🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 173 | Curator’s Perspective | Imposter Syndrome
April 2025
Week 169: Curated Conversation: Confidence
Week 170: Mind Your Business: Confidence
Week 171: Manage Your Mind: Confidence
Week 172: What’s On My Mind: Confidence
*Week 173: Curator’s Perspective: Impostor Syndrome
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
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In the MindSweep this week:
Curated Conversation with curated GIF’s & puns (for your entertainment).
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner: Links to references. Need a map? I’ve got you!
What’s I’m Reading - Kate Hollis does it again…
Collaborations with Terri Hamilton (Thursday) & Shannon Giordano and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce
My face đź’ś and a link to schedule your free consultation.
Blinking Cursors & Racing Minds: Rewire Your Brain for Confidence
The cursor blinks to the rhythm of my pulse: beat-beat-blink, beat-beat-blink.
Just me, a cold brew, and the cursor of expected creativity, witty puns, and actionable takeaways meeting the beat of my heart.
It’s time to deliver your Weekly MindSweep, Jamie.
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
👉 Click here to Listen
I’m the business consultant who’s supposed to help entrepreneurs confidently broadcast brilliance—yet here I am, tongue-tied before a blank page, the pressure draped over my shoulders like a damp weighted blanket.
Here comes that nagging narrative that my achievements are undeserved, and who am I to be giving entrepreneurs business advice and strategy?
Yet, logically, I know that last Tuesday, I watched a creative entrepreneur’s shoulders drop in relief when I reframed her “failure” as useful data.
We mapped out her dopamine roller coaster on my signature butcher paper, Sharpie fumes mixed with espresso, and by the time the caffeine had settled, she spotted three tweaks for her 2.o version.
Moments like this are why I marinate in neuroscience and business–so you don’t have to.
Still, that uninvited passenger climbs into my brain:
seatbelt unclicked,
breath hot on my neck,
whispering, “Hope you’ve got a license for this success, Jamie. One crappy blog post and they’ll see you’re just winging it”
Sound familiar? If so, you—and I—have just met impostor syndrome— confidence’s clingy cousin and master back-seat driver.
#Jerk
Good news: we can reroute that passenger. Let’s hot-wire your neural GPS.
Why This Passenger Shows Up for Creatives & Founders
Creatives
The stakes feel higher because our “product” is personal—art, ideas, and heart on full display. Comparison to a “real” business is one click away. Each pivot, pitch, or pricing tweak happens in full view. It’s no wonder a single critique can feel like a public unmasking.
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are inventing something from scratch—no GPS, just construction cones and detours. Every experiment, pivot, or pitch happens in public. Add the daily tightrope of deadlines, distractions, and dopamine dips, and that faint maybe-I-don’t-belong whisper amps up.
“We all see you’re winging it!”
Why Your Brain Loves This Mean Little Myth - Let’s take a look upstairs:
Prefrontal Cortex
Its Job: Internal reviewer—evaluates skills, plans, and next moves
Imposter Hijack: When it loops on “Did I do enough?”, perfectionism spikes
Amygdala
Its Job: Smoke detector—alerts you to real danger
Imposter Hijack: Fires false alarms “We’re doomed!”, keeping cortisol high and creativity low
Reward System
Its Job: Celebrates wins with dopamine
Imposter Hijack: Moves the goalposts, so achievements feel … meh
Default Mode Network (DMN)
Its Job: be your daydream HQ - stitches thoughts together while you rest
Imposter Hijack: Left unsupervised, it turns into an overthinking factory, and worse case scenario
Neuroplasticity means these circuits can be rewired.
But only if we spot the glitch and intentionally update the code.
Five Brain-Friendly Reframes
Evidence Board, Not Vision Board. Pin screenshots of positive reviews, offers accepted, and problems solved. Review it weekly to train the prefrontal cortex on facts, not feelings.
Two-Minute Name-It-Then-Tame-It. When the heckler pipes up, label it: “Ah, impostor radio is playing again.” Naming activates the left hippocampus, lowering the amygdala alarm.
Body Before Brain. 30 seconds of movement or deep breathing boosts GABA, the brain’s natural “calm the heck down” neurotransmitter. [1]
Public Micro-Wins. Post a behind-the-scenes clip, ship a rough-draft newsletter—small stakes, quick feedback. Frequent hits of real-world data quiet the DMN’s imagined disasters. [2]
Accountabili-Buddy Loop. Share a tiny goal with another entrepreneur. Oxytocin from social connection buffers cortisol, making follow-through (and self-trust) stickier.
Before You Hit Publish…
Ask yourself:
If a friend achieved what I just did, would I call it luck—or talent?
What small proof can I bookmark today for tomorrow’s anxious mind?
Who could I text right now to “borrow belief” when my own runs low?
Impostor syndrome is common, especially among creative entrepreneurs and those with ADHD.
It may never vanish. But understanding its neuroscience roots and using brain-based strategies can help you break the cycle of self-doubt and reclaim your confidence.
It can shrink from stadium speakers to a background hum.
Your creative spark is real, your entrepreneurial grit is earned, and those ADHD superpowers—hyper-focus, idea velocity, resilience—deserve a front-row seat.
Keep building. Keep sharing. The world needs the gifts that you bring world, and while it already has plenty of clones, it needs your quirky, brilliant original.
Don’t let impostor syndrome have the final word.
Your Turn:
Got a favorite impostor-busting ritual? Share it with me. Let’s build a library of real-life strategies—because confidence, like creativity, grows faster in community.
My questions for you this week :
When your “impostor radio” starts playing, which track does it spin most often—and what concrete evidence could you counter-program with?
Which brain hijack—perfectionist prefrontal cortex, alarm-happy amygdala, moving-goalpost reward system, or overthinking DMN—hijacks you most? How might a two-minute Name-It-Then-Tame-It break that loop?
Reply and share with me!
Are you a like-hearted entrepreneur ready for support? Let's connect.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[1] GABA - gamma-aminobutyric acid - (gam-uh-uh-meen-oh-byoo-tir-ik) It acts as a calming agent, slowing down brain activity and preventing overexcitation of nerve cells, which can contribute to anxiety, stress, and fear.
[2] DMN - Default Mode Network - is a group of interconnected brain regions that are generally more active when a person is not focused on external stimuli, like during daydreaming or mind-wandering. It's essentially the brain's "default" state when not actively engaged in a task
[X] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?! Learn more about my Personalized MindSweep Mapping Process
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
Changing the world, one Monday Morning at a time. Learn more + Sign Up for a Monday morning reminder!
What I’m reading
Shy Creatures
Author: Clare Chambers
My friends, Kate Hollis does it again.
Kate is a dear friend, a brilliant librarianist, and a phenomenal writer. When she comes across a book she knows will speak directly to my soul, she lands it—every single time.
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers moved me deeply—especially the way William, the main character, thinks and experiences the world. His quiet, internal landscape felt achingly familiar, and the tenderness with which the world slowly met him, supported him, and made space for his uniqueness left a lasting imprint on me.
Find it where you browse for books.
Collaborations!
Join us NEXT Friday, May 9th, at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce for this two-hour interactive business community experience.
We'll discuss ways to cultivate business through Sales, Marketing, and Communication methods that support relationship building, showing up authentically, and connecting deeper with colleagues and the people you serve.
9-11 am - Open discussion, community support, brainstorming ideas
Join me in meeting business owners in our community. You'll leave with new tools to help you make connections and build your business!
Free; Registration is required: REGISTRATION.
Mindful Connections
Connecting like-hearted entrepreneurs to build relationships, offering support, understanding their passions, and sharing their names in rooms of opportunity.
Join us Thursdays, 12-1 pm EST.
12:00 - Take 5—a guided meditation with Terri Hamilton of Positively Terri to ground your week with peace and focus.
12:05-1 pm Round-table Share
Who you are
The gifts you bring to the world
Who you serve
The answer to a Curated question to spark conversation.
If you found this on the web, sign up to join us!
In other news…
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