Imposter syndrome affects 84% of entrepreneurs, creating doubt and hesitation even among skilled professionals. This article explores the imposter syndrome pattern through an energetics perspective, examining both the practical and energetic reasons behind entrepreneurial self-doubt and offering frameworks for sustainable growth.
If you thought you were alone in experiencing the dreaded Imposter Syndrome, I will dispel that myth straight away.
Feeling that you are not up to the task is something virtually all of us go through. How you respond is the key. This article offers some practical tips to reframe your thinking and feeling on this pivotal experience of entrepreneurship, from an energetics perspective.
Why Entrepreneurs Experience Imposter Syndrome: Practical Factors
You are entering an entirely new dynamic when you set up a business. There is a lot to take on board and your safety net has disappeared.
You will have new skills to learn, and you will have to be the face of your business. This puts you, potentially, in an uncomfortable position of feeling visible when perhaps you are used to hiding at least part of yourself.
All of this can feel overwhelming. Your responses to how you feel are a key part of how your business will grow.
Many entrepreneurs will put on a mask to cope, but this has a limited life span and only kicks the can down the road.
Others may lead fully by their emotions and compromise their business success as a result.
Growth lies in balance between recognising how you feel and the actions you take – one should not dismiss or dominate the other.
The Energetic Dimension of Imposter Syndrome
Starting a business means holding multiple energy streams simultaneously. This is not something your energetic system is used to. At the simplest level, your system gets overwhelmed by all the things you need to hold at the same time.
The most impactful thing you can do every day is to make space for quiet reflection time to understand how your mind, emotions and body are responding to what you are asking of them.
Quiet time allows you to find stillness, through which you will be able to access meaningful and valuable responses to your situation. It will also establish a pattern throughout your business life of checking in before checking out external perspective, which will ground you in your own energy and agency.
This will support you through every growth cycle you experience.
Both practically and energetically, there are lots things going on.
Reframing your thinking is a key part of your success strategy, not to bypass the issue but to create an open mindset that allows you to grow into your role. Changing your thinking will flow into how you feel, how you talk to yourself and how you perceive your growth.
Why Imposter Syndrome Hits a Nerve for Entrepreneurs
There is a world of difference between doing a job and starting a business. Practically there is an entirely new suite of skills you need to develop, but it goes beyond this. As an entrepreneur, you are creating something that matters to you. It’s personal.
Your business is a deep reflection of who you are and that means showing the world who you are. Most of us spend a lot of lives squishing this down and conforming. That simply is not an option for a business that matters to you.
It is worth acknowledging the enormity of this step. Every entrepreneur I know has felt like they were coming out of the closet and the vulnerability is immense. Your business success can become a reflection of your self-worth if you let it.
Beyond the simple fact that you have to show the world who you are, you also have the fear and anxiety about income. While you are building up your business you may well be dependent on close relationships to sustain you. If you are carrying guilt or pressure from this, it will make you push for success which will disconnect you from one of your most powerful allies in business growth – intuition. Explore this aspect before you start to establish some clear expectations of yourself and your business – it will pay dividends down the line.
Redefining Success to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
As an employee, you are surrounded by structure and support. Your definitions of good, successful, and effective are all determined by the structures you work within. It’s simply not something you had to think about as an employee.
But in your own business, this becomes a critical piece of the puzzle.
You will almost certainly become hypercritical of your performance, unless you take the time before you start to define success on your own terms. You might start comparing yourself to other entrepreneurs, feeling you should be emulating their levels of success from the outset.
It is vital to remember that what people share and what they experience are two completely different things. As an entrepreneur, come back to what drives you.
For conscious entrepreneurs, success isn’t linear or singular; it certainly isn’t defined by income alone. Wellbeing, creativity, flexibility, quality are central factors in how your business makes you feel. If you are doing work you love in a way that makes you feel alive, isn’t that success?
Using Your Values to Navigate Imposter Syndrome
There is a lot of digital information about how you should grow your business. It’s a dead cert that you have thrown yourself into this and filled your head with information about what you should implement and how you should be growing.
Perhaps you have given yourself the space to critically assess it, perhaps not.
One of the most important benchmarks of any information is how it upholds your values. If it doesn’t, it’s noise.
If you want to beat Imposter Syndrome, you will need to know your values and how they work in practice.
Values can sound great, but unless they become working lines in the sand for you, they are pointless. Your business will grow through your values. Work out what they are and how you can uphold them in every decision, choice and action.
How will your processes and systems speak your values, how will you uphold them in your communications and client work, how will you hold them through your leadership, and what role will they play in shaping the culture of your business and its circles?
If you can answer this, you have already distinguished yourself from the rest of the market and cancelled out the “shoulds” that are just noise distracting you.
Reframing Skills Development in Your Business
Running a business requires a broad skill set. Instead of just doing the work you excel at, you are now CEO, CFO, COO, chief marketer, head of IT and every role underneath. Inevitably, you enter the realms of conscious incompetence.
This can feel overwhelming, but a simple shift in thinking can really help you navigate into conscious competence.
All your skills are developing, not lacking.
When you hit this phase, it is time for a little self-appreciation of the broad skills you already have both within and outside your business life.
Every part of you contributes to how you navigate situations, you are far more than a label. You are a complex web of experiences, personality and knowledge with a lot of transferable skills.
What you bring to the table will allow you to develop the skills you need to support all the aspects of your business.
Building Energetic Capacity as an Entrepreneur
For the most part, advice on navigating Imposter Syndrome will focus on changing your mindset. Whilst this is important, it is the part of the iceberg you can see.
Underneath this is your energetic capacity.
When you are doing your work, something you excel at, your energy flows effortlessly. But when you are in your business, you suddenly have a lot of other energies you need to hold and direct simultaneously.
Your energetic bandwidth crashes.
You can maintain and expand your energetic capacity by working in rhythms.
Different roles require different qualities of energy and attention. Some are precise and detailed; others are confident and outgoing. You are a human being, not a machine and you work best when you listen to your energetic rhythm and work with it.
Your rhythm may follow a consistent daily pattern or you may work across a weekly rhythm. Within that pattern are the answers as to what work you can do most effectively when. A question I ask clients to answer is:
Finding Your Energetic Rhythm
First, identify your natural energy patterns:
• When are you quieter?
• When are you most creative?
• When are you most energised?
• When do you shut down?
Then map your business tasks to these patterns:
• When do you enjoy organising?
• When you do need free thinking time?
• When do you take action without hesitation?
• When do you need to reflect?
This simple exercise enables them to structure their business activities around their energy, for maximum impact. They feel more productive, in control and focused because they understand how to navigate the many functions of business.
Try it for yourself.
The Role of Intuition in Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
If you are honest with yourself, why did you make the decision to start on this adventure?
Underneath the logic, there was a deeper reason. It was that you knew you had something important and valuable to offer people.
That prompt was intuitive.
Business is relentlessly logical and analytical, which silences your intuitive wisdom. Intuition asks you to assess what you are doing and why. It offers a critical benchmark in decision-making. The problem is that it is too often silenced or untrusted.
Creating space for intuitive exploration is the ultimate form of productivity. It will help you stay on track for your version of success and uphold your values every step of the way. Intuition shows you how to grow in ways that reflect who you are, rather than what you think you should be. Intuition also builds your creativity, allowing you to grow beyond the limitations of existing structures naturally.
All of the parts of you are important in business, but intuition is your anchor. It is your seed of success, and it needs to be nurtured. (Try my Soul of Your Business meditation to see what I mean)
Common Questions about Imposter Syndrome in Entrepreneurs
How long does imposter syndrome last for new business owners?
Imposter Syndrome comes from patterns of behaviour and thinking. The sooner you identify them, the quicker you will address the impacts such as minimising your voice, under-pricing your work and over-giving.
What's the difference between imposter syndrome and actually being unqualified?
Every entrepreneur has things they need to learn. From regulations around your work or marketing to tax requirements, there are things you need to know. If you can distinguish your expertise in your field of work from your skill and knowledge level in business functions, you will be able to assess where you need to develop.
Does imposter syndrome ever go away completely?
Imposter Syndrome is a reaction to growth, and as long as you keep growing, you will experience some variation. Once you recognise your own responses to growth, you can start to change the narrative to one of leaning into growth rather than backing off it.
What helps most with overcoming imposter syndrome as an entrepreneur?
Self-compassion. With so much riding on your business success (both financially and how you see yourself), it is far too easy to become self-critical. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome is made so much easier by giving yourself permission to wobble occasionally, whilst also taking responsibility for your responses to the feelings that come with it. Turning the feelings into fuel to take action will help you move through the experience.
Can imposter syndrome actually harm my business?
Absolutely, but only if you let it. Imposter Syndrome can lead to holding back, under-pricing, over-giving, pushing yourself beyond your limits and rhythm and failing to take action. When you feel the doubts surface, give them space to be heard and then sit with them for a while. Acknowledging your doubts head-on disarms them, giving you mental space to develop a clear growth plan.
Summary
If you are feeling that gnawing sensation of being a fraud, know that you aren’t. You are just growing. You are learning what you need to learn and how to express what you already do best.
Imposter Syndrome is a turning point in business. Seeing it as an opportunity for personal growth will help you build confidence and creativity. Just remember to take care of your energetic wellbeing as part of the process, and you will soon look back on this phase as a gift.
If you would like support navigating this energetic transition, explore joining the community in Rewild Your Business where we work in rhythms that move you through the challenges, naturally.
