3 More Days…
Is this real? In three days the third book in my contemporary romance series releases. I know I should be excited, but all I keep doing is questioning if this is really happening. When I started down the path of self-publishing I never would have thought that I’d really see it through. I’m always full of self-doubt as I know many others are. It makes trying new things very difficult sometimes. This was one time I pushed through and I’m actually pretty proud of myself.
I always stop to wonder why I feel like I can’t get it done or that I’m not good enough. It starts with a simple thought, “What if they don’t like it” and often ends with me questioning life choices from when I was five years old. The nagging feeling of self doubt is often referred to as imposter syndrome and is more common then you would think. It’s hard to admit you are concerned you doubt your work, especially if you are also the one responsible for selling it. So many people find it hard to believe in their accomplishments. I spent a great deal of my career in finance believing things were just working out due to luck. It took a really long time for me to realize I was doing well because of my own actions.
Anytime I try something new those feelings start creeping up again. Writing my stories was the easy part, learning to format, create book covers, hire editors and the numerous other tasks I have had to learn were all steps to my success. Determining what success means to you is the first step. Right now I define success as following through with publishing all the books in my series. Down the road I will tie monetary goals, reviews of my books and other metrics to that definition but for now I’m keeping it simple.
Setting simple smaller goals helps me build the confidence I need to persevere. I think the most important thing to remember is just because you might doubt yourself, it doesn’t mean you are a imposter. The imposter phenomenon has been around since the seventies and has been well known for effecting women. Stemming from biases and exclusion women have felt out of place for a very long time in many industries. My own feelings of inferiority have been a part of my life for longer then I would like to admit but I work actively to change my mindset for the positive.
Have you ever been effected by the dreaded imposter syndrome? How do you handle things what you aren’t certain about your work? Comment below and share!
Happy Reading.
-Nikki Rome