Imposture syndrome: the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.
We all walk around with some level of imposture syndrome. But Why??? Where did it come from? How did we learn it?
This is my opinion and not necessarily the entire reason behind this behavior but I believe it is how we are groomed. We are taught to be humble with our gifts and skills. Quite our confidence so internally there is always a conversation where we lose no matter how much certainty we have in any skill set.
I have had so many experiences in my lifetime where I have proven to myself that I should not have any reason to doubt my abilities but still with every new opportunity I revert back default settings. Fortunately this time, I did so consciously.
My 1st Time as a Chef on a Movie Set.
If you attend Musicality Central classes consistently or if you avidly follow our social media postings then you know I recently completed a residency cooking on the set of ‘The Return’ an Indie horror /psychological thriller. I’m sure you want to hear about my day to day experience on set and I am open to those stories when we meet in person, but this blog is about unlocking a new level of belief that I know you will benefit from with every new venture you embark on.
I promised you that this blog would not be a recap of my day to day experience but in order to take you through my breakthrough moment, I have to take you through the over compensation of my first lunch service.
The Lunch Service that set the tone.
For some reason when faced with unfamiliar opportunites we tend to want to show all our abilities all at once. For my 1st lunch service that is exactly what I did. I created a menu that was alle carte. Yes, Instead of making it a simple servable menu I made it harder on myself by creating a menu with multiple singular options. With this approach lunch time took way longer than it was supposed to and I made service harder than it should’ve have been even with a sous chef.
The Why – Hear me out- Dont judge me too Harshly.
Let be back up a little so you can have some empathy for my ridiculous thought process. First and foremost, I was new to the supermarket and what it provided. It was a bit limited on protein options so I had to make some adjustments to my original menu plan. Secondly, I had a capable sous chef that could possibly help me create a magical experience for the actors and the crew to appreciate. With the help of my sous chef focusing on the lunch menu I was able to focus on some treats I promised in conversation while talking to the producer. So I made ice cream(chocolate & vanilla), my famous vinaigrettes, and finally my famous pineapple, ginger lemonade. I wanted to set the bar high on the 1st day and I literally made my job harder than it needed to be.
Now that you have an idea of how temporarily off base I was for my first lunch service, you can get a feel for how much I was trying to prove I was the right fit for the job. That was completely unnecessary because there was nothing to prove, I was already hired as the executive chef. All I needed to do was make the necessary adjusments given the limited protein options provided by the local supermarket, and do what I originally planned to do.
Well lunch time was 3PM for the my 1st day on set and we weren’t ready till about 3:05PM. When we opened up the food truck for lunch service we had not located the soup cups, and our service plan was not fluid enough to get each ‘alle carte’ order out in time for each crew/cast member. With that said, service was way too slow, and though we got through lunch service within the time alloted, there wasn’t enough time for everyone to eat and get back to the shoot schedule already in progress.
My Real Time Evaluation & Immediate Adjustments for Dinner Service.
It was during that lunch service, I realized what I was doing and how counter productive it was for what I was actually hired to do. Therefore, for dinner service I simplified a process I overcomplicated. Keeping all my dietary consiserarions in mind, I changed the ‘alle carte’ options to a menu that had only 2 options the planned menu and a gluten free option.
Time For a Seamless Dinner Service.
Dinner time reminded me why I love being a Chef and serving people. Dinner was at 8:30Pm. We were ready at 8PM. I pre-plated about 10 dishes at a time and put my sous chef in a position to complete service in less than 10 minutes and had time for the crew to get seconds. After this experience, I realized that was the template moving forward and it reinforced my confidence in my skills to be an executive chef.
Lesson Learned – I Believe Now.
Here’s my lesson through this first lunch service and every meal service moving forward. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PROVE YOU ARE GOOD AT SOMETHING YOU’VE FAITHFULLY WORK HARD AT FOR THE PAST 3 DECADES. At first, I did way too much because I was guilty of momentary imposter syndrome. Why, because I wanted to show the producer that they chose the right person for the job. The truth is, they already knew I was the right person for the job. That is why I was hired. Once I realized that, I put that insecure mindset to rest and delivered an experience everyday that reinforced why I should never doubt my abilities again. After that alignment, every lunch and dinner service that followed I went above and beyond by just doing what I was already more than capable of.
Maybe this is something you’ve noticed that keeps happening in your personal or professional life. It is time to put that imposter persona to rest and make that transition to believe in you for the 1st time. If you have been putting in the work to sharpen your skill set then it’s your season to unequivocally believe in yourself so you can finally live in the confidence you deserve to experience.