I just spent the week with a group of people helping me refine the vision for what we’re building.

Big conversations.
Big plans.
The kind of week where you leave feeling really clear about where you're going.

Then I went to a dinner.

At one point, I was talking and a woman got up from the table mid-conversation.

Later, I asked someone else a question and she walked away while I was still speaking. I actually followed her because I thought maybe she hadn't heard me.

She brushed past me and started talking to someone else.

Now listen... maybe it meant absolutely nothing.

But my brain did not receive it that way.

Within minutes, I had built an entire story:

You don't belong here.
These people can tell.
You're out of your league.
You somehow slipped into a room you weren't supposed to be in.

Two weird interactions and suddenly I was questioning everything.

It's wild how fast that happens.

And honestly, I think this is what people miss about imposter syndrome.

Most of the time it isn't screaming "this is imposter syndrome!" at you.

It's interpretation.

A delayed response suddenly means someone is upset with you.
A quiet launch suddenly means your business is collapsing.
Someone unfollows you and your brain starts conducting a full forensic investigation into your worth as a human being.

Very normal. Very stable behavior from all of us 😂

But seriously...

if you've spent years tying your safety, belonging, credibility, or identity to performance, your system starts assigning meaning to everything.

Neutral moments stop feeling neutral.

Everything becomes evidence.

Maybe this means people are starting to see through you.

Maybe the good months were a fluke.

Maybe you've been embarrassing yourself for longer than you realized.

Maybe the momentum is already disappearing again.

I texted my advisor afterward and fully spiraled on him.

His response was:

"This happens at every level."

Then he said something else that stayed with me:

"As you become more visible, your job is learning how to separate what someone else does from what you make it mean about you."

That landed.

And I think that's why this stuff messes with so many successful people.

You can objectively be doing well and still spend half your life reading between the lines of people's behavior.

A weird tone in someone's voice.
A shorter email than usual.
Someone seeming slightly off with you.

And suddenly your brain is trying to figure out whether you've done something wrong, whether the room still likes you, whether you're still safe there.

It's exhausting when you actually say it out loud.

But a lot of people are walking around building entire emotional realities off moments that probably meant nothing at all.

💜 Abi