Why Imposter Syndrome Is Holding You Back - And How to Prove It Wrong Episode 105

Welcome to the Yoga Liberty Podcast. My name is Angelica Govert and I am the host of the Yoga Liberty Podcast. My co-host is Justine Kennedy. Hi Justine! We are, um, a podcast that offers tips and tricks for yoga teachers, um, We talk about different topics that have to do with yoga and really kind of support the yoga community in a modern way, specifically people who practice yoga and teach yoga in a Western world. So today's topic is a much requested topic that honestly, like, I was like, uh, I don't even really want to talk about this, but, um, because it's just like such a useless emotion to me. No, that's such a terrible way to say it. Like, I don't mean to be like that, but honestly, my focus is always on how can I be better, how can I do more, how can I reach more people, how can I be more effective at doing that. And so today's topic is why imposter syndrome is holding you back. I get tons of people asking me, well, how do you get over imposter syndrome? How do you not deal with it? And I'm like, this is like a buzzword a buzz phrase that has been really, um, popular. Um, part of it has to do with the social media, but like, I've really heard a lot about it in the last couple of years where people are like, well, how do you deal with imposter syndrome? And I'm all like, girl, I don't have that. Um, and I guess that comes, you know, one of the things that I have is like tunnel vision. You know, where I, um, can only kind of see where I'm at right now and I forget where I used to be. You know how when you, uh, transcend something and you're like, I don't, I don't, I don't really live that anymore, and that voice just doesn't come back in your life anymore because you've transcended it? Like, transcendence is the ultimate freedom, you know. Yeah, so anyhow, um, if you are listening to this episode and you struggle with imposter syndrome, or you're kind of irritated by people who do struggle with imposter syndrome, share the show so that we can get more people listening to it. The show is completely free. All of this content is free. This, this is on Spotify, it's on YouTube, it's on, um iTunes or Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and iHeartRadio, and a couple of other like places I never heard before. So shout out to you if you are from one of those more obscure podcast places. But, um, we don't charge anything for the show, and right now we're not monetized, so we're not making any money at all. To— well, Justine is because I'm paying her. But I'm not making any money to be here on this show today and to share this with you. So do us a favor and share the show so that we can grow our reach, so that we can reach more people. And if you are interested in taking teaching yoga to the next level, or you're listening to this, you don't teach now, definitely take the time to go down to the description and check out my online 200-hour yoga teacher training. It's a one-on-one course. It's really phenomenal. I wanted to make a training that was better than any other online training, and I think I've succeeded at that. I also have a 300-hour yoga teacher training that not only focuses on teaching you how to teach different modalities of yoga, and you get to choose your electives, what it is that you want to focus on, but on the way of doing that, you will create your own YouTube channel. So you will live your dream. That is also a one-on-one course, and we do it online. You meet with your trainer privately every week, and it's a different trainer. We have like 4 or 5 people on staff that will work with you and build you up. I don't believe that I'm the person that has all the answers in life, and, and I think I actually really like to surround myself with people with divergent viewpoints because I think it makes me better to be challenged. And so everyone on my staff is going to give you different information and just help you grow and formalize your own authentic voice. And then my newest program that I do is called The Empowered Yoga Teacher. And if you're ever around and you want to come to my free masterclass that we hold sometimes, you can go to the link down below and check out The Yoga Teacher's Blueprint, um, and learn how I made over a quarter million dollars now teaching yoga online and how you can replicate that in your own life. And maybe you'll join The Empowered Yoga Teacher's Course which is where I met Justine, and she started to build her own business online. And we have a group of incredible human beings in that, just doing like really amazing things. And a lot of them get interviewed on this podcast. So listen, and some of them have been interviewed and those podcasts haven't come out yet. So definitely check out the podcast and listen to some people's stories. About what they're creating. And just, there are some really amazing people out there creating incredible offers for the world. So, um, anyhow, check out all of those things if you want to support the show. We would really appreciate it. But let's dive into today's topic, which is, um, why imposter syndrome is holding you back, um, and where you can kind of find opportunities in those areas that you are feeling not as confident in. So, um, I would love to ask you a question, Justine. Um, when you first started teaching yoga, where did you— like, did imposter syndrome— was that something that hit you? And, and what did that feel like?

Yeah, um, I definitely struggled and sometimes still struggle with imposter syndrome in teaching. And for me, I did my 200-hour online, um, and we did have to submit a lot of teaching videos. However, the format was mostly demoing, um, so I didn't have to necessarily teach people and video myself teaching. I just had to record a class, which that I feel like I could do all day long.

I do it on YouTube.

I love to do that because then it's just me talking to myself while I do yoga. Awesome.

Everyone, that's so funny that they did that because my online yoga teacher training, I don't allow you to demo. In the 200-hour, you're not allowed to demo. You have to ask somebody to come over to your house and record your video with you. In the 300, they can because they— it's assumed that they've already gotten that practice. Um, and if not, we'll discuss that and be like, hey, you know, maybe you should bring somebody over to help you. But in my 200, no. You can't demo. I'll be like, that's a failure. Redo it.

I think I would have really benefited from being forced to actually teach my classes to people. And so when I first started teaching yoga in person, I was so nervous. I was like, do I even know Surya Namaskar A? Do I know what a sun salutation is? Do I know how to cue this? Do I know how to walk people through it? And I really struggled with showing up in class, and I was like, "Oh my god, they're gonna know that I'm a brand new yoga teacher. They're gonna think my classes suck. I don't know what I'm doing." And of course, the more that I do it, the more that that feeling goes away. But when I step into a studio full of teachers who have been teaching for 10, 15, 20 years, and I'm out here with 2 years of teaching experience, It's really easy for me to get back in my head and to— and yogis are supposed to be very non-judgmental people, but I get so nervous that they're going to think I'm a terrible teacher, they're not going to invite me back, I'm going to get kicked out of the studio, I'm going to get fired. All these things that are more in my head than anywhere else because all those 10, 15, 20 year-long teachers were all 2-year-long teachers at one point too.

Yeah, I think that's a really good point. One thing that I want to touch on right away is having employed people my whole life, um, I managed people for many— like, I became a manager almost immediately after I, uh, got my first job. I've always been an overachiever and somebody who's like really driven to go to the next step all the time. Like, I'm just really driven in that way. And, um, it's, it's It's kind of, it's kind of a curse. Um, because like I can't do anything small, you know, like I'm just like, it has to be really over the top. It has to be really next level. Like I, I just can't do it small. Um, and that's just my personality. People have told me that I, you know, need to be more temperate, but honestly, I don't GTFO because I don't really care about that. I'm big. I am large. I contain multitudes. And if you know Walt Whitman, you know what I'm talking about. So, um, anyhow, I'm like, but one of the things that people always would say to me as an employer was, I'm so afraid I'm gonna get fired, I'm so afraid I'm gonna get fired. And, and actually, that stops people from being good employees, it stops them from doing a good job. And so one of the things that I really tried to do with everyone who's ever worked for me is get them past that and really talk to people on their level. I think it's very unusual for someone to be a good manager of people and to specifically focus on not cultivating that kind of culture within their workspace. So when I say to someone, I need to talk to you about something, like, if I were just to send you a text message, it would literally never say, I need to talk to you about something. Because like, your first, you're gonna be like, oh my God, what? Right? So I might say something like, I need to talk to you about something and it's good, or, um, I need to talk to you about the podcast and a heart emoji. You know me, I'm all about the emojis. Yes, you know that. Like, if I'm not sending the emojis, it's more serious.

That's true, that's very true.

Like, this isn't right.

When you told me your computer died, I don't think you sent a single emoji that whole day. I was like, oh no, there was no emojis in that day. This is not good.

Yeah, you know, I try to remember that I have an incredible amount of confidence. I honestly was born that way. Um, and I used to think like everybody could do this. Um, there's an episode where I tell my story, uh, it's episode number 100, and I tell my story of how I became a yoga teacher and what my life was like when I was growing up. And I, um, I'm not going to go back into it because it's all in episode 100. If you want to hear like the torrid story of my childhood trauma, you can definitely check it out in there. But, um, basically I come from a very broken home and, um, that was filled with poverty and abuse and alcoholism and lots of awful things. Um, and I think it made me super strong. And there wasn't one time when I was in the first grade, uh, it was show and tell, and my mom had forgotten to give me something. You know, my mom was like 17 when she had me. She just wasn't like She was still a child, you know, she was like doing her own thing. She didn't have time for me. So, um, I had to be quick-witted and I was like, what am I gonna do for show and tell? So I got up in front of everyone in the classroom and I tap danced. Now I have never taken a tap dancing lesson. I don't know anything about tap dancing. Um, I just saw it. You know, like Gregory Hines doing some tap dancing on television. Yeah. And was like, I think I can do this. So, um, yeah, um, that honestly is one of my biggest strengths and what I would just tell people to do. Because if you are unsure, if you don't know what to do next, just do something. One of the things I think people really struggle with in my courses, I see time and time again, the people's biggest struggle is just getting started. They're so afraid that they're not gonna be perfect, that they're not gonna do it right, that they do nothing. And I have to tell you right now, you will not do it right. You will not do it right the first time. You just won't. Mm-hmm. Nobody does. That's not how you learn anything. That's not how you grow. That's not how you get better. Mm-hmm. Done is always more profitable than perfect. Done is always more profitable than perfect. You will always make more money from doing it than from being perfect at it. Mm-hmm. Shocker. You will never be perfect. There's all kinds of things that I could tell you right now that are not perfect. We do not like our backgrounds. We do not like the backgrounds that we're in. I'm trying to figure out how I can have a better background. Justine doesn't have a microphone. She's just using the microphone on her boyfriend's Mac because she doesn't have her own Mac. You know, like, she has a MacBook Air, but right, we want to use the better Mac.

From 2014.

Right. But, but we're getting this out to you and we're on like episode, like, I don't know, this is gonna be like 108 or 100. Oh my gosh, is this 108? Stop. If this is episode 108, I'm just gonna like—

um, I think so if we release them in the order we film, but we might release—

let me see what the last one is. I'm gonna— I'm going over here to episodes. The next one coming out is 104. Mm-hmm. This will be 105 today. This is 104 came out today.

Today, yeah, yeah.

So this would be 105. This is gonna be 105.

Okay, well, that's still 5 episodes together. Happy 5th anniversary to us.

Happy 5th anniversary to you coming to my podcast. Thank you. Um, but you know, that's just an example of like how— and Justine will have a microphone next week because I have purchased her one. Um, it also lights up and glows, which is why I bought this, because it's a cute looking microphone. If you want any of my gear, like, I'm an open book, by the way. So just go to my Amazon store. We will put the link to the Amazon store in the description below, but it's, um, amazon.com/shop/yogalebrity. And just go to the section that says filming social gear, and like, literally everything that I— my tripods, my, my lights, my microphones, everything I use. And I put all kinds of different things, like from the time when I wasn't making very much money and had to use the least expensive things, to the time that I had more money to budget on it. What my philosophy has been as I've gone through this online journey, to spend the money on it once it made me the money. So I, at first, I used a $20 clip-on microphone. And then once I'd been doing this for a few years and I'd made, you know, over $100,000, I bought a DJI mic. You know, like this is this microphone. You'll see it. Like, I'm not sure when I started using it, but it was like somewhere in the late '80s or '90s of the podcast episodes. Prior to that, I wasn't using this good microphone. Like, I don't believe in, like, I think that the business should pay for the business. Mm-hmm. Um, anyhow, um, when I, I just think when you're feeling imposter syndrome, just get up and do it. Get up and do it. Just get— make yourself do something. Just get up and do it. And, and even if it feels like I'm not good at this, nobody's good at this. They say that like, like, so, uh, you know, um Alex Hormozi, right? Which is like someone I like recently found out about. Yeah, honestly, I don't really vibe with his energy. I know I can tell by your face that you do, um, but it's just not my— it's just not my person. Like, I think I kind of really vibe with Russell Brunson, and so I listen to like everything that Russell Brunson does, and I'm like, I love this guy, so amazing, you know? Like, I really trust him, you know? Like, everybody has their own person. But anyhow, I was like, who is this Alex Hormozi guy? Like, who, who is this guy? Like, what do you— who— he doesn't even have any content. Like, he's just new on the scene. So I go check out his podcast because I'm like, did he just become just famous just overnight, right? Just overnight. I opened it up, he's on episode like 700-something.

Yeah. I was like, okay girl, 600 more episodes to go.

Only 600 more episodes until I'm as famous as Alex Herbosi. But basically though, you're learning along the way. Like where we're at now at episode 105 is very different than where I was at episode number 1 or episode number 10. Or episode number 50. I got interviewed today by a new, uh, brand that's starting. Um, it's a new social media platform for creators. It's called, um, YZY. YZY. That's like their working title. I don't know if they're going to go forward with that. Um, but it's like helping people be creators, and it's like specifically for millennials and Gen Z. Um, so I was like, I'm Gen X, I don't know why you want to interview me. I'm going to be 50 on the 26th, so the day that this episode comes out will be my 50th birthday. Yay!

Everybody leave a happy birthday comment and a 5-star review.

5-star review for my birthday. If we could get 5-star reviews from as many people as possible on my birthday, uh, that would be the greatest gift. Honestly, that would be a fantastic gift. Share the show, leave a 5-star review. Um, so anyhow, we were talking about this platform that they're creating, and, um, you know, I'm just giving them like tips on how to do it. They asked me, you know, like, what, what would you do when joining a new platform? And I'm like, well, I would make like 100 to 500 posts before I decided whether or not that platform was right for me. You know, like, you— it's just not like a 10-post thing. And I think that's where most people give up, is that they make like 5 to 10 posts. I think also the big mistake that everybody makes is they makes it— they make it about them. Like, people think that you're thinking about you, like the people— only people think about— nobody cares about me, do you know what I'm saying? Like, people— like, obviously people care about me, I'm not saying that. Yeah, but like when you're watching this, if this podcast was just about my life, it would be very, very boring for you because it would just be about me, right? And that— I'm not special or interesting. I'm not a celebrity. The cult of celebrity is over. It's over. No one cares about celebrities anymore. The influencer tore that down. Now the people we trust are the people on the internet who are real with us. Yeah, you know, I don't have a manager. I don't have people telling me how to act or what to do. So I just share from my heart what I really feel. You know, I'm not making millions of dollars. I'm making nothing to sit here. I'm, I'm doing this in, in hopes that I will then make sales later. You know, but, and also because I find it fun and interesting. Like, I was just thinking about this the other day. I really enjoy the podcast. It's probably my favorite thing that I do.

Yeah, like, it's so fun.

It's so fun, right? It's so fun, um, just having conversations and like answering people's questions. And, um, podcasts are like top of funnel content. So, you know, you have your, like, my, like, when I'm creating Instagram videos, I was explaining this to my trainer yesterday because I found her on TikTok and she has like 8 posts. And I was trying to explain to her how to do content and how to create content. And I think a lot of it was like in one ear and out the other because she immediately posted, um, some pictures of her dog. And I was like, I'm telling you, girl, they're right now. Nobody. Nobody cares about your dog, right? And you're confusing the algorithm. You're saying that what you're about is dogs, so now they're going to show you to other dog people, right? So anyhow, but I was telling her the difference between, um, content that is value content and content that is content to drive business. So there's different types of content. So this is a high-value content. The podcast is a high-value content. You're getting a lot of information from me. And this is a lot more like it would be like if we were in a group call. So people who are in the Empowered Yoga Teachers Course, when they have their calls each week with me or with Francesca or Tiana, or, you know, whomever's doing the calls, We are going to go more in depth into your business and talk about you a lot deeper, even more than what we talk about here on the podcast, because then it's even going to be more about you as an individual. And, um, that's top of funnel, you know, like these are the people who are listening to the podcast, you know, are some of the more inner circle type people. And I know that some of you do listen to the podcast, Tiffany and Kat, I know you're out there right now. Listening. Shout out, shout out, and I love you. Coastal Calm Yoga, go and get your yoga blocks engraved with your name on them and your own logo. And if you have horses and you want to have a better relationship with your horses, you can do Yoga for Equestrians with Tiffany. Um, anyhow, we love all those people. So the people who are listening to the podcast are people who are going to spend a little bit more time with us, and we're going to spend a little more time with them. So, and it depends, like, there is no right— there is no right thing. Like, you, you have to try a lot of different things and then find what really you enjoy or what people really resonate with you. Like, honestly, I don't like Instagram. I don't do a lot of Instagramming myself. If my platform that I waste a ton of time on is TikTok, like, and I wish I— it's so addictive, TikTok. It's taking up a ton of my life and I'm not, I'm not about that vibe, you know. But also, um, I love podcasts. I listen to podcasts myself. That's another form that I consume. But what you're going to reach your audience on isn't necessarily going to be what you personally consume, right? So I thought I was going to be really popular on TikTok I'm just a little bit like— some people watch me there, but I wouldn't say I'm like really popular in any way. I got like 8,000 followers, but on Instagram I'm almost at 30,000, and I don't even like Instagram, you know? But all like all my clients come from there.

Yeah, so Instagram likes you, right?

But I figured out— I understand the Instagram algorithm, I understand what it wants from me. And I only give it that. You know, it's another thing, you know, when you're struggling with imposter syndrome, when you're like, oh, I'm having so much imposter syndrome, it's because you're thinking it's all about you. Shocker, it's got nothing to do with you. You're not important in the, in the world of content creation, in the world of even when you're teaching in person. When you get up in front of a class, you are not important. That's actually what I love about teaching yoga is that I can leave behind my problems my worries, my issues, and I can just walk into that room and for an hour and a half the focus is on somebody else, you know?

Yeah, hopefully they're not even looking at you. That's my goal. My favorite thing is when I walk away and I'm like, that person did not open their eyes once. Perfect, right?

Right, right. Yeah. And I think, um, You know, that imposter syndrome is just like another buzzword that they'll tell you to keep you down, that people use to make you more like them. You have got to surround yourself with people who think like you and who are doing the things that you want to do. And if you don't know those people, then you got to get in their circles. You know, if you want to be very prolific online and you want to build an online business, join my course. Get in with us. There's a group of people who will support you. It's not an insanely expensive course, you know. And then those people are going to be your friends on social media too. Like, you're going to grow your reach and they're going to talk to each other. I'm— today, like, they were all swapping Instagram handles and email addresses and like getting to know each other better. Like, these people are your friends for life now. Now you've just elevated your friend network. You know, if what you're doing— if you're looking to build an online business and you want to do that with yoga, then my course is a great place for you to meet other people because I'm a, I'm a queen at building community. Mm-hmm.

You know, the community is gonna last forever. The community will last longer than anything else, you know, like, right?

I'm gonna be dead and gone, y'all are still gonna be creating content together.

Chatting away. I do twice a month calls with two of the people from the Empowered course from when I started. We call, Leigh and Tiffany. We chat every two weeks.

Oh my gosh, I love that!

We talk about life. Yeah, we support each other. We set accountability goals. Very like, in every, I mean everything that we learned from you, of course, of how to actually stay on top of our shit.

But it's like, listen, I got the insider info. I just talked to her the other day and she said this. She said stop.

Usually it's them being like, this is what we talked about. And I'm like, what? I'm sending, I'm sending emails. What are you doing? They're like, we're reviewing our content. I'm like, oh, I should do that too.

But I'm at really good content recently. You just did something that I really liked. Um, I just— you just came up in my feed. What's your—

was it the one from yesterday?

What's, um, Explore Inner Yoga? I just said it the same time. You say your handle.

Explore Inner Yoga on Instagram. Okay, we can hang out.

Self-care is self-love. So I recently had like a very stressful weekend, as you know, um, and was like, I need some self-care. Yeah. And then this came up and I was like, oh, it's not selfish to say I need this space. It's courage to claim your sacred inner place, right? Uh, totally needed that. Needed that.

Yay.

But, um, yeah, it was a harrowing weekend. My, my husband— well, partner, we're not married. Um, his mom visited us for the weekend. She's 82. And I know, like, some people will say that I am being picky and that there's something wrong with me, but my boundaries are that you don't wear shoes in my house. I just think it's disgusting. We live in Las Vegas. It's disgusting in Las Vegas. Please do not bring that energy into my home and the nastiness. People are, like, vomiting on the streets, okay? Don't bring that in.

You're gonna step in something gross, right?

Don't bring that in my house. And she wore her shoes in my house the whole time. And then, um, the other thing that I really bothered me was, um, I always close the lid when I flush the toilet because the poo flies 9 feet in the air. And we live in a very small house. We live in a 900-square-foot house. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but I'm just saying that it bothered me. And she never would put the lid down. But not only that, it was like purposeful, like she was like making fun of me. And she was just like, oh, oh, that's so funny, why would you want to do that? You know, like you're trying to be management or something. And I'm like, because my toothbrush is above the toilet, okay, on the shelves, you know. And I want you— I don't want your poo on my toothbrush. I'm Anyway, I'm not gonna waste any more time on this. But I'm just saying it was a stressful weekend and my hot flashes were out of control because I'm like starting to have a hot flash right now just thinking about it. Oh no.

Think cool thoughts.

I'm fanning myself with my passport. It's a sign. It's a sign. Go to Portugal.

Take a vacation. Next masterclass live from Portugal.

I can. I have. Don't tempt me. You know, that's the thing too, is that like people don't realize like how much is possible. I'm like constantly telling myself, like, I see other people do things. Like, I saw this guy, Russell Brunson, did this thing where somebody— he was like talking about somebody did their webinar from the Grand Canyon, and I was like I'm going to the Grand Canyon next week. And we got to the Grand Canyon, and in the Grand Canyon had 5G. And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do my master class on the edge of the Grand Canyon. And I did. Yeah.

And how many people signed up after that master class?

There was 4 people that signed up on that master class. And there was only like 10 people on that call.

That's an amazing conversion rate.

Yeah, 40%. That was amazing. Um, that was a good one. I just— but I never thought that was a possibility, right? And if we're stuck in imposter syndrome, we don't know that something's a possibility. Like, we can't— we can't see the possibilities if we're so focused on ourselves and being selfish. Like, imposter syndrome is really a selfish emotion. And in my mind, it's useless and a waste of time. And that maybe sounds really harsh, but you don't have time in your life to feel bad about yourself. When this episode comes out, it's going to be my 50th birthday. So on the day that you're seeing this, I'm turning 50. And the one thing that I wish I could go back and do in life is have even more confidence. And I'm a person who has been full of confidence. I've been a salesperson since I was 15 years old. Like, I am a very confident person. I jumped right into that, you know. Like, when I was born, I came out, I was like, hi, I have a slightly used placenta, it's a really good price.

You can make a lot off of that.

Exactly, use it on your skin. Okay, um, but no, seriously, I've always been very— in fact, like, when I was younger, I was told to not be so loud, to not be so over the top, because I really have never really been a person that lacked confidence. Um, I— but I would say even that I could have had more confidence. So I know that the majority of people who are listening to this do not have the kind of confidence that I have. And yes, the way that you— the way that you get that is you just wake up and decide to be a different person. You literally can wake up and decide to be a different person. You just can. Like, I— one day I told myself, I can wake up tomorrow and be different. I want to look different. I want to be different. I want to do my hair different. I want to focus on my skincare, or whatever it is you want to prioritize. You just wake up and you embody that. And if you don't know how to embody that, then visualize it, because the mind believes that it's real even if it hasn't happened. If you can create enough of a visualization— let's say you want to get a new car, right? And you can imagine yourself driving that car, pulling up to your house. You can see your house through the window of that car. You can touch the handles of the, the door. You can touch the steering wheel. You can feel what it feels like, the leather around the steering wheel, or the plastic, or the little ridges along the steering wheel that makes it look like it's leather that's tied, because that's what they used to make, but now it's plastic. You know, if you can visualize the color of the lights inside of the car. You know, maybe you go and you like test drive it so that you know what it really looks like in there, you know. And you then you can have an understanding of what it feels to sit in that. What would it feel to sit in that seat? How would you look out at the world? What it would be like driving down the street in that? What's the smell of it on the inside? What would you be wearing? How would you do your hair? What was the feeling that you would have? Like, what would you feel like, you know? And just visualize that. If, if you want to be— you know, I do that all the time. Like, I— this is my— in my mind, this is my million-dollar net year, right? And so I just think, if, if you were having a million-dollar net year, Angelica, what would you do today? What would Angelica that has a million-dollar net year— how would her day look like? What would she wake up and do? What would be her morning routine? Would she, would she work out? What would she eat? How would she talk to people? How would her communication be with her staff? You know, like, what would Million Dollar Net Angelica put out as content today? And then you just start doing those things. You visualize it and then you just start implementing them into your life and you stop thinking about imposter syndrome because imposter syndrome is just a in your head. It's not real. It's not real. And it doesn't matter what other people think. It doesn't matter. Like you were saying, like, oh well, there's these yoga teachers that have taught like 20 years, whatever. Like, who cares what they think? I was thinking about it today. It's so funny because that this became the topic, because, um, I was thinking today about how, um, when I get online and I create content, I just assume I'm the authority.

You're in charge, you make the rules. It's Angelica's internet and we're just living in it.

Like, I just assume I know what I'm talking about. Like, I'm just like, yeah, well, this is my— this is my thoughts. Like, I've made this comment on, um, somebody's video, um, about how they were talking about how they went to India and this Indian teacher told them that they were the future of yoga and that they were going to make yoga change in the West and and they were— everything was going to change because of them. It's just some like Instagram influencer person, you know. And I just like— it was like, well, you know, the reality is, is that a lot of the Eastern yoga teachers are— they're just trying to make money off the Westerners. Like, there isn't any like real motivation there, you know. It's not like— for sure some people are really sharing from their heart, you know, but A lot of people aren't, you know, and there's not something mystical about being from India, you know. They're just people too. Yeah, right. Just like we're all just born in India, right? Yeah, right. There's nothing mystical about us, right? We're just, we're just people. They're just people. I'm not a big follower of guru. It's just not my, my vibe, you know. Like, I do think that there are certain people who are authorities on things, and I, I love to get their information. But ultimately, the authority for me in my life and the decisions that I make and the things that I do and how I live is me. Mhm. You know?

Yeah.

And the authority for Justine is Justine. And the authority for you that you're listening right now, you are the authority. You make the decisions. You have more power than anyone else in your life. And, um, So anyhow, I commented on that basically like just saying, you know, that there's a lot of Eastern yoga teachers that are not to be trusted, you know. And the comments, the people like just comment back like, well, I think blah, blah, blah, and so-and-so, I trust them. And I would just comment back, I was like, great, great for you. You trust them. Go ahead. That's what's good for you is to trust them. It's good for me not to. That's what's good for me. You do what's good for you and I'll do what's good for me, and there's a space in the world where we can each live, right? So when you're thinking about imposter syndrome, you're like, oh, I don't feel like I could do this, I don't feel like I'm good enough for this, whatever. Like, that's just bullshit. Like, that's just BS that you're telling yourself. That's not reality because you are the authority of you. And if you don't think you're the authority on something then study it more. And this is something, you know, I have a guest coming on, um, they haven't booked yet, but I have a guest coming on that's going to talk about a competing agency against Yoga Alliance. And one of the things that I want to ask this person is, you know, they're basically just doing the same format as Yoga Alliance, the 200-hour and the 500-hour, and that's not enough time. It should be, in my mind, like 1,000 hours. And that's another thing people think, oh, a 200-hour— they don't even realize it literally means that you're getting 200 hours of instruction on how to be a teacher, right?

Yeah. And that may, that may sound like a lot, but it's really not. That's just over a week. That's just over 7 full days of time. If you didn't— yeah, exactly. But when you think about— when you think about how fast a week goes by, and that's how fast your yoga teacher training goes by, it's like—

typically my trainings are like 20 hours a week for 10 weeks, but even that's not a long time.

Yeah, yeah.

So if you don't feel like an expert right after yoga teacher training That's because you're not. Mm-hmm. How many different variations of the Yoga Sutras have you read yet? Have you read Angangarh's Yoga Sutras? Have you read the Sri Swami Satchidananda Yoga Sutras? Have you read that big thickie that's like, it's got the brown cover about the Yoga Sutras? No. Right. So there's a lot. Yeah. There's a lot to learn, but that doesn't mean that you don't know what you know. The day you walk into yoga teacher training, you know more than the majority of people, or you would not be there. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I think too, like, it is, it is okay to not be an expert. You can be passionate about something and share what you're passionate about, and you don't actually have to be the all-ending authority over it. That is okay, because everyone who is an expert only got to that point by doing what they love, sharing it with the people around them, and like no one, no one comes out of nowhere. Alex Hormozi has 700 freaking podcast episodes. I've listened to one of them and he's super well known now. Don't expect to just put out episode 701 as your first episode and not have to do all the other work. And something that's been coming up to in my mind too is this idea that other people benefit from you playing small, so they're going to push you to play small. And imposter syndrome, it can feel really personal, but it's not. And I feel like as someone who gets a lot of imposter syndrome, and I've definitely had moments listening to you talk, Angelica, and that's where I've been like, "Oh, don't say that to me. Let me stay in this comfortable habit." let me stay in this comfortable habit because it's more comfortable to play small. It's more comfortable for the people around me if I'm playing small, and it's less scary. But I just remember one of my first yoga mentors telling me that everything that I should do, every next step that I should take, I should only do if it is exciting and scary. If it's just exciting, I'm not growing. If it's just scary, I probably don't care about it.

That is really insightful. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, yeah. Wow, you're good at this. Look at you. Episode 5, you got it. Episode 5. But yeah, I, um, I always talk about that with price point where people are like, well, what should I set my price point at? I'm like, well, what do feel a little bit uncomfortable with. Yeah, that's what it should be.

Do that, do that a little more after you get really comfortable with that price.

If it was easy, everyone would do it. If it didn't cause you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, everyone would do it. Most people don't want to get out of comfort. Like, most people think that life is about being comfortable. Life is about being uncomfortable all of the time. That's what pushes you to the next level. You know, when my, um, when my, uh, when Paul's mom was here over the weekend, you know I work 24/7, 365, right? Like, you'll be texting me at 9 o'clock at night and I'm all like, yeah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and I just respond back. Like, it does— I've been like that my whole life. Like, you are not going to make six figures if you think that there's going to be a balance between work and life. You're just not. If you want to hit the million-dollar mark, which I have already done, uh, in my life, you will not be able to do that just having a 9-to-5 thing. You will not only be able to just work in the morning, you will not be able to finish by 5 o'clock. It just doesn't work that way if you want to, to make the quan.

Yeah, and if you want to do it through being self-employed as well Like, I think that's a big thing that people in my generation are— we're all about not wanting to have someone tell us what to do. But also, a lot of people my age don't want to do the work to be millionaires, you know? Like, there's this instant gratification. We're watching everyone else do it. We're hearing all these coaches on Instagram say you can do it overnight. And so no one is putting in the work and we're all upset when we don't get what we want.

Yeah. And I don't think— I think that's another thing that's a lie too. Like, it does not happen overnight. Mm-hmm. It does not happen overnight. That's a marketing gimmick that people are really good at creating for you and saying to, you know, like, that's a— that's marketing. That's all marketing. It's not, it's not reality. It, mm-hmm. It's a, a lot of hard work. And so like she was saying to me this weekend, she was like, oh, 'You just work all the time. You're just answering people in the middle of the night. I— why would you? I can't believe you're doing that,' you know? And I'm just like, 'Well, that's what it takes.' And it doesn't bother me because my whole day is to— is for me, really. Like, you know, I like work a little and then I don't work, and then I work a little and then I don't work, you know, whatever. I will say that I purposefully did not have children because I wanted to be massively successful. Um, and, uh, I don't honestly really like children that much. So that was another thing too, like, um, when my sister was born, I was like, ew, no, this is not for me. Nothing's gonna be a no for me, dog. So, um, and that's made it easier for me to succeed because I don't have to think about anybody but me. Me. So it is— if you have children and you want to have that, you want to have a family and stuff, that's going to be harder, you know. It's not undoable. Lots of people do it. Lots of people are good at it, you know. Lots of people have both. It's just not something that I wanted to do. It's not for me.

Yeah, but I'm not for everyone. Choices and respect each other for it, right?

Right. I'm not trying to tell people what to do. What I'm saying is this is what worked for me. If you want to do what works for me, you can take what you want and leave what you don't. Yeah, you know, I personally try to pick like one mentor and let that be like, like Russell Brunson. I just kind of follow everything Russell Brunson says. Um, for personal development, it would be Tony Robbins is like who I really like was my go-to for that. But I've done a ton of work on that stuff. And also like contempt prior to investigation is something that causes imposter syndrome. So if you're experiencing imposter syndrome, you might have a look at like how you're judging other people. Like, what are you judgmental about, you know? And the knowledge can come from anywhere. Like, you could say something that's so profound that I'm like, oh yeah, we need to do that. And I do that frequently. Like, I listen to everybody on staff and they'll say like do this. And I'll be like, you know what, that is a great idea. You know, and I don't think that, that— I don't think that the, the knowledge from the outside, that it's linear, and that you have to accept everything that everyone else says. And I don't think that you, you can only get knowledge from someone who has more knowledge than you. I think everybody has knowledge that you could maybe glean from. And it's— I have a friend that's like, everything I need to know, I already know. I know all the answers to everything. I'm like, really? Like, great. Wow, what's it like to live that way? You're so smart, you know.

Tell me the secrets, right?

I don't know everything. Um, so, you know, I think at the end of the day, imposter syndrome just comes down to another procrastination effort, you know. Like, it's just another way you can procrastinate on living your dream. That's it. You're just saying like more shit that's gonna stop you from doing what you want to do, you know? Yeah, because you know and I know it's just bullcrap. There's something that you're an authority on that you know how to do, and just do that, you know? Even if it's just like you're the way you think about life, like whatever. Like everybody has a story to share inside of them, and instead of wasting time thinking about imposter syndrome start thinking about what can I share? What is it that I'm good at? What is it that I know about? You know, this is something we talk about in the master class that you can join. The link is down in the description, um, the Yoga Teacher's Blueprint. Like, what is it that you want to share? Start thinking about that instead of thinking about imposter syndrome.

And if you're out there right now being like 'Angelica, easier said than done,' just remember that you can make it accessible and you can make achievable goals. That is a huge part of overcoming imposter syndrome is setting yourself up for success. If you're listening to this podcast, you struggle with imposter syndrome, and you decide tomorrow I'm gonna make $10,000, That is not an achievable goal. Your goal should be tomorrow I'm going to make my first post in my process of making $10,000. And all you have to do is make one post and your only goal is one like, and you can like your own post to reach that goal. That's what I do. I'm the first person to like and save and share my posts every time.

But somebody said that to me one time. I was like, did you like your own post? My friend Amy, and Amy was like, yeah, um, why wouldn't I like my own post? I made it.

Yeah, and I did a great job. I love this post. I'm only posting it because I like it. So yeah, making things achievable, not trying to overdo yourself, because I think a lot of imposter syndrome comes from being overwhelmed. So there's no point in trying to overwhelm yourself anymore. Know that it takes hard work, know that you're capable, and take it one step at a time. And something that Angelica says a lot that I love is, "It's not what you can do in one day or one week, it's what you can do in a year." And a year is a long time. And you can make a lot of first posts towards $10,000 or $1 million in one year.

Yeah, if you focus on making a post every day, instead of I have to make 365 posts, if you're like, I'm going to make a post every day, right? Or because honestly, if you're just going to post once a week, that's not enough. You're not going to reach anybody. You do have to put work into it. Or like if you want to do a blog, if you're like, I'm going to do one blog post a week, in a year you'll have 52 blog posts. Mm-hmm. You know, but it's that first blog post that's the hardest one. And then, then, you know, we were talking about this actually this morning about like how like editing and all that, it gets easier over time. Like the more you do it, the easier it gets. And you do it more, you do it more, you do it more. And it just, it gets easier and easier and easier because now I have like systems in place. So like in the beginning when I started editing videos, a 30-second, 60-second video would take me an hour and a half. Mm-hmm. You know, but now it's probably like 15 minutes. Yeah. You know, cuz I understand my editing process. I understand what I'm trying to convey. And also when I'm filming, I'm already understanding what it is that I'm going to convey in that video. So, mm-hmm. You know, and even on the podcast, we have a, uh, a rule that we start and we end. We don't edit. Yeah, because if we had to go through and edit like in the middle of the podcast, it would just be a no. Mm-hmm.

That would be my whole job.

Oh my God, that's all I would do. If you make a mistake, you just be like, I made a mistake, let's just keep going.

Yeah, because we're not perfect and we're not gonna try to tell you that we are. That's unrealistic. Don't expect us to be perfect.

Well, sometimes the people of the Instagram do expect that. I think that's really fascinating too. Like, that's always really fascinating to me when people will be like, oh, you spelled that wrong. Well, um, first of all, it's auto-caption. Second of all, sometimes I purposefully do spell things wrong just to like get comments. Like, in one of my recent posts, I put cheddaronga. Like cheese, cheddar cheese, cheddar rong. Yeah, right.

That's hilarious. I just assumed I was like, auto captions, Instagram's not good at Sanskrit.

I just, you know, I thought it would be funny, so I put it in there, and somebody did comment on it, you know. So, um, you know, sometimes it's on purpose wrong, you know. That's part of being an influencer is that you do stuff like that, that gets more engagement, you know? Yeah. Um, but you know, and sometimes it's just a mistake. I, I'm just, I got a lot of things I'm doing, you know, I'm creating this content for you for free. That's the thing that always blows my mind on Instagram when somebody gets picky on it and then I go and look at their profile and they have like, they're like private profile or they have 100 followers and I'm just like, not that there's anything wrong with having 100 followers, good on you that you have those 100, but I'm just like, I have 30,000. Girl. I do not have time to be worried about your needs, okay? You're lucky I got some content out today. You're lucky. I'm busy. I'm like, we're trying to put out— we're in the new year, we're trying to put out 3 episodes a week of the podcast. I'm putting out a video every day on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. You know, like, uh, we're working on the blog. We're trying to figure out how to get systems in place for the blog, you know, so it's like, and all that content, I don't get paid for that. We don't get paid for that content directly. We make the content and then the, the hope is that the right people will find us and that they will sign up for the courses, you know, or that we'll get brand deals or things like that. But it's not, the content itself doesn't make money. Like I remember when I first started doing YouTube, um, somebody was like, oh my gosh, you must make so much money on YouTube. I was like, I'm not monetized. I make nothing. Nothing.

Yeah.

You have to have 1,000 followers plus 4,000 watch hours on YouTube to get monetized.

Mm-hmm.

So watch this all the way through if you're on YouTube. Okay. And then set it to watch again a few times. No, I'm just kidding. Share the show. Share the show. All right, listen, that's all I have today about imposter syndrome. Um, I think that in all fairness, Justine shared a lot more tips, with you on that. I was just like, stop, cut that shit out, stop doing it, selfish.

And that's why we make a good team. We both—

in all fairness, that's how I talk to myself in my own head though.

Yeah, you know, I'm like, Angelica's not going to say anything to you that she wouldn't say to herself.

Stop being such a baby, just make it happen, Angelica. Sit down and create that video, you know. You think I want to be here today? I do, actually.

I do.

Anyhow, we like this.

This is fun.

The podcast is the funnest thing that we do. Yeah.

And thank you all for listening all the way through. And if you are struggling with imposter syndrome, you got this. You can always send us a message as well, leave us a comment. We would love to hear what you're struggling with, what you would like more advice on, how any of either of our suggestions resonated with you, what worked, what didn't work. We want to talk to you. We want to know you. Our world is about you, and we care about you.

Well, my world's about me. Um, but Justine's about you. No, we do, we do care. But also, you know, if you really are serious and you want to take it to the next level, the course is the way to go. You know, come to the masterclass, it's free. See what it's all about. We'll give you some information that will help you. It is low pressure. I'm low pressure. I also don't lie. Like, you know, you'll see all the Instagram bros are like, you could do this in 3 days, it'll be— you'll be a millionaire in 30 days. Like, that is a lie, and you're not going to hear that from me. I'm not going to lie to you. You know, I'm going to tell you the truth about it. But, um, But I'm also going to elevate you and help get you to the next level and live your dream, because that's my personal motto. Live your dream. It actually is engraved on the side of my glasses. Live your dream. So live your dream, folks, and follow the show, subscribe, um, and share with your friends so that we can grow the show. And 5 stars because it's my birthday. 5 stars. 5 stars. All right, thank you so much, Justine. I appreciate you, and we will see you next week for the next episode.

Awesome, bye everyone!