What evidence do you have?

Assignment: What evidence do you have?

The assignment for this chapter is to make a list of evidence that you cannot argue against. Because someone with imposter thoughts is a champion of explaining away their evidence, today we compile a list that consists only of facts, with no buts or other explanations.

I’m looking at you with gentle demand in my eyes and ask that you spend at least 15 minutes on this assignment. This is maybe the most important task in the whole course! For the next 15 minutes I want you to list every single thing that you’ve achieved in your life. Note down:

• the schools you got into, your exam results, grades, degrees, internships, graduations, prizes
• job interviews you got, references given to you, jobs you got, titles, raises, promotions, prizes, peer reviews, citations
• appointments, nominations, polls you won
• roles, parts and accolades you’ve received
• the living you’ve earned as an employee, entrepreneur, artisan, freelancer
• positive feedback

List absolutely everything you can remember. It’s also a good idea to message your parents, friends and colleagues and ask them what they remember. Perhaps you’re forgetting a prize you won at school? Maybe you don’t remember that another company tried to headhunt you a few years ago? Maybe what’s missing from your list is that you were the Employee of the Month in your first summer job or maybe you don’t even know that the client praised the project you did to heavens to your boss?

The impact of this list alone is remarkable. If you want to deepen your learning, there’s also an additional assignment in the workbook that builds on this. To be able to do the additional assignment, write your original list on the left side of the paper, one achievement per line.