- Get comfortable being uncomfortable
'cause that's what we're talking about today on The Journey.
So Nealey, have you ever felt insecure, hesitant at work?
- More times than I can count.
- Exactly, same.
And you're not alone.
I mean, so many people at every single level of success
experience what they call imposter syndrome.
And it actually affects men and women equally.
- So why don't you tell us all
a little bit about what imposter syndrome is?
- So Imposter Syndrome is whenever
you feel really uncomfortable, nervous, or anxious
even though you've put in a lot of work
and effort to get where you're going
and you feel like at any moment people are gonna find out.
You know that you're some big phony.
- A big phony, a big fraud.
And this goes really just with
like comparing yourself to others,
and whether they have more experience than you
or more education.
You don't think like you're good enough
for what you're doing.
But most of the time you are,
you have put in the work to do that
We're gonna go over some ways to overcome that.
- And while it may not feel like it in the moment,
a little bit of discomfort can actually go a really long way
in terms of your personal development.
- Yeah, I'll be the first to admit
that I've tried to put myself
in those uncomfortable situations
and it doesn't feel good at first,
but looking back on it,
I'm super happy I did because it gives you
and me the opportunities that we have today.
- That's where all the growth happens.
So in the 1970s, Noel Burch developed
the Conscious Competence Ladder.
It's a great way to help us process the emotions
and what you're feeling during
that difficult growth process.
- All right Alex, so what is that first stage of learning?
- So the first level is when you're unconsciously unskilled
So we don't know that we don't have a certain skill.
You're blissfully ignorant,
you know you're perfectly fine,
you don't realize that you don't have that.
- All right, so I think I know the next one.
It's consciously unskilled, right?
- Exactly.
So this is when we know we don't have a certain skill
that we probably should.
So this can be a really demoralizing time.
You know it's easy to lose confidence whenever you feel like
other people have the skill, you don't
and you really need that skill.
- Right, you don't really know where to get that skill too.
- So it's really important to stay confident
and positive during this stage.
The next step is when you're consciously skilled.
- I'm sensing a bit of a trend here.
- Yeah, exactly, it's easy to go with.
But this is whenever you have a skill
but you still have to really concentrate on it.
- Right, you know you got it, you know you can flaunt it
but you need to make sure that you still work for it.
- So you can think of this level
as you know, a toddler learning how to walk.
At the very beginning,
takes a lot of concentration, it's difficult to do,
you need a lot of practice,
but that leads us into our next step,
which is when you're unconsciously skilled
and at that point, you're walking every day
and it's nothing.
- Right, you don't need to think about it.
I mean, I still struggle sometimes walking,
I'm tripping literally everywhere,
I'm kind of a klutz
but it's the whole kind of baby walking progression.
It's starting to walk, it's starting to run
and then there's chaos and trouble out there.
So good luck with that.
- And a good way to maintain this level of skill
is to actually teach others.
- Yeah, the more you teach it,
the more stays top of mind in your brain.
You start to develop a real deep understanding
for that skill set.
- But it's important to remember to keep brushing up
on these skills 'cause you can always fall back down
that competence ladder.
- But it is kind of like riding a bike
but you will still need to practice on it.
If you haven't ridden a bike in ages,
you may not be what you once were.
- That's why feeling uncomfortable
is something you should embrace.
Being in these new uncomfortable situations
it actually triggers something in your brain
to release dopamine.
- Yeah, and always remember you are not alone,
everyone goes through it at some point in life
that feeling of just being uncomfortable
And it might be something that you're just killer at
but they're struggling.
Know that you're not alone.
- Basically, we all feel like impostors all the time
and it's fine.
So the real challenge is to get past that initial feeling
of discomfort so that way you can grow and benefit from it.
- Absolutely, that's all we have for you.
Let us know down in the comments below
a time when you felt like you were an imposter.
- And if this video helped you,
go ahead and give us a like and subscribe to our channel.
This is The Journey.
See you next time.