The Truth About Imposter Syndrome for Singers

 Have you ever booked the gig or been given the compliment you’ve been hoping for…

only to start wondering if someone made a mistake? 

Maybe you walk into an audition thinking:

“Who am I to be doing this?”

But then....you get the role!!!  You celebrate. You call your people. You’re on cloud nine!

…for about a day. 

Then rehearsals get closer, you start thinking about all the amazing  singer/actors that will be a part of it....and suddenly:

“They must have made a mistake.”

Or someone tells you, “You have such a beautiful voice,” and instead of simply saying thank you, your brain starts explaining why they’re wrong.

“They’re just being nice.”

“They probably say that to everyone.”

“They don’t really know what they’re talking about.”

Yep.

That, my friend, is imposter syndrome.

And I think it’s especially sneaky for singers because our work is so personal. We’re not just showing up and doing a job. We’re putting our whole selves out there.

It can be reeeeeeeeeally easy to turn every opportunity, audition, performance, or compliment into a referendum on whether or not we’re “good enough.”

Meet the “Yeah, but…” machine.

Imposter syndrome can be incredibly selective about the evidence it pays attention to.

You got the job?

“Yeah, but they were desperate.”

You sang beautifully?

“Yeah, but it was a fluke.”

You got invited back?

“Yeah, but they probably didn't have anyone else.”

And god forbid one thing goes wrong:

“SEE? I KNEW I WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH.”

Sound familiar?

Our brains can collect the evidence that supports the story while completely dismissing the evidence that doesn’t.

So what do we do?

Become a detective.

The next time you notice the thought (and hey! Congratulations on catching it!!):

“I don’t belong here.”

Pause and ask:

What do I actually know?

(Not what you fear, not what your inner critic is saying, not what everyone else seems to be doing.)

What are the facts?

Maybe the facts are:

• I was invited.
• I auditioned.
• I was selected.
• I’ve trained for this.
• I’ve done this before.
• I’m still learning. 

Those are facts.

Then there’s the story:

“Everyone here is better than me.”

“They’re going to find out I don’t belong.”

“I just got lucky.”

“I have to prove myself.”

And I get it! That story might feel incredibly real.

But feeling real isn’t the same thing as being factual. 

Also:

You can be a work in progress and still belong.

Like you can be nervous and still sing.

You can have more to learn and still be talented.

You can wonder if you're good enough and still take the opportunity. (Cause these voices aren't going away, we are just learning how to manage them so they doesn't keep us small!)

ALSO......You don't have to replace “I’m an imposter” with “I’m PERFECT and I have nothing left to learn!”

If your nervous system doesn't believe that, you're just creating another voice to argue with.

Instead, get curious. If you catch this imposter stuff happening in real time, realign. (That's the work we are learning to do. Realignment).

Again, come back to the facts. Ask yourself:

What have I done that demonstrates capability?

What am I still learning?

What am I assuming?

Whose standard am I measuring myself against?

(And my favorite:)

What would I do if I didn’t need to prove that I belonged?

We go deep into this on this week's episode of The Joyful Singer. Give it a listen! I talk about creating an “Evidence” file, what changes when you stop trying to prove that you belong, and I teach you how to hear that self doubt without automatically letting it influence your decisions. And so much more.

Let me know what you discover! I'm all ears. I want to hear from you!