Dethroning Imposter Syndrome

Do you wrestle with imposter syndrome? I would’ve said no if you’d asked me that last month.

Yet, as I sat on a video call recently with a collection of other creative business owners, feelings of inferiority caught me off guard. The flow of conversation intimidated me. Fear crept in, making me wonder what value I had to offer such knowledgeable colleagues. 👀

Often, when in conversation with someone with years of experience, we can convince ourselves that our fledging business can’t stack up against the giants of those who’ve come before us.

However, just because our businesses begin small doesn’t mean they’ll stay small forever.

Those giants in business once started small themselves. They had their years of uphill battles. Their own deep struggles to overcome to make it to where they are now.

The key is cultivating discipline, diligence, and consistency.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen variations of the word consistent on display everywhere I go.

God’s making a point to me. 😅 And I hope this heart chat drives a point home for you, too.

Remember, God has given you a message and a mission. Your creative work expresses a specific aspect of the Father’s heart to this broken and dying world.

This world needs you.

Each time you serve your audience, you’re sowing seeds–whether directly with His word or indirectly by simply sharing His love.

Each time you bless your clients, you’re sowing seeds of hope. Each time you press through the self-doubt, fear, or worry and walk in obedience, you’re sowing seeds of faith.

Keep pressing onward. You don’t know which of those seeds will reap an abundant harvest!

Quick fun fact: my family loves gardening. This past spring, we planted a bed of Roma tomatoes to fulfill our dreams of canning homemade marinara.

Roma tomatoes are a fantastic choice for garden beds because, as determinate tomatoes, they’ll stop growing after reaching a certain height and then switch their focus to producing fruit.

Although, we received an interesting surprise in this year’s bed.

As the growing season progressed, we noticed one particular plant looked much different than expected.

The oddly square-shaped tomatoes were smaller than a standard Roma but larger than a traditional cherry tomato.

And the plant itself did not stop growing. It continued to vine upward, surpassing my sunflowers in height, and climbed past my 6.5 ft trellis.

Somewhere along the lines, the plant the seed had originated from either cross-pollinated, creating a mystery plant, or a seed from another variety got mixed with our order from the grower.

Regardless of the seed’s origins, we loved those square tomatoes. They were our favorites out of the whole garden.

If we hadn’t planted the seeds, we wouldn’t have gotten the surprise harvest.

My friend, we may never know how God will use our seeds of faith.

But may we never stop trying. May we keep showing up in obedience, doing and fulfilling God’s will for our lives.

Failure is not my identity. It’s not yours either.