In celebration of my 100th post on www.tomwatkin.com I wanted to share a bit of a personal story. In particular about my experience with imposter syndrome and how I overcame it. All this in an area where I should have been brimming with confidence: business development for my book on business development. Yes, the irony isn’t lost on me.
I work in business development every day and am confident meeting new customers. But when it came to promoting and selling my book, I was filled with fear and self-doubt. I kept asking myself, “Who am I to write a book? What if people don’t like it? How can I add value around my book content?” It seemed a daunting task, and I felt overwhelmed by it.
While I recognized it as an issue I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it.
That is until I brought it up with my friend and executive coach Steffi. We talked it through and I was brutally honest about the situation. Talking it through like this put everything into perspective. I started working through a simple plan to get things going. For me it boiled down to taking small actions to get me moving on the right track.
Taking Small Action
The fear of failure and rejection had me in a work-winning block. I now knew I needed to take action, so I began by assessing my market. I looked at who my book could help and who would benefit from reading it. This helped me gain a better understanding of my audience and how I could add value around my book’s content.
Once I had assessed my market, I built a tactical action plan. I set goals for myself, around coaching clients and book distributorship, and outlined the steps I needed to take to achieve my objectives. This plan gave me a clear direction and helped me stay focused on my goals.
The next step was to reach out to potential customers. I started by sending emails to my existing network asking them to read and review my book. Their feedback was invaluable, and it gave me the confidence to reach out to a broader audience. Before I knew it I had coaching clients on board and was presenting workshops.
At ease with imposter syndrome
As I started reaching out to more people, I realized that the process wasn’t as scary as I had initially thought. The more I did it, the more comfortable I became. The fear of rejection slowly dissipated, and I found myself feeling more confident than ever.
Today, I can proudly say that I have overcome my imposter syndrome. I now feel comfortable promoting and selling my book, and I have even started to enjoy the process. I have learned that imposter syndrome is a common feeling and that it’s okay to have self-doubt. The key is to take small action at first, before pushing through the fear.
Final thoughts
If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome or a hitting a work-winning block, I encourage you to take action. Assess your market, build a tactical action plan, and start reaching out to potential customers. Talk it through with a trusted confidant. Start small and build from there. The process may be scary at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Don’t let fear and uncertainty hold you back from achieving your goals.
Overcoming imposter syndrome
For more help with starting your business development journey download my quick start guide. This gives a series of simple activities to quickly get you on the right path.
For a definition of business development you can check out my take in this post here.
If you are getting value out of my weekly free content I’d ask that you consider buying my book. It’s a simple yet comprehensive framework to base your business development activity around. Full of practical advice to get you started now. It is available to order on Amazon now.
Business development and farming
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