This series is all about healing imposter syndrome so you can be the most amazing version of yourself, no apologies.

If you’re not sure if imposter syndrome is a problem for you, check out the Top 6 signs you suffer from imposter syndrome. 

Step 3: Question negative thinking

Step 1 & Step 2 help you to build your awareness on what’s happening in your mind. Step 3 teaches you to dismantle assumptions and old beliefs that no longer serve you.

If you did your homework from Step 2, then you’ve started to see that you have some negative thinking going on.

Right now, you’re probably not saying to yourself “I want to think crappy thoughts about myself”.

You’re not choosing to be hard on yourself. You don’t want to make yourself have the imposter complex. It just happens.

Why oh why????

It’s simple.

The brain throws out negative thoughts because it’s a habit.

And it’s not going to all of a sudden stop doing it just because you want it to stop. Just because you want to get over imposter syndrome.

Instead, you need to learn how to manage the negative thoughts. 

Every day.

Yes, daily. If you want to transform your mindset, you have to give it consistent work. Like exercise, the real benefit comes from doing it repeatedly. And the longer you do it, the more amazing results you reap.

Action steps

1. Take a daily inventory of your thoughts

Schedule a time on your calendar each day to do this work. It might be just 5 minutes. 15-20 is even better.

When you sit down to do the work, make a bulleted list of all of your negative thoughts on paper so that you can see them.

Do this daily brain dump to get the garbage out. Fill up the entire piece of paper if need be. This helps to create some distance from negative thoughts and puts you into the role of the observer of your own mind.

–

Tips to get started

It can be hard to identify negative thoughts on your own, because so often we just see them as the truth. 

Here are a few questions that can help dig out hidden toxic thoughts:

• What am I “bad” at?
• Why don’t I have what I want?
• What is possible in my life?
• What isn’t possible in my life?

You’ll know you’ve hit negative thought gold when it makes you feel kinda crappy.

If you do experience this, remember that the feelings are just your negative thoughts doing their work. They aren’t THE TRUTH – aaaand you’re getting wise to them.

2. Question your negative thoughts

Then, for each negative thought your wrote down, ask yourself questions like:

• • Is this absolutely 100% provable-in-a-court-of-law true?
  • Is there any other way I could look at it? 
  • Would another person see things differently? 
  • What else is true?

–

This exercise opens your mind up to the possibility of a different interpretation. By walking your mind through these questions, you begin to dismantle rigid belief structures, creating space for other possibilities. 

Many people prefer to skip over this work because it can feel uncomfortable. But it’s incredibly important to do it.

When you’re able to uncover hidden negative thoughts, they stop having so much power over you… instead, you get power over them. 

Stay tuned for the final installment in the series where I’ll teach you how to create empowering thoughts.

Stay well, my friend,

Heidi

P.S. Get help overcoming imposter syndrome by getting a free Empowerment Session. This is a 1-1 coaching call where I help you access the power and vision to create your dreams. The time you take to invest in yourself with this one call will move you forward in creating a life of freedom and success.