody you can turn to and make sure you do just that! Send a colleague a screenshot of a layout you’ve been working on that you just can’t seem to get right – there’s likely something tiny you’ve been overlooking. Share a draft of the copy you’ve been writing for that content plan to your other copywriters, maybe there’s a witty abbreviation of the point you’re trying to put across. I learned in my university years that collaboration is key but why not then treat collaboration as an everyday exercise when working from brief to brief. We all just need a little affirmation as we go along to know that we’ve not totally jumped off the deep end!
  

• Break up with your inner perfectionist! While acute attention to detail is a vantage point in our industry, perfection can also be a major roadblock for productivity if left unchecked. Toxic perfectionism only further feeds your imposter syndrome. When you’re feeling like a fraud it's because you’re holding yourself to an impossible and unrealistic outcome. There will always be somebody more skilled, talented and perfected than you but it's because they’re doing it in their own style and you should find and stick to polishing your own. At some point, you need to step back and ask yourself: When is good enough good enough?
  

• Say YES to new opportunities! I cannot stress this one enough! It is so important when presented with a new opportunity and its anxieties, to distinguish between that toxic voice in your head telling you that you can’t do it because you’re not worthy and the one of reason saying no because you have too much on the go. The former is your imposter syndrome and it's rude and unwelcome! An optimistic Richard Branson quote says “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you’re not sure if you can handle it, say yes anyway. Then learn how to do it later.” We only really learn by doing. We learn by asking questions and if you’re anything like me and Sav, you learn incredibly well under pressure.

So… we know now what the feeling is called. We know why it creeps in and we know which insecurities it plays on. We also know that it's totally lying to us and so next time you’re sitting in front of a piece of work that you were proud of only minutes ago, judging yourself under the overtone of that toxic little voice… pause a minute, take a few deep breaths and then clap back at it with “Welcome old friend. I’m interested that you’re here… now let's get to work!”

We're all just doing the best we've got. Good luck out there and thanks for keeping an eye on us!