Anchoring Yourself To Avoid Getting Swept Up In Impostor Syndrome
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Creating motivation is good.
Creating momentum is better.
That’s what I’ve been reminding myself because…well…I’m having one of those weeks.
An impostor syndrome cycle.
You might be familiar with this kind of week? Yeahhh, cool cool cool me too me too me too. We go wayyy back, actually. I don’t say that to brag; only to let you know that I’ve got some practice with handling ye ol’ uninvited imposter.
No, it’s not about trying to ignore it. But it’s not about listening to it either.
I’ve learned it’s about anchoring myself to avoid getting stuck.
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I know, right?? Anchoring to get…unstuck? Kind of an oxymoron, innit??
But it really does work super well.
Here’s the trick: Planting your feet firmly enough to be stable, but lightly enough to take another step. Because you have to keep moving. My go-tos are things like meditation and journaling. Oh, and walking outside. And making time to do the laundry and some things to tidy up my space.
“Procrastinator!”, you insist.
“Small-win-stacker”, I say.
The most important part is coaching yourself to keep your feet moving. And using the momentum your steps create to reconnect with your why.
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I used to wait an extraordinary amount of time to feel ready before letting myself feel confident. There always seemed like there was more to learn, so why should I be confident? Who did I think I was, anyway? “YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL”, my Bostonian inner voice would insist.
But this TEDx talk from Montana von Fliss is a reminder that confident action creates confident feelings. “How to be confident (even if you’re not)” is less about hype and more about a necessary reframe.
Being intentional is crucial in beating imposter syndrome.
I’ve ridden enough impostor syndrome waves to know the swells are temporary. And that the actions I take to move through them are what get me to the other side of the tide faster.
I’m not talking about sprinting.
Or “sleeping when I’m dead”
Not hustling my face off.
But I am talking about a slower pace if needed. And if you’re scrambling to keep up, there’s zero chance you’re being intentional. I’m not advocating for stopping completely. At least not in this situation. You do need motion of some kind.
See, this isn’t burnout—it’s doubt.
And the key to disproving doubt isn’t rest—it’s action.
Otherwise, it lingers as long as you let it. Montana’s message isn’t a pep talk, per se—it’s more of a magnifying glass on why it works.
She says, “You don’t need to be fearless. You just need to be willing.”
*chef’s kiss*
This is it, EXACTLY. Because here in Unobstructed land, we care a whole lot less about faking confidence and a whole lot more about feeling capable.
It’s about choosing progress over perfection.
This TEDx talk exemplifies that.
So, if you’ve ever held back because you didn’t feel ready…grip it and rip it. When the imposter syndrome tide shows up, swim—don’t just tread water.
Check out Montana’s talk here (16min):
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Before I was a systems consultant, I was a mountain guide.
Turns out… same job, actually. But different boardroom (sorry, the joke was right there. I couldn’t help it).
It’s something I thought about a lot this week.
Which actually started off kinda weird.
My head was a bit out of whack, so I played hooky and went for a run by the lake.
I needed it…and I don’t think I really knew how much.
A former colleague, Travis, turned me on to something he calls a Personal Quarterly Offsite (PQO). It’s designated time to unplug and reflect. And because things have been sneakily speeding up around me, I figured I was overdue for a reset.
So, I called a spontaneous PQO.
I’ve also been trying to solve something that’s been tripping me up for a long time and haven’t been able to crack it.
At a certain point, more time thinking just clogs things up.
But going for a run did the trick.
When I was working in the outdoor industry, I wasn’t very vocal about my other career—the one I kept up in tech. I worked nights and early mornings before spending the day with clients in the mountains.
There was a bit of a taboo in the outdoor world…
One that said, “we chose this path to get away from corporate snobs like you”.
Only, they didn’t know that’s what I was, so I kept quiet when they pointed their judgement at others.
And then after the accident that gave me a traumatic brain injury, I left the outdoor world. That’s when I stopped talking about my previous life spent guiding people through risky terrain with steep consequences.
But in the tech world, there was also a bit of a taboo that said “some of us actually have work to do.
How nice for them to be able to play outside and not care about making money”.
So, again I kept quiet.
→ but i really wish I hadn’t.
In hindsight, I dug my own grave in both circles by doing that.
So when I started my business, I spent a lot of time trying to prove that I was credible by focusing on the jargon and tech talk that fast-tracks people up the employee elevator. But that’s not what most people care about. That’s only something that some bosses pay attention to because it lets them check boxes on a scorecard.
That messaging never quite fit what I’m about and never quite resonated with who I could help.
I’d tried.
And I’d failed.
But I’ve slowly found my footing.
Along the way, I’ve failed my way forward into moments of unlocking little pieces of the puzzle.
And I’ve felt more like myself with each step.
Well, on my run by the lake, I took myself back to basics. I threw on a podcast and listened to a long-form interview while I focused on controlling my breathing—just like I used to when I was training.
That’s when it happened.
I felt my entire body thank me and heard myself say, “damn, I really missed this”. Next I started trying to pinpoint the moment I’d placed it on the shelf in the first place.
Which led to an exciting thought…
“What if I pulled it off the shelf? Could that even work…?
And what would it look like?”
Of course, that’s when it hit me:
It’s my outdoor guiding skillset that makes me so good at untangling business systems.
So now I’m working on reshaping some of the messaging and positioning for my business to include my full story.
I’m excited about this!! And I’m sharing as I go.
More to come.
roger dodger affirmative ghost rider. over.
onward.
-dmac
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Thanks for the shout out Derek! You've had such a fascinating journey to this point, and it's great to see you use what you've picked up across your work.
I'm definitely finding a shift in my approach this year - being more experimental has made it interesting!
Well done. Yes, we need to do things like this. It just can be so hard to get going!