Journal: #279 Imposter Syndrome
Last week I listening to marketing guru Seth Godin discuss the craft. If you don’t know, Seth Godin is to marketing what Beatles are to music in the 20th Century. He helped turn Yahoo into one the most trafficee websites in the world. He’s the gold standard, and what he says about the trade is insightful and challenging. If I could recommend a daily read for my customers it is Godin’s blog.
What I love about Mr Godin is he gets it. He understands products and services need to serve people. And better the product the more happy customers ate created. From this perspective, business becomes flexible and mimics a true relationship. Marketing isn’t about slamming slogans and features. Marketing is a feedback loop.
The most difficult part of marketing is the creative aspect. How does a brand communicate its story and purpose, especially small or new businesses? Where do we capture the attention of a potential customer? What methods and style does our marketing respond to? It’s a dizzying dance. I was once a team who spent a month revising a few facebook. The discussions unloved such topics as “should we use animated copy (letters that move)” and “which shade of fusia is best for women 24-38 in metro areas?” I wanted to crawl in a hole, mostly because I didn’t like the campaign approach. And, after listening to Seth speak, I think he’d agree with me.
Toward the end of his talk Mr Godin spoke on the topic of creative in marketing. My ears perked when he touched on the subject of Imposter Syndrome. Since last summer, nearly every work day, that’s me. I’m a newbie in the marketing world, but I want to deliver a healthy return for my clients. Thankfully, I work with a supportive team. They get it.
There’s one line from Seth’s brief discussion of feeling like a fraud: Imposter Syndrome is proof your pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, and doing the work. To be vulnerable, that’s how feel about most of my life. I’ve been pushed and stretched, and the Lord challenged me to stay the course.
If you read this blog you know I’m up and down. But, I show up. I write even if I have nothing to say or my words fail sense of perfection. I write anyway. I pray anyway. I journal and diet anyway. What a gift. By that, I mean to say, what an opportunity.
This morning I wondered what my life would’ve been if I were still in a relationship. It’s impossible to say. Would I be on the verge of being a full-time investor? Would I have found the courgage to write? To dive deeper into the Lord? It’s possible. But I’m thankful for the chance to start over. I got to reset my life with minimal impact to a wife or family. If anything, I owe myself, my future family, and the Lord my best effort. The more I push myself through imposter syndrome now, the more I will be able to focus on them later.
What a gift.
