I'm Spiraling.

A Big Year with a Side of Self-Doubt.

After a week full of travel, deadlines, and preparing for the year ahead, I found myself driving home, the weight of it all threatening to spill over. That familiar voice of self-doubt crept in, pulling me into a spiral of worry about things I hadn’t even realized I was concerned about.

2024 was a year of incredible growth and success for me—milestones I hadn’t imagined hitting in the first year and a half of my business. I mailed 55 client gifts this year, making more money than I ever had in my professional career and blowing the lid off of what I thought was possible as a keynote speaker. But instead of riding the wave of excitement and pride into the new year after such a winning year, I found myself confronted by lingering feelings that whispered: What if it was just luck? What if I can’t do it again?

By the time I got home, it wasn’t just lingering—it was roaring. I sent a one-word text to my husband: Incoming.

That simple word was a code for the storm brewing inside me. It meant the week’s weight was too much, that the confidence I’d started the year with felt misplaced, and that the worries about 2025 were taking up all the space where excitement should’ve been.

When I walked through the door, he was waiting for me.

“I’m spiraling,” I said, and the dam broke. I spilled everything: my fears that 2024’s success was a fluke, my worries, and the nagging thought that maybe I’d just been lucky.

And then he said it:

“Brandi. This is imposter syndrome.”

He was right. How could I not see it? The very thing I speak, teach, and encourage other’s on had found me in the holliest, jolliest of seasons. Damn those fraudy little feelings.

So we talked about it. We unpacked the fear that I hadn’t earned the wins of the past year and reminded ourselves of the truth. Evidence piled up as I started to recount the hard work, the strategy, and the risks I’d taken, as well as the wide wide world that was waiting for us in 2025. Slowly, the spiral began to loosen its grip.

So, where do we go next when the spiral comes? Here’s what worked for me:

• Name It. Just saying, “I’m spiraling,” gave my thoughts a shape—something tangible to work through.

• Share It. Speaking my fears out loud (even through tears) let them lose some of their power.

• Build Your Case. I asked myself, “Are you reading the story or writing the story?” Stories are subjective. Evidence is objective. Lean on the evidence.

I know I’m not alone in the daunting task of building and scaling a business—the pressures that sneak out of the shadows, even when you’re not looking for them.

With just ten days until 2025, I know there’s still a chance that sneaky little spiral might reappear, and that’s okay. If I’ve learned anything about navigating imposter syndrome, it’s not about wondering if it will peak its fraudy little head back in someday—it’s about preparing for when it does.

Maybe that’s the real lesson here: the most realistic goal isn’t to eliminate imposter syndrome—it’s instead to recognize it, face it, and move forward anyway.

And with any luck, the next time we encounter it, we’ll be looking at it from a different vantage point—hopefully a little higher up the spiral (fingers crossed).