Coffee Talk #149: Imposter Syndrome

It’s Tuesday! Grab your cup and let’s start chattin’.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that I’m switching all the hats this week. I have high priority tasks for all of my jobs, including meeting with students, leading a volunteer training, training co-workers, promoting a new fitness venture, sharing new fitness classes and opportunities for both of the gyms I work for, and more. It’s major planning and promoting season!

If we were having coffee together today, I’d invite you to join me for the next challenge: Commit to Fit. It’s a 6-week daily workout challenge that has elements of live classes, virtual classes, motivation, and accountability. I’ve offered virtual challenges before, and even gave a virtual/live blended opportunity, but this is the first daily workout challenge group that I’ve offered. I’m excited for this! I love the idea of having a committed workout challenge for 6 weeks, with workouts offered daily. I’m sharing barre, HIIT, Power Stretch and Flow, and Strength and Stretch workouts. The workouts will be short and effective – 20-30 minutes each. The in-class options will be 6:15-6:45 a.m. M-F. You can come to the live classes, you can attend the virtual classes, or a mixture of both. Check out this link for more information and to register.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d talk to you about fall. I’m ready. I’ve settled into a routine with my students at school (as “routine” as I can get), and I even bought pumpkin coffee to brew at home. I haven’t made the official closet switch from summer to fall, since it’s still too balmy here to think about sweaters and boots. But, soon.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d talk to you about fitness identities. I teach so many classes, formats, and styles, that I have a hard time channeling or sharing one fitness identity. I started 10 years ago with Zumba, and some people know me as “the Zumba instructor.” I tried so desperately to shake this persona, especially as I kept collecting certifications. I pushed myself to learn everything and to be the best version of a fitness instructor that I could be. I want to be known as motivating, powerful, and strong, in any fitness modality. This is something I think about, meditate on, and often where my feelings of imposter syndrome arise.

Are you familiar with imposter syndrome? It causes individuals to find doubt and feelings of inadequacy in their profession. I find that the more I learn, the more I have to learn, and that sometimes causes doubt about what I already know. It’s completely normal for successful individuals to feel this way from time to time, and typically only occurs in people who genuinely do know what they are doing. Even when I’m seeing lots of clients come through the doors for class, or getting “thank you” DMs and email messages, and celebrating crazy milestones like 10 certifications and 10 years of training, I can still feel doubt about my work. I’m a confident individual and this still happens to me. I’ll ask myself “Who the heck am I to offer this/teach this/do this?”

I’ll usually bring these feelings on myself, but sometimes an external inquiry will instigate the feelings of imposter syndrome. For example, I had two recent encounters that made me question my talents, skills, and abilities.

“You’re going to yoga teacher training? You’re too high energy to teach yoga.”

A legit statement someone said to me, in person. My immediate reaction was witty (I will give myself credit for being witty and having excellent zingers) — “Well then maybe you don’t know yoga!” But this stuck with me. Am I too high energy for yoga? Is this training a mistake? Is this not the right next step for me? Yoga Teacher Training is expensive, intense, and a commitment. I started to question whether it was right for me. Will my clients not take classes because they perceive yoga to be low energy and not like the other classes I offer? Am I trying to offer TOO MANY things? The odds are that something will be cut to make way for yoga classes. Am I ready for this?

“I’m looking for an expert to come speak with my staff about stress relief techniques, exercises, and getting started with wellness and healthy living. Is that something you do?”

My eyes must’ve been huge. No! No way. I don’t know anything about this. Why on earth would someone ask me to lead something like this? What could I possibly know about getting started with healthy living and exercises to aid stress relief?! The word “expert” can conjure feelings of imposter syndrome, because who hands out that title? Who says you are an expert? Do my 10,000+ hours of fitness training qualify me for “expert” status?

Then I took a deep breath. I relaxed my eyes, my jaw, my shoulders. I am confident in what I know. I have spent countless hours teaching, training, learning, devoting myself to the fitness profession. I am qualified for the work that I do and am able to pursue additional certifications with confidence and ease. I am exactly where I need to be, at this moment. I am opening myself to new discoveries, opportunities, and pathways. I am here for this.

In the spirit of the Planks & Positive Affirmations Challenge I’m hosting, I’ll leave with this: I am here for a reason. In my job, my business, my life, I am worthy. I am smart. I have skills and abilities that are important and necessary. I know more than I give myself credit for. I will remind myself of this daily.