The Power of Identification, Paint Cans, and TEDxWomen
Two pieces of news.
They are unrelated, but not.
One: I am speaking at TEDxWomen on December 1. (My hands just shook as I typed that: I. Am. Speaking. At. TEDxWomen. On. December 1). So, you know, kinda a big deal.
Two: I finally got rid of the paint cans on my front porch.
Which one would you like to hear about first…the paint cans you say? Well, if you insist.
We have no garage, so unfortunately for our neighbours, we have become, over time, THOSE PEOPLE who store crap on their front porch. You know, stuff that no longer belongs in the house, but is one step away from the proper disposal. Like all bad habits, it was an innocuous first step that became a slippery slope of incremental crap housing. One bag of mortar mix begat the paint cans which begat the long-forgotten wagon which begat the ladder etc.
Getting rid of said paint cans has been on (though admittedly low-down on) the to-do list for longer than I care to share.
Oh, I’ve known where I need to take them. In fact, I’m pretty sure a two minute Google search would tell me who would come and pick them up for me. Safely. It’s just NOT been a priority.
Then one morning, as I was supposed to be writing my TEDxWomen talk (ahem), I received a group email:
Something that frustrates me to no end is not having easy access to information that teaches and shows us how to easily, safely and responsibly dispose of household hazardous waste items.
Been hoarding a bag of batteries in your 'bits and bobs drawer' since high school? Politely ignoring the leftover solvents and paints that are hiding beneath a tarp under your back deck or on your porch from that redecorating project in 2005?
Ummmmmmmmmm. Yes.
I identified with it. Fully and completely. It’s like she was writing with one eye on me. But you can read in these words that this rich context is likely borne of HER own experience, not mine. And it landed. Boom.
So, a short trip to the closest depot one day later, our front porch is (mostly) clear.
Identification leads to action.
So, about that TEDxWomen talk.
I’m tackling a topic that lives dead smack in the middle of my heart: how the Impostor Complex keeps people from their dreams. And to me, this is unacceptable, so I’m taking it down.
At the highest level, I know the talk will be grand: smart stuff, with a whole process, charming stories ‘n everything.
Annnnnnnnnd naturally, MY Impostor Complex is having a field day reminding me how woefully incompetent I am. How there are people far more qualified to speak to the topic than me. How I’m not funny, or smart, or captivating, or…
I’ve been struggling with the words. Procrastinating. Needling the nuances, incanting, sweating, fretting and tearing my hair out. Because it really, really matters to me.
Hell on the ego, but heavenly fertile ground for developing honest and authentic content.
The more clever I notice myself wanting to become, or smarter, or funnier, or deeper or more poetic, the more I feel disconnected from the truth that MUST imbue my words. Which disconnects me from the point. Which will disconnect the audience from me.
Also not acceptable. Not for the work I need to do.
So here’s what the audience at TEDxWomen Isfeld can expect:
I will share what I know of my own experience with the Impostor Complex and the process I use with the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with. I will share in my way, in my language, and in my voice and some will identify with my words (and some will not). And some will take action (and some will not).
And you? Are you giving people the chance to experience you? Or are you hiding behind clever, or funnier, or deeper or more poetic, too?
My request: bring the fullest, most truthful expression of you, glorious YOU. Your people will identify and then take action. Promise.
And isn’t that the point?
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.