I’m writing this post as a pep talk to myself. I’m up against a deadline: the final slides for my upcoming talk at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum are due.
I’ve been spending every free moment crafting and fine-tuning them. Looking at them makes me dizzy.
The worst part? I’m so in the weeds of my own content that I’ve lost sight of why I’m even doing this. What’s the point of talking about this, when so many others already have? Why would anyone be interesting in what I have to say?
My imposter syndrome is in full swing.
I’ve done this enough times to recognise that I’m in a particularly weak and vulnerable moment right now. I’m in the weeds, the messy work of trying to put my thoughts into a coherent flow so I can take the audience on that same journey. Funnily enough, this creative struggle is one of the uniquely human values of creativity that I cover in my talk.
Not so amusing while I’m living it.
I try to remind myself that this is part of the process. It’s essential to go through this valley of hatred in order to emerge on stage at the other side, smiling and ready to tell my perfectly polished story arc.
I look forward to being in a stronger moment, once again believing that everyone has something worthy of sharing with an audience. I know in my heart of hearts, the more voices we hear, the more we realise that we are not alone. And paradoxically, we are all so different. We are unique and beautiful and diverse. We are flesh and blood. And when we come together to share ideas, that’s when we’re most powerful. That’s the magic I’m participating in. My ideas are worth sharing.
With this pep talk, I remind myself of the bigger picture I form an infinitesimally small part of. And, as I would do to a friend, I reach out a hand to pull myself up.
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