Two of my favourite female entrepreneurs got together recently to talk about how to blitz your imposter syndrome. About living an unconventional life. And how we can start taking ourselves forward towards what we really want step-by-step.
Join Kate Wright (of Intentio Business Design) interviewing Ash Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project (yes, really) about her new book… The Middle Finger Project: How to Trash Your Imposter Syndrome and Live the Unf*ckwithable Life You Deserve.
As the book title might suggest, these ladies do not mince words, which I find exceedingly refreshing, and both come from not only experience but also hard won resilience and a bloody great sense of humour.
Ash’s book is the ultimate anti-self-help book as she drops on the page all the things we think about all the time, mostly never say out loud, and TOTALLY want to do something about. If only we could get up enough moxie to do so. Ash has moxie written all over her and she shares it around like cheap perfume. Except in a really good way. Not in a coughing fit kind of way, but a gimme more kind of way.
“I refuse to do meal prep all weekend so I can sell my whole week to someone else.”
Insights and takeaways
It would be churlish of me to give away all the goodies here, so I’ll let you catch the interview yourself (and the book!). The interview is around 60 mins long so enjoy over dinner or whatever you’re into. Here are a few golden nuggets …
> All hail the unconventional life: So much of Ash’s messages and Kate’s ethic resonate for me because I’m a thorough convert to living an unconventional life, designing your week and lifestyle exactly how you want it and binning any and all societal norms that don’t fit that. Kate nails it when she says “I refuse to do meal prep all weekend so I can sell my whole week to someone else.” Boom.
Was there ever a more in-your-face way of summing that up?! Love it.
> The imposter syndrome can show up everywhere: Ash talks a lot about the many juicy topics a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with – having solid contracts, owning your pricing and trusting that your tribe really do want to hear from you. Even if you’re negotiating a salary increase rather than setting prices in your business, naming what’s right for you is a signpost for who you really are. It tells people about the kind of person you are (ie. brilliant, professional and worth your price tag) and will often have them feel more confident that you really know what you’re doing.
This book represents YOU, it represents us, it represents the ideology we live by and it also represents this monumental shift in society as a whole: how we work, the way we work, the things we believe, the values that drive us—and how we’re reinventing what it means to live a good life.
> Whether we like to admit it or not, women often fall into the trap of not taking themselves seriously enough: Kate describes the sea of women running their own businesses as the Pink Ghetto. Wow. That painted such a clear picture in my head! She talking about the way so many women run their own business but basically become slaves to it (as in the ghettos of old); struggling along, trying to do everything themselves, and not paying themselves (enough or at all).
When does one start behaving like a business owner, dear I say it? When you let yourself be one.
Over the years I’ve had to own up to blaming the economy, old family baggage around money, the bank, my computer and various circumstances for things not happening the way they should in my business. But I know now, unequivocally that the buck stops (and STARTS!) with me. We’re in our own way! It’s all an inside job! And while my copy hasn’t arrived yet, I’m confident Ash’s book will give us all unmissable insights to help us do that.
Ash says: I hope this book is a bad influence on you. I hope this book makes you become even more unsatisfied. And I hope this book makes you follow your most dangerous ideas and start your own middle finger project…today.
Here’s to living the Unf*ckwithable life you deserve…
Karen x
PS. If this talk of a life you really deserve has you thinking “Holy crap, I really don’t like my job / career / boss / being a slave to my business!” you may want to go here and check out my blog about Why you shouldn’t quit your job even if you hate it. At least not yet and take note before you leap. x
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