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[00:00:00] Welcome to Beyond the Book presented by Juxtabook. I'm Zach Kristensen. It's our weekly, Q&A episode. Answering your questions about writing publishing and launching your book. Let's begin.
[00:00:13] What would you say to an author who has written a book, maybe even has ideas for other books, and loves their own writing and is confident in their own writing, but also feels somehow like an imposter? Like, well, who, who will want to read this? Like, who cares? And who said I'm an author? Like, how do you deal with the imposter syndrome of writing a book being so confident that it's great and then getting over that roadblock of like actually admitting to yourself that you're an author?
[00:00:51] Imposter syndrome can be a big hurdle for many authors. So let's dive into this head on. And look [00:01:00] at some of the science around it as well.
[00:01:02] First off if you've written and published a book or planned to publish something and you've had others read it and give feedback, you are an author, regardless of what others think.
[00:01:14] Not everyone is going to like what you write. There's always going to be people who reject what you do, and it's inevitable, especially as your followers and influence grow.
[00:01:28] But to quote Taylor Swift haters are gonna hate.
[00:01:31] Remember what truly matters are the readers who love your work. It's your target audience. It's going to be those that you are writing to, and they're going to be positively impacted by your writing.
[00:01:46] Now let's dive in and talk a little bit more about imposter syndrome itself. It's a common phenomenon and more people experience it, then you would generally think, and there's a lot of misinformation surrounding it[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] In his podcast and interviews, the organizational psychologists and Warton school business professor Adam Grant shed some light on imposter syndrome. According to him, imposter syndrome is a paradox.
[00:02:13] You may not believe in yourself, but others do. If you doubt yourself, should you not also doubt your judgment of yourself? If multiple people believe in you, perhaps it's time to start believing in them too.
[00:02:27] I think that's really insightful.
[00:02:29] And moreover study suggests that imposter syndrome affects nearly 70% of individuals across races, genders, and different career categories. It's a normal response to having those standards of yourself and experiencing that self doubt. Now that may not make it easier for you to take on and tackle this. But it does help normalize that what you're experiencing isn't unique just to you.
[00:02:56] As I'm growing juxta book and this beyond the book podcast. [00:03:00] I have experienced similar thoughts and doubts. I have thought, what does my voice count for among the hundreds of other voices who are potentially experts on the subjects that I want to help authors with.
[00:03:16] And the times it's caused me to freeze and not move forward. But other times I'm leaning into it and I can feel myself growing and learning and in many ways, enjoying it more and more of what I'm doing and learning how to use this as a tool to fuel better content and better ways to help those that I'm targeting.
[00:03:37] The question I want you to ask yourself today is what is this imposter syndrome causing you to do? Are you leaning into it? And leaning into the uncertainty and growth or is it causing you to freeze, to fill debilitated? If it's the ladder, seek some support, seek some support from those who are that believe in you, those who are supporting [00:04:00] you and really value the words that you have written and what you're trying to create.
[00:04:06] Imposter syndrome is a hurdle but it can become a catalyst for personal and professional growth with the right mindset.
[00:04:14] Thank you for your insightful question.
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[00:04:23] if you have any questions about a recent episode, I'd love to hear from you. Visit juxtabook.com/beyondthebook and click the appropriate button to leave your question and we will include it in our weekly Q&A episode.
[00:04:39] Your book is just one chapter in your author journey. Think beyond the book as you craft your path. Thank you for your questions and thank you for listening.
