Lesley Logan chats with Mark Collins, author of Life Mastery, on why success alone never silences imposter syndrome. They explore how to shift from life “management” to true life “mastery” by discovering who you really are apart from your titles and achievements. Mark reveals how reframing your identity ignites confidence and frees you from fear. If you’re ready for practical steps to live from your true worth, this episode is a must-hear.

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In this episode you will learn about:

Why success alone cannot end imposter syndrome.
The power of forming "I am" statements for stronger identity.
How life mastery outperforms simple habit management.
How daily affirmations rewire thoughts.
Practical tactics to affirm worth over old limiting labels.

Episode References/Links:

Mark Collins Website - https://www.freedom-for-life.net
Life Mastery - Life by Design by Mark Collins - https://a.co/d/bf0KDuo
Mark Collins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedForLife
Mark Collins Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_freedomforlife
Mark Collins YouTube: https://beitpod.com/markyoutube
Mark Collins LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mark-collins-freedom-for-life

Guest Bio:

Mark Collins is a personal success strategist and author of the book Life Mastery: Living Life by Design, Not by Default, known for helping business professionals and entrepreneurs unlock their “hero in hiding.” Drawing from over 500 client engagements and his own journey of overcoming imposter syndrome, Mark teaches that success alone cannot substitute for a strong sense of identity. Through his Life Mastery program—a comprehensive course rooted in practical tools and mindset shifts—he guides individuals to master their thoughts, words, and actions so they can break free from fear of failure and self-doubt. Mark’s approach centers on clarifying one’s “I am” statements, ensuring people live from who they are truly created to be, rather than from past labels or limiting beliefs. By emphasizing transformation over mere habit management, he enables clients to excel across all areas of life—professionally and personally—through genuine, identity-based change.

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Episode Transcript:

Mark Collins 0:00

No, there is no healthy imposter syndrome, because at the end of the day, what imposter syndrome says is I'm not qualified for where I'm at.

Lesley Logan 0:07

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:50

Okay, Be It babe. Here's the deal. This episode is gonna be one you listen to multiple times. I wanted to, in real time, rewind and relisten. It's so good. Our guest is Mark Collins. He's the author of Life Mastery and I really am obsessed with there's always a lot of people who want to talk about imposter syndrome, and this is the first time I've been like, yes, this guy, this guy actually really understands imposter syndrome and how to not let it master your life or take over like, he's so good, and he's got some great phrases that you will want to put on Post-Its and read every day to remind yourself how freaking amazing you are and what you're here on this planet to do. So I am just fired up. I'll also just be really honest, he's, this was the last Zoom call of a day where I started on Zoom at 6 am and I was like, okay, who am I interviewing? Oh, I'm interviewing Mark Collins. Oh, I really like this guy. The interview does not disappoint. I'm so excited. Now, I will also say this, I'm a fast talker. If you already aren't good at listening to me at 1.5 speed, good job. But you may want to slow this down to one because Mark Collins also can meet me at my speed. And so I recognize we're both fast talkers. We both recognize we're fast talkers. We could work on that. But also, I think our brains are just going a little too fast, so you might want to put us on one or point seven five. You can do that in your app. But also feel free to rewind. And then also on our website, we have the transcripts of the show, so you can also go back, read what any of the parts are that you loved. And I can't wait to hear how this helps you. Please let us know. Please tag Mark. Please tag the Be It Pod. And here is Mark Collins.

Lesley Logan 2:25

All right, Be It babe. I am super excited because our guest today caught my attention when he talked about imposter syndrome. And you know how we can actually not deal with that, and we can redesign our life. And as many times as I talk about like we have imposter syndrome, and often it's because we're new at something, so you're gonna be an imposter. A lot of times we feel imposter syndrome when we're not new. And so I'm just excited for Mark Collins to join us today. Mark, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?

Mark Collins 2:50

Thanks, Lesley, and thanks for the conversation. I'm excited to be here. So I was to give somebody a one-sentence scenario about what I tried to do. What I tell them is that I help people to unlock and unleash their hero in hiding in their business relationships in life. We have strategies and tools to do that, but at the end of the day, my desire is to see the best of you come out and be the person you're supposed to be in all areas.

Lesley Logan 3:13

I love that and that one sentence is like, just really great words in there. How did you get into this? Though? I think before we get into how to unlock that and unleash that and all that stuff, what made you go down this path?

Mark Collins 3:26

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, people ask that usually about my book Life Mastery, or the course that's titled the same as well. And I tell people this, Lesley, that I didn't do it because I thought I had great ideas for other people to live out to be able to do those things to maximize their life, or whatever the thing is that there is their goal, but it really was something I desired for myself. In walking through, you know, my own personal development and trying to succeed in business or athletics or academics, what I found was some of those things you talked about, that imposter syndrome that came along for the ride. And what I found was you can't success away fear of failure or imposter syndrome, they just come along. And so when you're at that mountain top and you've had that success, if it's a challenge that you've dealt with, and just to be honest, Lesley, I haven't met a person yet who hasn't had something apart from a transformational journey. I've and a lot of people, a lot of them have had the same issues that I had. So for me, it came from a place of finding transformational tools, being able to have more than just habits that I maintain, but a lifestyle that I could live, you know, when you do that, you want to share it with people, you know. And so it started informally and sharing with friends and having thoughts and ideas and telling them, hey, I've tried this at you and really started to formalize it in a system, instead of giving them little nuggets here and there and to say, okay, well, how do I help somebody get from A to Z, from bound to healed, or from stress to set free? And so that's where the course in the systems came from. It came from my own life first, and then the opportunity to work with so many others afterwards.

Lesley Logan 4:53

That's so cool. You just said you can't out success your imposter syndrome. What'd you say?

Mark Collins 4:59

You can't success away imposter syndrome or fear or anxiety or any of the other things that we do.

Lesley Logan 5:04

You are correct. You cannot. You're totally correct. In fact, the more you try, the more it's almost like you have more imposter syndrome or more anxiety.

Mark Collins 5:12

Yeah. Well and the interesting thing, Lesley, is a lot of times we think you can, you know, we look for those people that are on our pedestals, whatever those are in your life, and we think, oh, he or she, they've got it all together. They can't have the issues and the struggles and things that I have, and I just need to get where they're at, and all of a sudden, I'll be that person as well. Everything will work out, won't have any anxiety, won't wake up at three in the morning like I've had in my past. And you find out that that's not the case. And it's interesting when I'm always surprised at the clients that I work with that have those levels of success, right? Their name plate's on the door. They're the person who's doing great things, but it's the person that you don't know. It's the person like I said, waking up at three in the morning. So, yeah, success is amazing. It's a poor substitute for identity, and it's never a place where you can overcome issues that are standing in the way.

Lesley Logan 6:02

Yeah, yeah, you're so correct. First of all, I find it interesting. You said something like, we all like, okay, if I'm just like this person, then I'm going to be like this. Once I get to their level, then I'm going to feel free. And that is actually kind of the impetus of be it till you see it. Because I hate, I can't stand hearing when I have this, then I will. When this happens, then I will. It's, I don't want to wait for that to happen. A lot of those things can are like, kind of outsourced to other people. A lot of those things are like other people discovering you at the same time you're promoting it and also deciding to buy the thing that you have at the same, there's a lot of things in there. And so I'm like, how can I live like that right now? What if I was that person today? That's what be it till you see it is. And that's kind of where it came from. And so I just had to bring that up, because I was, oh, that's exactly what everyone does. Everyone was like, when I have this. I want to kind of go into, for the person who feels imposter syndrome on a regular basis, most of my listeners, hi guys, I see you. Is there any imposter syndrome that is healthy, or are there signs of imposter syndrome they may not know? Two questions there.

Mark Collins 7:06

Yeah, that's a great couple of questions. And I think, is there imposter syndrome that is healthy? And I would, to be totally honest, and of course, I will be honest, because that's who you're clientele and the people listening want me to be. No. No, there is no healthy imposter syndrome, because at the end of the day, what imposter syndrome says is I'm not qualified for where I'm at, whether it's in your business or relationship, you're in the boardroom, you're creating something on your own, you're a creative individual, or you're just in a relationship, or you're a new parent, right? One of the moments of imposter syndrome for me was having my daughter placed into my hands when she was born, and knowing I'm not qualified. Well, unfortunately, in many cases, imposter syndrome is me saying I'm not qualified for this. Whatever it is. You know? Whatever you've got as your item, that's what it is. And the truth of the matter is, as I talk to the people that I work with, it's in the thing that we talked about, your hero in hiding. I believe everybody has a hero in hiding. You have the person you're created to be, that be it person that you're talking about, and you have the person that shows up. And it's either coming from who you're, what I say, who you're created to be, or your life has told you. Well, imposter syndrome is me looking at my past and having informed my present and creating my future and saying that, well, because I wasn't able to last time, I can't do it this time, or because I didn't succeed in that business, I won't be able to do it this time. It's those thoughts that try and sabotage you, stop you and control the outcomes that you have in your life. So is it ever positive? Absolutely not. But congratulations if you have it. Because at the end of the day, I love people who do because those are the people who are really reaching for something in their life. When I'm comfortable and I've got all the answers and everything's working and I'm not too stressed, I'm not really trying very hard, well, imposter syndrome isn't coming up because it's just me being chill, but it's in those times and places, right, that man and woman who is reaching for higher ground, they're looking for that amazing goal, those wonderful things that they want to do in their life, that it comes up. But what we try to do is help them to understand. The one thing I tell you is, you're the answer to the circumstance you're walking into. You're not the question to be figured out.

Lesley Logan 7:08

Thank you for that. I really enjoyed that. The whole answer. I mean, it's true. When, I just had the moment of imposter syndrome earlier, before this call, and it was absolutely because I was thinking, what if this doesn't work? And I was basing it off of the things that haven't worked in the past, I totally did it. I used the past to direct the present. Instead of going actually, like, this is going to work because of all these different reasons. And also, if it doesn't work, I will absolutely take the steps to figure out why it didn't work and do it again. I know that about myself, so it's really funny how it can sneak up upon us. And it's also because I really care. I really care about what this thing is going to be and what it can do for people. So you talked about becoming a dad, but can you share any other instances where imposter syndrome kind of affected you and how you handled that?

Mark Collins 9:49

Yeah, absolutely. In business, right? So my wife and I, we've been successful entrepreneurs, and I'm sure, like in everybody else's business, there's those times when your output of finances don't equal your income coming in the door where, you know it was a client-based business. And so your bills are static. They happen every month, whether you have clients or not, whether they make their payments or not, whether they're late or not. And so, of course, there were those circumstances where, you know clientele would dip because of the recession issues challenges with whatever, right? Everybody has challenges in their life, but the bills are still coming in. And in those places, for me, it was that point of saying, I don't know if this was the right decision. Those things, when things aren't going well, then all of a sudden you question whether you're making the right choices. And if I can unpack something really quickly. So what I tell again, like I said before, if, what I tell people is that you learn from who you're created to be or what your life has told you. Well, we all have a past and a life that's told us something, many somethings in our life, and what we talked about as a foundation of Life Mastery is starting from identity. Who you're created to be. And in that place, you start to unpack and see some things in your life. Well, this guy who's got financial challenges, right? Like with every business, it's not all roses and sunshine. And in that place, you hearken back to understand who you are. And that, for me, was a young man who was struggling in school and having challenges with mathematics, and you know, some of the things that you're doing academically well, that young man at five, six, seven, eight, nine years old, who was struggling in one of his classes. Well, there's an identity statement that comes along with your experiences. It's never just your experience, but what's the experience tells you about you? Because we all have good and bad that we walk through. But the challenge is, what does it say about you? What's the identity statement that you're taking from it? So that young man who's struggling in school, believe it or not, I don't know about the schools you went to, but the ones that I went to, they didn't look too kindly on you if you couldn't cut it academically, and certainly your friends and the people around you let you know that. Well, that young man felt like he wasn't as smart as everybody else. So fast forward. Identity statement. When you're an adult, still succeeding, still doing great things, right, got my bachelor's degree, have a successful business, but then there's a financial downturn, and what happens is those thoughts come in your head. Imposter syndrome is another form of identity sabotage. It's saying this, you're not good enough. And in that place, what do you go back to? Oh, okay, well, it's because you're not as smart as, you're not as qualified as, you're not as good as, or whatever the thing is you're telling yourself. And so for us, it's understanding. How do you unpack it so you understand the truth? See, the truth of that young man was he was temporarily academically challenged. He wasn't somebody that was defective. He wasn't somebody that wasn't as good as. Come to find out, when I went to college, I took mathematics all the way up and passed all the way through calculus, which at that time was the highest level of math you could qualify for. Well, certainly I wasn't somebody who wasn't as smart as everybody else, even though you succeed afterwards, those identity statements come along. And you know this, Lesley, right? Because you know people in your own life, or people in the TMZs and all of the people that are famous where they try and overcome who they believe they are, but the success they have, but they sabotage themselves and ruin everything.

Lesley Logan 12:54

Yes.

Mark Collins 12:54

So it's always you showing up as who you are, and success, as I said before, is just a poor substitute for identity. But when you start to live from who you are instead of what your life has told you now, all of a sudden, you're unleashed into the world as a person you're created to be.

Lesley Logan 13:09

Yeah, I want to live more like that all the time. Is that even, is that possible? Is it possible to live a life without imposter syndrome and fully as who I am and not what I, what my past is?

Mark Collins 13:21

Yes, absolutely.

Lesley Logan 13:23

Is it something that takes a long time to de- as a deprogramming? How does someone kind of identify those situations, of what stories are being living themselves by? And also, it sounds like there's coping mechanisms, like, it sounds like success is a coping mechanism for the thing that they're trying to deal with.

Mark Collins 13:40

Yeah, absolutely. And so I'll take the last one first, and what it is is really what we've all been taught, or we all have assumed, right? So whether it's media or family or experiences that we've walked through, we've all assumed that when I've, whatever, gotten that trophy or got that level of income or have that amazing car in my driveway, well now all of a sudden, everything else is gravy. Everything works out. We look at the outside of somebody without understanding the inside. And so it's not any harm or foul by anybody. It's just this is kind of the system, which is why, you know, by the way, my book is called Life Mastery: Living Life By Design, Not By Default.

Lesley Logan 14:13

Yes.

Mark Collins 14:13

What I tell people is that everybody I know, apart from a transformational journey, is living from default. And it's that place of understanding that if I change my outward, it'll change my inward. When the opposite is true when I change my inward, everything outside of me changes. Another way of putting it, that I tell people is when I understand who I'm created to be, my world lines up. When I don't know who I'm created to be, my world has to make up the difference, and so I have to succeed to feel worthy. I have to have a relationship to feel loved. I have to have income to feel like I'm a person of value. (inaudible)

Lesley Logan 14:46

I would have to rewind what you just said, because you just said something the way that we are wanting the world to see us like if we're waiting for the world to (inaudible) in us, that's, that is, I think, how a lot of people are feeling right now, like I've had so many people who are reacting to so many different things that are outside of their control, and they're like, this is gonna affect me this way, and this is gonna affect me this way. And I think that's human nature. But what you just said that if we actually come from ourselves, then we don't feel that way, don't fall out of that control. Am I right?

Mark Collins 15:15

Exactly. So if I don't understand who I'm created, if I don't understand my identity, then my world has to make up the difference.

Lesley Logan 15:21

Yes.

Mark Collins 15:22

And it is that place of default, which is what we've always been shown. It's what is highlighted on social media. And you know, I mean, there's no harm or foul in any of it, and certainly not for us in trying to use it. But what we find, as you found as well, and I know in my life also is it doesn't work. Success is great, right? But at the end of the day, if success is all I have, then it's empty when I get there.

Lesley Logan 15:43

Yeah.

Mark Collins 15:43

And it lasts for about 10 minutes and then I have to do it again.

Lesley Logan 15:46

Yeah.

Mark Collins 15:46

I think of a client of mine who had and is having multimillion-dollar transactions in the real estate and business development field. And for him, it was that thing where success was a relief, it wasn't a celebration. Because again, those thought patterns, the imposter syndrome, the fear of failure, those things that come along with it, really, every success was just a momentary ability to prove that you weren't somebody who was going to fail at it. The problem is it never changes you. It just gives you a momentary satisfaction that you have to repeat over and over again, the hamster wheel of success. And so if I could talk to your first question, can you get over imposter syndrome? Can it be something that you don't struggle with? Absolutely. That's actually the goal that we have in our course. A lot of the systems that we use are to give you the transformation. And I make the designation of change versus transformation.

Lesley Logan 15:46

Okay.

Mark Collins 15:46

Because when I was trying to figure it out my own life, trying to become the person, right, that man on the inside that I believed I could be, that wasn't always showing up, and I didn't plan on being the guy that was stressed out, sweating through my pajamas at three in the morning. It was just part of the anxiety and issues that came along with it. But I always believed there was somebody more. Tried personal development in a lot of ways and the problem with many of the programs that I did, they all give you results, and they all have benefits. The challenge is that many of them give you habits to manage your life, manage your anxiety, anger management. Say these mantras, bludgeon your thoughts over until they come into alignment with what you want to be. The problem is they never work. And here's the reason why, Lesley, because the habit I use to get there is the habit I have to maintain to stay there. And that doesn't sound like transformation or freedom. What it sounds like is exhaustion, because I don't believe that we have to maintain habits to again, bludgeon my thoughts into aligning with what I'm trying to believe I am. But what I do believe is, when you live from who you're created tobe, when you know who you are, then that's the easiest life possible. What I tell people is this, it's the easiest life ever living from a place of life mastery, because it's literally me just living from who I'm created to be at the highest level I'm created for in every area of life. What's exhausting is life management, which is me trying to attack my thoughts when they happen. It's that life by default, right? It's trying to attack them when they happen, expect that they'll always be there, you know, even to the point where I had this conversation with somebody who was eight or nine figure, multimillionaire, amazing person, and he said this. He said, with every business transaction, fear of failure comes in, and I have to wrestle with it. He says I guess that's just part of the process. It just drove me crazy, because the truth of the matter is that we're not meant to deal with fear of failure, and again, if you understand who you're created to be and live from that place, it's the easiest thing. I don't have to measure up to be who I am. I don't have to prove myself. I don't have to accomplish things to be who I am. I actually have accomplishment because of who I am, not to prove it. And in those places, you can have tools and strategies. We can talk about some of them, but the truth of the matter is, there's a better life.

Lesley Logan 18:41

Okay, so I wanted to go into, I mean, I got really intrigued with Life Mastery and you kind of covered that a little bit, but I wanted to go into a couple more stories, because I think, I know my listeners, they see themselves in other people. And some of the things you brought up, I've seen myself, and I'm like, oh yeah, I definitely have been life managing. I want to life master. This sounds so much more fun. You've coached over 500 people, so I feel like you have to have a couple other transformative stories for us to hear about.

Mark Collins 19:05

Yeah, absolutely. I think of a young man who highly successful in business, working within the government, and he was doing great in his job. The problem is he wasn't showing up at home. And so here's the interesting thing that you and I know, Lesley, it's that we think we can compartmentalize our emotions. And when I have stress at work, man, I'll just compartmentalize it. When I get home, I can be that bubbly personality that I'm supposed to be. The only person who thinks that is the person who's trying to do it. All the rest of us realize that. And so for this guy, he was having success in business, but with him again, living from who you're created to be or what your past has told you. For him, it was having a past that told him that relationships aren't safe. I can't trust other people, which is fine when you're single, but when you're married, it really doesn't lead to a great relationship.

Lesley Logan 19:46

I'm like surprised he got married.

Mark Collins 19:47

Yeah, well, you know, you do these things that you believe you're supposed to do, and it's the things that you're trying to do, and you, even in business, the interesting thing is, with people who are highly successful, the people I work with want more, they just don't know how to get there. They're like, this can't be everything. But the challenge is, so even in relationships, specifically, he wanted more in his relationship, he just didn't know how to get there. And so part of it was unpacking some of those lies and the issues that you've had of not being able to trust and therefore not being able to give, and in that place, showing up as a provider in his household, but not engaging emotionally, relationally or substantially within his household, it's that person you talk to which you can't really read, you can't really understand. And so for him, it was unpacking those things. It's starting to understand when I can show up as who I am. Well, I tell people this Lesley, when I understand who I'm created to be, my wife doesn't have to make up the difference. When I don't understand my identity, she does, and it's in every relationship, in all times, which means we need to be good, for me to be good, and there can't be stressor issues or challenges. I can't feel, you know? We can't have a hard conversation, because that could affect me, right? It's in business as well, in boardrooms and relationships with superiors and people that you have overseeing or business and trying to deal with clients the offense of other people in relationships can undermine you when you don't know who you are, when I know who I am, then I don't need you to prove it to me.

Lesley Logan 21:09

Yeah.

Mark Collins 21:10

And so for him, it was that place of being able to say, No, there's whatever the relationship is, I'm a person of worth and value. And in that place, you can give more of who you are when you're not worried about the results.

Lesley Logan 21:24

I, there's so many good things in there. I think that, especially the couple thing like though, we have to be good for me to be good. Embarrassingly, I'm going to admit you guys, I have been binging out on some dating shows because they're not stressful for me. I'm not dating. I love my husband. We're good and we have a really lovely, healthy relationship. I don't need him to be good for me to be good.

Mark Collins 21:44

That's awesome.

Lesley Logan 21:45

But what you just said there, I watched and I'm like, oh, that's how I can tell who's gonna make it and who's not. Because I'm like, that person needs this person to complete them, and these people are just awesome on their own. You can see it, right? So I agree with everything you're saying there. I want to talk to the person who's kind of just beginning to recognize their battles with imposter syndrome. I think that a lot of people can get pretty far in life just dealing with it. Because, you know, especially if you put yourself in the right place, like you get a job, you do the thing, you can kind of not skate through because it's not going to be fun, but they're just beginning to deal with it, and now they're feeling it. And once you feel it, it's kind of hard to not feel it anymore. Is there anything that's in your book, or any tools that you have that could help them start their journey to the Life Mastery that you've been talking about?

Mark Collins 22:27

Yeah, I love that. So the book is a mirror of my course called Life Mastery. And so the tools are in bulk. What I tell people about my book is it, I call it the Quick Start Guide to Life Mastery. So where the course is all the bells and whistles, the one-on-one coaching, and some of the other things that we have, you're able to take some nuggets in each of the chapters of the book and apply them. And what I tell people is, you can read something today, apply it this week, and find transformation this month. And so in that area, it all starts with this, Lesley, it starts with identity, who you're created to be. And so very early on, we're going to start to unpack understanding who are you apart from your things. And those things that we're talking about is your position, it's your title, it's your income, it's your possessions, it's the things that we believe make us we don't really say that they do until they're taken away. And all of a sudden it's, oh, okay, I lost my job, or my business is failing, or whatever the thing is, right? In many times we think that because I am okay on the outside, I'm okay on the inside, like I said. So the very first thing we do is say, okay, well, let's take away all of that and find out what's left, your character, your value, your worth. And for us, we tell people to write an "I Am" statement. Statement starts with "I am" everything else you fill in the blank. I am a person of character and worth. I'm a person of strength and value. I'm a person who finds answers to challenges. I'm a person who overcomes every problem that I face, or whatever the things are that are yours. Those are some of mine. It's the person that you are showing up. As I told you earlier, the thing I said was, you're the answer to the circumstance you're walking into. You're not the question to be figured out. When I understand who I am, I realize I'm the answer, which means that I'm fully capable in every circumstance. Doesn't mean every circumstance is amazing. Doesn't mean I have answers to every question that's going to come up. It means that I'm confident that I'm able and fully able to do everything I need to become and create a positive outcome to that situation.

Lesley Logan 24:13

Oh my God, Mark. Oh my God. I want a thousand Post-Its, put "I Am" statements all over my office because I just want to see them all, and I want to read the transcripts of my own podcast, because you have way too many good quotes in there. You have such good things for like, there's a nugget for every person who's listening. You guys, you can rewind this and listen again. There's just so many good little nuggets you can chew on and think about. So thank you for that.

Mark Collins 24:39

Absolutely. So what's the outcome of that when I start to show up and start to believe I'm that person, what people don't realize is not just this cool mindset hack and this positive affirmation that I'm telling myself when I'm speaking from the truth of who I am. Then now, all of a sudden, we could get to the neuroscience of it, and I don't need to. I'm a little bit nerdy sometimes. But here's the truth of the matter. Or I tell people this, and it's one of the strategies we use as well, which is mastering your thoughts. I tell them, Lesley, who you think you are, you'll become. And so what happens is, when I come in as the person who's the answer to the circumstance, not the question to be figured out. Now all of a sudden you have those empowering emotions like confidence and assurance and all the things that will bring answers. And so cognitively, you start to get answers. You start to find ideas. You start to get these solutions that may happen and the things you can do, and strategies and ways to navigate and to do those things. When you come as a person who's like, I don't know what's going to happen here. I'm not sure what's going to happen. Oh, this is a huge problem. I don't know how we're going to. Now, all of a sudden, you get disempowering emotions like anxiety and fear and worry and stress. And again, speaking about neuroplasticity, you have those chemicals that come into your body. You know, it's the fight or flight or freeze scenario where you're like, okay, well, stress happens. Or when I was walking through my Life Mastery journey, early on, anger would come up because, you know, oh, I can't believe whatever the things that are happening, none of them is leading you towards solutions. All of them are focusing on a problem. But again, when you show up as you understand that you're the answer. Now, biochemically, neurologically, you actually have answers. So it's not just some fluff and some pat on your back mindset information. It's actually showing up and giving yourself the best capability to be the best you in all circumstances.

Lesley Logan 26:19

Yes, yes. That is so good. I mean, like, just even the idea of coming into the room knowing who you are, versus being a question to be solved, you guys, that's being it till you see it. Coming into the room as, like, that's just what it is.

Mark Collins 26:32

Exactly.

Lesley Logan 26:33

This is amazing. This is so good. Because I think I get really good at catching the imposter syndrome when it's happening, you know, like, I'm like, oh, I'm feeling the fear. This is a worry. This is me upper limiting. I'm sabotaging this right now. I actually know the answer. I kind of like talk myself through it, and I have told myself that that is fine and normal and wonderful. Am I wrong? And is overcoming imposter syndrome mean I don't even have the moments like that or that I actually recognize them and understand them to be false and can move forward with what I know?

Mark Collins 27:02

That is a huge victory. That's a huge victory. So, so if you were to look back on our lives right, yourself, myself, anybody who's listening or watching, there's a time when that wasn't happening, there's a time when you would spiral into negativity and worry and stress and whatever the things are. So I tell people this Life Mastery isn't a moment. It's a journey, but it's a journey that has moments, and so in those times like that, I would invite my people to invest in is recognize those moments and celebrate the fact that, wow, I'm changing, I'm transforming, I'm growing. And it's those times when you recognize it, where you're like, what I tell people is this, it's not that negative emotions aren't happening or those thoughts won't come in, but they have no place to land, and they don't get to manipulate your life anymore. That's a huge victory. And then they'll become far and far in between, and then you'll find there's greater and greater levels of stress and challenge you can walk into without even having them show up, and you find out about it afterwards, you're like, I just locked into what I needed to do and got this thing done. I didn't even think about it. So it comes in stages, but every one of them is a celebration, because every one of them is, you know, Lesley or Mark or whoever the person is listening, it's you, transforming and changing, becoming that person. Again, that hero in hiding, showing up.

Lesley Logan 28:13

Oh, I love that. Thank you for that compliment. Now I'm doing a great job and.

Mark Collins 28:17

You are, though. That's amazing.

Lesley Logan 28:19

Yeah, yeah, no. And I also like, what's really cool is they are fewer and farther. They don't happen next to each other, which is really great. And when they do, it's usually the same one twice. I was like, okay, hold on. You didn't really stop and think about that. Yes, listen, I have lots of conversations with myself. I'm an Aquarius. We're in our head a lot. You are a wealth of knowledge. I feel like we could all take weekend courses, but we're gonna take a brief break and find out how we can take your course, read your amazing book and learn more from you.

Lesley Logan 28:45

All right, Mark, so you said you got a book, and a course, they kind of go together, but I can read the book if I'm wanting to do the light version, or if I need to go all in. Tell me more about where I can find these things and which one I need.

Mark Collins 28:56

Yeah, absolutely. So first off, where can you find them? I try and be a one-stop shop. So everything is on my website, which is freedom-for-life.net freedom-for-life.net. What's the difference between the two? Well, there's those folks who are like myself, and maybe you, Lesley, you seem to be that type that you know I don't want. I don't want the appetizer. I want the whole meal. I want that one-on-one coaching. I want everything so that I know I have those things, right? It's the all in one process. So that's the course. The course has all of those in there. But the book has value, and it has value in that those folks who are like, I want to find some nuggets. I want to do some things that are really changing my life. I want to engage in this. I really don't know where to start. The book is a great way to do that. I have it as a eBook version on my website, and the reason for that is, I have hard copy. You can get those at Amazon, but I love the fact that you can carry it around on your phone, because it's an eBook. So you can have it anywhere that you're at, so at any time you have so I know you're working with, you're having a lot of business professionals that don't have a lot of time. You always have it available.

Lesley Logan 29:54

That's cool. I like what you even said about the book. You can learn something today, use it this week and transform in a month, or I'm misquoting you, but that's what it felt like, and I experienced in the month and I actually think that that's really cool. And so if even people are like, I'm not sure I can trust myself, I think you could start there, and then you can always go to the course. You can do whatever you want, guys like, whatever you've been called to. But I really like this. And also, thanks for having a one-stop shop. Makes it really easy on where everyone can click. It's in the show notes, guys.

Lesley Logan 30:18

All right, you have literally given so much. I think there's so many different parts we can go back and re-listen, but, we cannot end without our bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps to be it till you see it. What do you have for us?

Mark Collins 30:32

Yeah, so the first thing is the one that we talked about. It the "I Am" statement, do not move past that until you do that. Anything you do to try and create mantras and things that you tell yourself, affirmations, if they're not tied to who you are, then they're really you becoming an imitation of somebody else. So start with that "I Am" statement, who you are, apart from your things. The reason why that's important is one of our, we have a three-step transformational process mastering your thoughts, words and actions. I'll unpack thoughts really quickly, and that is this, who you think you are, you'll become. You know, Lesley, you're as successful as you are because you believed at some level you'd be that person someday. Well, for all of us here, you're not going to be that person you're created to be in every area until you believe it, until you think it. And so that starts with thoughts. Well, what do those thoughts do? They allow you to have actions towards the person you're created to be. What thoughts should you align with? Well, start with your "I Am" statement. I do affirmations, and I tell everybody to do affirmations multiple times a day, because life happens multiple times a day. Thoughts happen multiple times a day. And so I remind myself of who I'm created to be with my "I Am" statement, again, that's the affirmation you're going to use aligned with who you are. The second thing, and this will be the last for us right now, what are the words that you're saying? Interesting things about vocalization and words, they do two things. They confirm who you believe you are, and they give you instructions to live out. Cognitively, your brain listens to what you're saying, and it finds ways of aligning with that. So when you're minimizing who you are, when you're maximizing the issues and challenges in your life, you're focusing on the things you can't control and the ones that hold you back. When I continue to speak towards the things that I am and who I am, and those same vocalizations are in the things that I'm going to do. I am a person of solutions and answers. I find quality answers for every problem that I walk through. You're going to give yourself instructions to live them out. They align with your thoughts, align with who you're created to be. Your "I Am" statement, and now that man or woman starts to show up in every area of your life. What's your "I Am" statement? What are you telling yourself, your thoughts are either aligning with who you're created to be, or they're lying to you, and it's the same with your words. What actions are you giving yourself to live out? What confirmation have you given of who you believe you are? They're either aligned with your "I Am" statement and who you're created to be, or they're lying to you. The more you tell yourself the truth, the more you see yourself show up as a hero that you're created to be.

Lesley Logan 32:51

Oh, my freaking goodness, so good. I love all these I'm really into it. We just had someone, I just interviewed who actually was talking about, we have to redefine words we're saying to ourselves, because oftentimes we'll say something, it's like rephrase it or redefine it, because the words you say matter and they make a big difference. So this is a double dose. It's a sign everyone that you have, that we all need to be doing this.

Lesley Logan 33:13

So Mark Collins, thank you so much. You guys, the book is Life Mastery. So is the course. Please take a look at his amazing work, re-listen to this. And I think we all have a friend who needs to hear this. I think we all do. I already can't wait for Brad to hear it. So please share this with a friend, because and only will that change their life. And here's the thing, when your friends' lives change, and they start to be more positive and they don't have imposter syndrome, you do too. We are the average of people we hang out with, so it's really important that we help other people be it till they see it. So thank you all so very much, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Bye.

Lesley Logan 33:48

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 34:30

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 34:35

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 34:39

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 34:47

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 34:50

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

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475. Break Free from Imposter Syndrome with Life Mastery