I am sure you can understand the feeling — the first time you were given a key to close the building, dropping off a large cash deposit, logging into the back end of your website, or being left alone with your baby for the first time. First you feel a rush of excitement: you are embarking on something new, someone trusts you more than you would ever trust yourself! Then you wonder if you’ll do something to mess up that new-found trust. Will you mistakenly lock the key in the building or forget to feed the baby? Who could trust you with such an important thing? Then you’ll accept the task at hand and vow to do your best.

The first few times you close the building for the night, sign that deposit slip, update your home page content, or see that tiny little human stare at you from the car seat, you have a moment of clarity. You may not trust yourself, but that doesn’t mean you are not trustworthy.

If you find you suffer from impostor syndrome, don’t worry. You are not alone! Many people feel this way at some point in their lives. It’s a way to check ourselves and make sure we perform according to the anticipated expectations. Eventually, these new and exciting opportunities will become habitual and second nature — each one a bullet point in a sea of dozens that make up your resume.

Recently, I have been involved in more aspects of running our business. And while sometimes I experience impostor syndrome, I usually remind myself that the only way to learn a new skill is to perform it — over and over again. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

When you master a skill, go ahead and seek out a new one. You may be fearful or experience self-doubt, but it is for a good cause – personal development.  As Albert Einstein said,

“Once you stop learning, you start dying.”