EXAMPLE OF AN AUTHOR WITH THIS FEAR We worked with a consultant, Jonathan Dison, on his book, The Consulting Economy. He’s a management consultant who had his own consulting firm that was doing very well. Hundreds of people he’d worked with throughout the years had asked him to write a book, one that would detail the method he used to help them tran- sition from corporate employee to independent consultant. Despite all these people asking him for the book, he put it off because he didn’t believe he was enough of an expert to write a book. Even though he literally made the life-changing transition himself, and had coached hundreds of people through it—at some level he didn’t believe he actually knew anything. I can’t tell you how many times Jonathan said, “Tucker, I have no idea what I’m doing.” I would then walk him through how he helped people transition from corporate employee to independent consultant. I had him explain his process to me, and then tell me about the people he’d helped, and have him tell me what they told him about his advice (always gushing praise). I know, it’s funny to laugh at this from a distance—even Jonathan laughs at it now, but this was a real issue for him when he was beginning his book. That’s what’s so great about this fear—it’s usually easy to under- stand if it’s based in reality. Just ask yourself: are people coming to you and asking you for, or paying you for, your knowledge? If so, then you clearly have a book in you, as long as the book is just you sharing that knowledge with people. You can overcome your Imposter Syndrome by focusing on that fact alone. ThE Six fEArS yOU (COUlD) fACE WriTiNg yOUr BOOk · 27