If you've ever stood in a meeting, holding an award, accepting a promotion and quietly
thought, "Why do I feel like I don't deserve this?"
Like any second now, someone's going to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to give
it all back.
I want you to know that feeling has a name.
It's called imposter syndrome and it is so common and far less true than it feels right
now.
Hi there and welcome.
This is the calming anxiety podcast, your daily sanctuary.
I'm Martin, clinical hypnotherapist and I've spent years helping high achieving people
quite at voice that tells them they're about to be found out and I felt like that every
day is a paramedic.
Hello, let's settle in now with the breath, find your quiet place somewhere you won't
be disturbed.
You can sit or lie down, headphones on as well and if it's safe, close your eye.
Today, we'll use the breathing pattern I've lent on so heavily all my life in the seconds
before walking into emergency in the moment before I stepped on the mats as a sparring martial
outing.
This is box breathing.
It works because it gives your nervous system something steady to hold on to.
We'll breathe in for full through the nose always.
You'll hold at the top to be steady and then breathe out through your mouth for six.
Gentle and relaxed, ready with me.
Breathe in to who?
Three, four, fours, two, release, two, three, four, five, six.
Allow yourself to one wine.
Let's do that again.
Ready?
In.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Howell.
Two.
Release.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Sit.
Allow yourself to melt
into the surface beneath you.
Let's do that again.
Breathe in.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Pause.
Two.
Breathe out.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Sit.
One more round.
Allow the muscles to one wine on the out-wrapped.
Breathe in.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Howell.
Two.
Breathe out.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Just rest.
Truly held in this moment.
Just you.
The almost hypnotic rhythm, the rise and fall of each and every breath in the sound of
my voice.
Breath after out-wrapped.
You drift deeply.
Save in the sanctuary of your consciousness.
Relighting your own strength, your own focus and clarity, because simply put, you are worthy.
Just feel the weight of your body on the surface that supports you.
Within this moment of calm today, in your mind's eye, truly, see these next words, visualizing
them in your thoughts, taking note of the colour that you chose, the brightness.
Once heard, repeat them softly in your thoughts and then imagine the echo of them, becoming
part of all that you are.
My success was not an accident, I built it one decision at a time.
I do not need to feel ready to be qualified.
I already am.
The doubt in my mind is not evidence of incompetence, it is simply doubt.
I am allowed to take up the space I have learned.
I do not owe anyone an explanation for how far I have come.
Breathe in, two, three, four, whole, two, relax, two, three, four, five, six, and allow these
words to settle a little deeper.
I was chosen, hired, promoted and trusted, not by accident, but because of what I bring.
Other people's confidence is not proof of my inadequacy, it is just their costume too.
I release the need to be flawless to feel deserving.
My achievements do not require a disclaimer.
I belong in the room, I worked hard to enter.
Now just rest here a moment, within that truth, there is nothing to hide behind, there is
no script to fear forgetting, just you, fully qualified to be exactly who you are.
And to carry with you, this growing sense of self-worth, here are today's three daily
caring tips.
One, the evidence file.
Next time the fraud feeling creeps in, write down one concrete thing you did to get where
you are, a skill you built, a problem you solved.
After running list, doubt really survives contact with evidence.
Two, the universal doubt to check, remind yourself that the most accomplished people you admire
have likely felt this exact same flutter stage.
Imposter syndrome doesn't shrink with achievement, it just gets better dread.
And three, the pause before comparing, when you catch yourself comparing your behind the
scenes to someone else's highlight reel, pause and ask, am I comparing my whole story to
their best five minutes?
Now gently bring your awareness back into the room around you.
Keep deep breath in and as you exhale gently wiggle your fingers and toes then stretch out
the arms overhead.
And when you're ready my friend, open your eyes.
Showing up today, doing the work despite the voice whispering, you don't deserve this,
that takes real courage, that is not nothing, that is everything.
I suffer from this more than anyone, I turn up each day, I do these meditations to quash
the four year old within me with all those doubts and I've become who I've always wanted
to be and I hope you become you.
Have a lovely day.
If you want more support, why not check out the anxiety circuit break course, a calming
anxiety dot FM, it's only sixty seven dollars, it's five of my most focused clinical hypnotherapy
sessions, anxiety, take care, smile often and your beautiful soul, be kind.