Short first-person advice on overcoming imposter syndrome from a speaker at conferences. The speaker describes relying on external vetting (organizers’ decisions), reframing self-doubt by adopting a service mindset, and reminding themselves they have something valuable to give to the audience.
Chapters
In my early days of standing on stage, I'd be at these amazing conferences with these other incredible speakers, and I was like, what am I doing here? And I remembered that somebody else has already vetted me. I didn't have to prove that I was worthy of being there, and I didn't have to posture because someone else has already decided that I can be on the stage. Do those people sometimes make mistakes? Damn straight they do. But at the end of the day, it's accepting that you're not the only person that got you there. Other people open doors for you, and other people said, yes, do you belong? And it's trust that they know what they're doing that has helped me a great deal. The other big thing that I do is I remind myself that I have something of value. I know it has value, and I'm here to give it away. So I change my mentality to, I hope they like me, I hope they think this is good, or why am I here? To, well, I'm just going to give what I've got, and if they like it, they like it, and if they don't, they don't. But I'm just here to give. And so that service mentality has really helped me over the years.
