When starting as a Virtual Assistant (VA), emotions are running at an all-time high. You’re excited, hopeful, and determined. The newness of a new journey, wanting to become a business owner, and making money is a great incentive.
Then, something happens; the excitement starts to fade, and a heap of phobias begins to creep in.
Two words: Imposter Syndrome.
What is it? Why is this happening to me?
In this blog post, let’s chat all about the big scary topic of imposter syndrome and how to overcome it when you’re venturing into the online world for the first time as a Virtual Assistant!
First things first: What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome, as defined in Psychology Today, is “a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.”
Guess what? You are not a fraud or alone!
There are many beginners, currently thriving, and veteran VAs that struggle with imposter syndrome and are still shining with their creative selves.
When trying something new, there is fear, shyness, lack of confidence, or tons of doubt. These feelings are normal, real, and can get the best of you. Imposter syndrome, can rob you of self-confidence, bring about much doubt, and put your mind in a tailspin.
How can I get rid of this thing called imposter syndrome?
There is no known medical cure to heal imposter syndrome, but there are many ways to overcome it. Let’s look at five ways to beat imposter syndrome as you continue your journey as a Virtual Assistant.
1. Awareness is ½ the Battle
Awareness is a simple, challenging concept to find. Many factors [may] include your childhood upbringing, current living environment, negative self-talk, and other life experiences. Being aware of your thoughts and feelings is the first step.
Learning how to make sense of what you feel within, those around you, and, more importantly, what motivates you is super important. How you respond to it is another story, but that is also another part of your understanding.
Taking the time to recognize why you feel emotions of fear, shyness, and lack of confidence as you work toward becoming a VA, along with the many unknown phobias is of great importance.
Keep track of what you think. Is it positive, or is it negative?
Use tally marks, keep running numbers, start a diary or whatever method you feel works best. Use it to help you keep track of all the happenings in your mind and what you think. Do this for a week (or longer) to see your thought patterns and begin your steps toward changing them.
2. Let’s Talk About It
Sharing what you’re feeling and what is going on in your mind helps the beginning process of opening up and share your concerns. This may be a family member, trusted friend, or even a mental health professional. Pouring out what is bottled up within your heart and mind is so needed to start fresh and anew.
This is also a time to understand your expectations versus the perceived reality of your thoughts. You will be amazed to discover what you thought of yourself is not even what you expected it to be!
So, take a moment to take a deep breath and share your concerns to those you trust as you move forward to better things ahead in your VA journey!
From example, in our 90 Day VA program, we have an exclusive, private Facebook group just for our community members to share their wins, their struggles and hold each other accountable. It’s not rare that one member will share their struggle with imposter syndrome and other members will chime in to say they can relate and share their own tips of wisdom.
Community can be so impactful in reminding you that you are not alone in your feelings and that you have others who support you and believe in you even when you don’t quite believe in yourself yet!
3. Skills? You Got ‘Em!
Becoming a VA comes with all sorts of goodness. You can be your boss, set your schedule, travel to your dream destinations, and do all of this while you’re anywhere in the world. Anywhere!
And you can get started with just a handful of skills as a VA.
“Skills. What skills?” you may be asking.
Believe it or not, you have a skill set that can and will help move you from one area of expertise to another.
Some examples include…
- You enjoy working with people and know how to handle and diffuse problems. Guess what? You can work in customer service!
- You enjoy writing and can place words in such a way to have readers take up a cause or buy a product. Guess what? You can work as a copywriter or email marketer.
- You are creative and are excited about creating social media platforms that are full of life and engagement. Guess what? Social media may be your thing!
Now there are some more fine-tuning that is needed, but you already have foundational skills! Just believe and showcase what you already own.
And if you’re really looking into developing in-demand online skills, I invite you to check out our free intro class on how to get started as a Virtual Assistant where I go through all the skills a VA can offer!
(Spoiler: there are WAY more services that you can offer than you could possibly imagine!)
4. Can We Connect?
Once you begin to see (and start to believe) what you’re capable of, more smiles will spread across that beautiful face. You’ll become happier and more self-confident. Along the way, you will notice that you are not alone. You will start to connect with others and begin to build a community.
It’s a great feeling to know that you have a support system that not only knows what you’re going through but understands the “why.” Finding a VA community to surround yourself with that accepts you for YOU is a great feeling.
You can join an online community group (e.g., Facebook) or even find local VAs that share workspaces at a local coffee spot. However you find your community support, know that there is support. After all, you’re doing what you can and become the best version of yourself.
The best part is you can pay it forward to the next person that will be going through a similar experience.
Reach out and see what happens!
5. Celebrate Your Successes
Living a life as a VA can be lonely, especially when no one really ‘gets it’. You may hear questions like:
- “Who works online?”
- “How do you make your money?”
- “Why don’t you get a real job?”
Don’t let that negative self-talk and other chattering noise of others get the best of you. Know your worth.
You’ve got this! Don’t forget to CELEBRATE EVERY SUCCESS!
It doesn’t matter if it is a small one, celebrate it anyway! It’s your milestone and journey toward your success.
Still unsure and in doubt?
Sign up for the 90 Day VA free intro class to see if it’s right for you.
Created by CEO and Founder, Esther Inman, military wife, mother, online educator, and world traveler extraordinaire she created this program to help women all over the world become a better version of themselves.
This program is an online self-paced program that will help you gain and expand your VA skills, experience, mentorship, and the ability to work on an actual portfolio.
Whether if it is your VA journey or life journey, know that you can use these five ways to work on imposter syndrome to become a better version of you.
It is said, “First steps are the hardest.”
What are you going to do about it?
If you find this article useful but you have more questions about how to get started as a Virtual Assistant, check out our FREE CLASS where we talk you through the most important steps. If you feel you are ready to take the lead in your life and join the world of remote workers, check out our 90 DAY VA program!
