How to Tackle Imposter Syndrome from Ali Abdaal

Read time: 4 minutes

Welcome to The Ascend Archives Friday Edition where I share insights from the brightest minds in business and life and how I'm applying them to my life.

Imposter syndrome is the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people feeling like "a fraud" or "a phony" and doubting their abilities.

I have felt this several times. Sitting in a University of Michigan classroom full of brilliant kids or leading meetings with clients 25 years older than me.

But I have never had this feeling as much as I have over the past several months.

Why would people want to read what I have to say?

I’m not qualified enough to advise people on their businesses by myself.

Am I really capable of starting my own company?

Most of my life has been a linear trajectory:

Get good grades in school → participate in extra-curriculars → get into a good college → network and prepare for interviews → get a good job → start as an analyst → work up to management

I’ve always worked hard, followed the traditional blueprint, and had confidence in taking that next step.

When I veered off that traditional blueprint into entrepreneurship, that confidence was no longer as strong. I believed that I could do it or I had “a shot” at making it work, but I was no longer on a linear trajectory with reassurance that I would actually succeed.

This week I listened to a podcast with Ali Abdaal, a former doctor in the UK turned Youtuber, podcaster, entrepreneur, and author.

This guy quit his traditional career, makes millions of dollars from YouTube videos, and is a NYT best-seller author. Yet, he admits to still dealing with this idea of imposter syndrome.

I resonated a lot with Ali’s approach to combat imposter syndrome:

Focus on doing the verb instead of being the noun

Ali gives an example of wanting to be a "thought leader".

When people would ask him what his goals are he would frame it as being the noun, a thought leader in the productivity industry.

But what does that really mean?

Yeah, that sounds cool and thought leaders are known to be successful experts in a certain field, but that puts a lot of pressure on himself to achieve societal norms such as:

• Host a successful podcast

• Get millions of views on Youtube

• Write a best-selling book

But one of his friends helped him reframe the question and asked "What do thought leaders do"?

Ali had a simple answer:

• They have thoughts on topics that interest them

• They learn more about the topics through reading and listening

• They synthesize the information

• They create videos or write about what they learned

• They share it publicly

It’s a simple exercise of turning something you are or want to become into just what are the things that person does.

How can you apply this exercise to a new job or promotion you may not feel qualified for?

Instead of worrying about the title, it’s helpful to just think about the activities you will be performing in that role.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been getting caught up in trying to figure out my title.

Am I a premium ghostwriter?

Am I a consultant?

Should I start a branding agency?

Ali made me realize that I’m asking the wrong questions. All of those titles come with a lot of unnecessary weight.

Instead, I should focus on what am I actually doing and what value am I providing?

• Networking with entrepreneurs and business owners

• Sending proposals and scopes of work

• Writing newsletters and social media posts

• Helping with business strategy and operational improvement

• Designing digital products and communities

These are all activities I have done for myself or in my previous roles as a consultant and chief of staff. It is much less intimidating when I just focus on the verb and not the noun.

As I continue to perform these activities, I’ll narrow down what my unique offering is and the exact title or elevator pitch will take care of itself.

I keep trying to remind myself that these things take time. I’m lucky to have access to guys like Ali as unofficial mentors who share their journey to help accelerate my learning curve.

Thank you for reading! As always please reply and let me know what resonated, what didn’t, or what you question. I love chatting about this stuff!

Cheers,

Andrew