Latest Unthinking - September

Welcome to the Latest Unthinking newsletter, September edition!🤘🏼

Tell me something new

82% of people suffer from imposter syndrome. 3 questions to ask yourself if you think you have imposter syndrome and 3 tips to help overcome it.

1. Does the World See Who You Really Are?

• We all tend to project a certain image, though this varies depending on the situation.

• However, this should be the exception rather than the norm.

• Constantly feeling like you're performing instead of living is mentally draining.

2. Do You Take Ownership of Your Success?

• How often do you credit your achievements to luck or external circumstances?

• Instead of recognising your own skills and abilities?

• A persistent fear of being 'exposed' often indicates you don’t truly feel like you belong or deserve your success.

3. How Often Do You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone?

• Do you avoid opportunities or shy away from challenges?

• Are you afraid of making mistakes and often procrastinate?

• If doubt, avoidance, and hesitation are recurring themes in your life, they will limit your growth and potential.

3 Strategies to Take Control

Step 1: Recognise Feelings for What They Are

• Acknowledge that these feelings are just that—feelings.

• You may have created a narrative in your mind that makes you feel like a fraud, which leads to feeling like an imposter.

• To gain clarity, compare your actual results with the negative thoughts in your head. Ask yourself: What is just my belief, and what is the truth based on objective evidence?

Step 2: Embrace Your Achievements

• Positivity tends to slip away like water, while negativity sticks to us like glue.

• This negative bias is rooted in evolutionary survival, but in today’s world, it can turn us into our own harshest critics, distorting the link between our results and how we perceive ourselves.

• To bridge this gap, start documenting your accomplishments daily. This will create a personal record of success to remind you of your value.

Step 3: Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

• Mistakes don't prove that you're not good enough; they demonstrate your effort.

• You don’t need flawless results to validate your worth. This is another belief that needs to be reprogrammed.

• Shift your focus to appreciating the work you put in, just as much as you value the end results.

Dirt track mindset

Storytelling can be a powerful tool in a leader’s armoury. Focussing on the small details can mean you sacrifice the wider message.

James Averdieck had had enough of his margarine sales job and decided to follow his passion and make indulgent chocolate desserts.

He wanted to crack the chocolate dessert market.

He had the product sorted, but needed to create a brand so he went to an agency to help with a name, packaging and positioning.

Except he didn’t hear back for weeks.

When he called them to check in, they revealed they’d found something and he should come into the agency office so they could tell him in person.

The agency had bad news, they’d found a competitor who had just beaten him to it.

‘Unfortunately, virtually the same product, same positioning, everything. We’ve managed to get hold of some pictures. We can show if you promise not to tell anyone outside of this room’

They showed him, pointing out that it had stylish, classy branding that made it a premium product and the name was GÜ. The ‘U’ has an umlaut that looks like a smiley face which is fun, too.

James asked what stage they were at?

The agency learned their sales team were ready to go and that they believed it would land well given there was no existing competing product in the market.

At this point, James admitted he felt defeated, he missed the boat.

Until the agency said they had some good news.

‘we made that story up. GÜ doesn’t exist. This is our presentation to you. If you want it, you can have it.’

And he did. He went on to sell the company in 2010 for £32.5m.

Instead of focusing on the serif on the typeface or the background colour of the packaging, the agency told a story that made James feel like he had missed out.

They sold the details by focussing on how they made him feel.

Highlights

⚡Hanna Latif-Walmsley has survived thrived in her first 4 weeks at Unthink. If you want to get to know her, you can watch the serious welcome video here or the less serious one here…

⚡ CEO doing CEO things, beer pong edition.

⚡Our 2024 cross-organisational Women’s Leadership Experience (WLX) started Yesterday! 26 women from across the globe coming together to enjoy new & diverse perspectives, world-class thinking and unrivalled energy. Yesterday’s experience explored converting Imposter Syndrome to Superpowers, supported by the ever-impressive Lamees Butt. If you’re interested in signing up for 2025, reply here and receive an early signup discount.

⚡ Video of the month… Reckon you could scan it?

🔄 ICYMI: Our last four Unthinking Thursdays 💡:

💡Dear Diary: Hanna reflects on her first four weeks with Unthink.

💡 The email that Janne Muller-Wieland sends the Unthink team every week…

💡Across August, our Love Sundays, Again winner Aidan McCartan shared some deeper reflections on what his time gave him in Japan:

Part 1: A Magical Reset Fuelled by the Water of Life, Raman and Karaoke

Part 2: Arriving in Japan and Commencing the Whiskey Trail

Part 3: The Home Stretch of a Spirited Journey