Last weekend I took a friend surfing. She’d never done it before so I slipped back into surf coach mode and gave her a lesson. The sun was shining as we walked over the hill with her rented board and found ourselves looking at perfect little waves to play in.
We ran through the basics on the beach, then jumped in the ocean to put the theory into practice. It was her first time surfing so everything was brand new for her, but she did an awesome job.
After about an hour of playing in the surf, we headed back to the beach feeling super stoked. On the drive home, we were chatting about the surf. Kris was talking about how exhausting it was, having to jump over a wave after wave and then finding enough energy to paddle and actually catch & ride the waves. Not to mention getting thrown around in the ocean, and trying to remember all the different things she’d learnt on the beach. We laughed as I promised her it would get easier.
Later on that afternoon, I was thinking about our chat. I realised how often we forget what it’s like to be a beginner. How easy it is to get fixated on what we don’t know, and what we still need to learn, rather than acknowledge the experience & expertise we already have.
Kris had reminded me of those early days of surfing when it seemed like there were a zillion things to remember, and a zillion waves intent on trying to drown me. But somehow, nowadays those things come naturally to me, and the waves have to be pretty big before I freak out about them.
Just last week, I came across this awesome quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (an American poet with a rad name)
‘Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare think’.
It seemed super relevant to me after that surf lesson, and even more so when I thought about how we could apply that to entrepreneurship. I work with so many clients who struggle with (the super common) Impostor Syndrome. Where, despite external evidence of their competence, they still hold this belief that they are, in some way, a fraud, and that they’re not good enough at what they do.
I’ve not met many entrepreneurs who haven’t dealt with this at some point in their career. Which is why I thought that quote was so bang on.
Here’s the thing: Imagine that you’re on a ladder. It’s a super tall ladder, and right now, you’re about halfway up. When you look down, you can see a heap of people beneath you, all on different steps of the ladder. And when you look upwards, there are a whole bunch of people hanging out on the steps above yours.
You’re all moving up. And you’re all doing an awesome job.
Remember this: There will always be people above you. And those people? They feel the same way as you when they look up (like, holy smokes, I wanna be up there!).
But there are also people who are climbing the ladder who would LOVE to be where you are. There are skills you have taken for granted that someone else would gladly pay money for (either for you to use those skills in creating something for them or teaching them how). Your experiences thus far, are super super valuable to someone who hasn’t quite reached your level yet.
Someone, right this minute, is wishing they could learn what you already know.
And that’s what is amazing about the whole thing. Everybody wins. As your business grows, and you get better at what you do, you’ll move further up the ladder, and make room for more people climbing underneath.
So this is what I want you to do. Take stock of all the stuff you already know. Note down the areas of expertise you already have. The stuff you feel rock solid delivering on, and you know (even when your inner gremlins are trying to say otherwise), you’re really freaking good at.
You’re pretty amazing, huh?
Are you making this confidence-zapping mistake?