You would suck at being someone else.

Really, you would. And why the heck would you want to be, anyway?

Tell me if you can relate:

You avoid searching for your keywords because seeing all of the results that come up makes you feel like running away, screaming while tossing a match on that whole business you created.

You obsess over your competitors’ websites, thinking “Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that?! No WONDER she’s doing so much better!”

Seeing someone else offering what you do gives you knots in your stomach and makes you question who you think you are, pretending to be able to do the same.

Any of these sound familiar? Welcome to Imposter Syndrome – the leading cause of business failure and being stuck.

It’s a pretty regular thing for me, particularly when I’m leveling up, because those are the times when I feel the most vulnerable. I have no evidence yet that what I am thinking of doing is actually going to work, so my confidence in that direction hasn’t yet developed.

Here’s the problem with Imposter Syndrome, other than the fact that it makes you feel crappy and small and leads you to drink a whole bottle of wine while eating Doritos.

It’s so powerful that it can lead you to quit.

It can lead you to leave out the wow factors that feel risky.

It can make you hide.

It will keep you in that “safe” place where you can’t possible reach your goals.

It will make you vanilla.

All these things? Not good for your business.

But, more importantly, it just doesn’t make a lick of difference to you and your business.

Their success (or lack thereof) has exactly no bearing on your business.

You know what I finally figured out that has worked to ward off the ugly cry comparisonitis?

I look at what I *perceive* as their success to be a vision of things to come for me. Like it’s already mine, I just need to get there. Not their thing, but the part of it that makes me want it. What is it about their “success” that really makes me shrivel? Well that thing there is the thing that belongs on my road map because it means something to me. And now that is useful.

Tell me in the comments…

What do you see in others’ businesses that you want to add to your own road map?