| Hi everyone,
2nd last day! Today’s email is short for once. I share an imposter syndrome story that I really love. Day 29 of the ‘30 Ways To Play With Your Imposter Syndrome’ Challenge. Today’s theme: Today’s story: Key quotes: “Last night, Nasa’s InSight lander finally touched down on Mars — after a long and arduous 301 million-mile journey. “And despite being on the red planet for less than 24 hours, it has already sent back two stunning images. “But NASA has spent plenty of time on Mars already, and has a huge collection of Martian photography available online. We’ve picked out some of the best photos taken from Earth’s closest neighbour.” What strikes me about those pictures, is how they look like they could be taken on earth. Sure, some pictures have an alien blue vibe. But you know what? There are places on earth that look even more alien. If you search online for terms like “places on earth that look like another planet”, you’ll find lots of pictures that live up to that promise. (And some that don’t.) Some things you might think would be very different, can be more similar than you think. Take imposter syndrome. If you have it, you’re not alone. There are so many successful people that have it too. If you search online, you’ll find plenty of successful people suffer from it. ▪ Tom Hanks That list barely even covers it. Artists, writers, scientists, celebrities, athletes, and more, have all experienced it. Which reminds me of the single best story I’ve ever read about someone with imposter syndrome. Neil Gaiman is a famous writer who’s dealt with it in the past. And he shares a wonderful story about it. You can click here to read the story, or just read on: “Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things. “On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name*. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, ‘I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.’ “And I said, ‘Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.’ “And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.” I think I’ll leave it there for today. Short and sweet. Best wishes,29 Screenshot proof below: (You’ll see it only if you have images enabled.)
Taken 2018-11-29 at 2.25.11 am |
