How The C.I.A. Can Help With Your Next Trip ( My BEST Travel Resources)

Hi, travel creators. Today we are talking about my least favorite house guest, imposter syndrome. If you clicked on this, you probably already know what imposter syndrome is, but in case you don't, it is feeling like you're a fraud. It's feeling like the things that you accomplished you are not worthy of and they've happened by some sort of fluke.

It sounds so funny and just a little bit crazy. But it's been something I have been experiencing lately, and I've been talking to a lot of other creative people, and they have also been experiencing that. I took to the internet, and I asked creator friends, how do you deal with imposter syndrome?

What do you do to get yourself out of this? It's especially hard because I work with creators who do get in their head and we can't fault them for that. That happens to everybody. But it's hard when you're on the outside watching someone who is so good at what they're doing, and then thinking I don't feel good enough.

“I feel like the stuff I'm creating is not good enough. So I'm just not gonna do it.” And that is so hard on both sides of the spectrum. I'm going to share a couple of things my creator friends of the internet have said about how they deal with imposter syndrome so that we can get over this together.

Nobody Knows What They’re Doing

When I asked one of my friends, she said, I would love to know how to get over imposter syndrome. She also says to remember that no one had any idea what they're doing. Nobody knows what they're doing, which is so true.

That one always makes me feel good. She also says to ask questions, even if you think they're dumb. And I think this is actually an excellent piece of advice because if we're trying to get ourselves out of this little slump, I think we can sit down and ask ourselves a few questions like, “What are my goals?”

Just getting reminders of what you want to do? And also, what have I done to get where I am now? That one always helps me because if you look at your life a year ago, you probably have done things that you wanted to do. And, if you haven't, that's also everybody as people have done things they want to do, people have also done things they don't want to do at the same time.

But we all have hard things ahead of us, we all have hard to do lists. If you look backwards and think about “what have I done to get to this point?” That stuff was hard. That show was really hard. And guess what? But you did it. And now we have more hard stuff to do, so what's the difference? What's stopping you there? And now, and now, you probably have a bigger network of support and help to get through those future hard spots.

Having a Feel Good Folder

Another one of my top tips for creators is something I believe every creator should have. On my computer desktop, I have a folder called feel good folder. In it are screenshots of any time anyone has ever said something nice to me or affirming of my work or my efforts. I screenshot that and I put that in that folder and I read through. Start that folder today if you do nothing else. This next piece of advice sounds really counterintuitive, but I think it's working for me. So, I have been feeling like I am in a content slump, and now I'm recording my podcast, which I thoroughly enjoy. If I could do nothing else and just record podcasts all day long and have my producer Marie edit them, I would do that.

I have things on my to do list today, I still do, and I will get to them. But I was taking a break to work on something I want to work on. And also Marie needs my episode. But go, take a little break, find a project that is new and different that you haven't done in a while. For example, I haven't recorded a podcast episode in a few months.

So I went and did that and I was like, dang, this is so much fun I forgot. And now I'm feeling a little inspired again. So go try something else. Something else that has been really helpful for me that I have been doing lately that is also new to me is networking with other creators.

Especially for me, networking can sound like the last thing you ever want to do, but it has been so incredible and re-energizing and reaffirming. Sometimes you just need to call up somebody and be like, I feel like this, and they're like, “Yeah you do, and so do I.”

Just knowing that you're not in this alone is so amazing. One way that I am getting out of my comfort zone, meeting new travel creators, and getting some stuff done is with something I call Wildfire Coworking. It is a new thing I’m trying and it’s totally free.

Wildfire travel creator coworking is for my creators who want to build a community. They want to get to know other people in their niche. They also have a to do list and they need to get stuff done. Basically, we show up on Zoom for an hour to two hours. We sit there, we get to know each other, and we get our work done.

It is incredible, and it is a way to feel affirmed. That you can feel your feelings and also get advice and take actionable next steps towards your goals. I think that social media for travel creators is the hardest thing ever because you are constantly constantly comparing yourself to other creators in your niche.

For example, you may know other travel creators that have beautiful drone photos, and you don't have a drone. Of course, you're going to think your stuff isn't good enough., I encourage you to save this and come back to it when you're feeling in this little rut.

Priming Yourself to Do a Task

I just learned a piece of advice recently that was about just, doing something, doing one task that's kind of like an entry level task to get yourself primed and prepped. It’s like a warm up, a warm up task to dive into something deeper. For example, I can barely write anything after 2 p. m. If I have to, there are definitely days when I have to be writing in the afternoon. I do a little warm up task to get myself back into that creative mindset.

Because then I'm typing words. Or, I'm just going to write down one concept of a project I'm working on or something, and then that primes me to warm up to do some of the harder stuff I have been putting off. Or sometimes I will look at my notebook with a bunch of my ideas in it, which I encourage you to have.

If you don't have a million dollar idea notebook, go grab one. It's just a notebook where I write down all the ideas that I think are great. If you need a reminder like, “hey, I have some good ideas”, go get a notebook and read through it before you start your work day. I used to be the type of person that would open my computer immediately as soon as my eyes opened, and that is not something we do anymore.

Rest is Required and Is Not a Reward

The reason is because I've had this little saying rattling in the back of my mind for a while, and it is, “rest is required, rest is not a reward.” I find I do much better work when I have space away from it, which may sound counterintuitive. I think that's also an underlying theme of trying to get ourselves out of this imposter creative slump. The things that we don't think we should be doing, we probably should be doing.

For example, if you don't feel like the content you're creating is good enough, then just don't force yourself to push anything out. You’re also feeding into the idea that, “oh my gosh, I don't like Korean content. This is so hard and I don't like it.” Which is definitely going to happen and sometimes we get stuck in this loop.

If you’re thinking, “how do I make sure content is still going out to my community?” I understand the importance of consistency, but also not burn the heck out. And that is where I help creators. I am a content developer for them, on their behalf, alongside them, so that they can rest in the background.

I always say that they can do things in their business that require their expertise and resting their little noggin is one of them. So if you feel like you need advice on “how do I even get started organizing my content so that I can have a dang beach day” then I'm your girl. I have free resources on how to do this on my podcast, and I also offer free brainstorming calls where you can come to me with your content, roadblock, and we can work through it together.

Something else that has been rattling around in my head recently is a sentence I learned from a fellow travel creator. That is, the work you are avoiding is harder than the actual work, or thinking about avoiding the work is harder than the actual work. When we open an email, and it has a little “to do” in there, like, hey, can you sign this thing?

Check Off Tiny To-Dos

Then you say “I'll sign this” and then you don't sign it at that moment. When that thing could take 30 seconds, it could be one less thing off your to do list. So this is me saying to you, find those quick wins within your day to help you make progress, even if it's tiny.

As a creator, we are always going to fall back into these ruts. We are always going to have these moments where we think, “what am I even doing?” “Why am I even creating?” or “Who am I even doing this for?” One of my clients posted this reel recently and it was just a compilation of all of these videos that she's seen recently or moments she's experienced that she put into one reel. They were just simple things that she created.

There were mundane things happening day to day. She put them together in a reel and she paused and looked around to see that all these moments we are experiencing are actually quite lovely. And that is such a great piece of content because it makes us stop and think and it is so simple.

So one of the best things you can do to get yourself out of this content rut is to keep it simple. You don't have to be everything or do everything or be everywhere. You just have to keep it simple. I hope you're feeling some sort of encouragement and not like you're falling deeper into this six foot hole.

If this was helpful, let me know on Instagram at @travelcontentwriting or you can send me an email at laura@ travelcontentwriting.com. Happy creating, friends!