Ep 96 From Resume to Reality: Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Step Into Your Full Potential

Description:

Most of us think our “official” resume tells the whole story of who we are but what if the most important experiences, skills, and strengths never make it onto that piece of paper?

In this episode, of The ARTwork of YOU, host Lori Gouhin uncovers the concept of your invisible resume, the lived experiences, lessons, setbacks, and strengths that actually shape your ability to thrive. These are the moments that prove your resilience, adaptability, creativity, and growth, even if they don’t come with a title or certificate.

When you ignore your invisible resume, you undervalue yourself and open the door to imposter syndrome. But when you recognize it, you step into your full potential with clarity and confidence.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why your traditional resume leaves out the most valuable parts of you.
  
  
  
• How your invisible resume is the true evidence of your growth, resilience, and unique strengths.
  
  
  
• The link between overlooking your invisible resume and struggling with imposter syndrome.
  
  
  
• Practical ways to identify and write down your invisible resume so you can stop questioning if you’re “qualified.”
  
  
  
• How recognizing your invisible resume can shift comparison, boost confidence, and guide your next chapter.
  
  
  

Whether you’ve reinvented yourself, navigated challenges, or taught yourself new skills, this conversation will help you see the proof that you already have what it takes.

🎧 Tune in and start writing your invisible resume you’ll never see yourself the same way again.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and remember to show up in your life like the masterpiece you are because YOU are the ARTwork!!!

Please subscribe and leave a 5 Star Review.

Have a fabulous day!

Thank you for sharing your time with me and remember to show up in your life like the masterpiece you are because YOU are the ARTwork!!!

Please subscribe and leave a 5 Star Review.

Have a fabulous day!

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Transcript

Lori Gouhin: [00:00:00] if you've ever felt like your quote unquote official resume doesn't quite tell the story of who you are, you're right, because it absolutely doesn't, most people never stop to notice what's actually on their invisible resume.

 yet it says so much about who you are. Hello, my friends. I am so glad that you are here with me today because today I want to talk about your invisible resume. And so we all know what the traditional resume is. [00:01:00] The one that has job titles, dates, bullet points. I don't even know. I haven't done a resume in so long, but stuff like that. And that's meant to prove that you're qualified for whatever position it is that you're applying for, but I think that that resume leaves out the best parts of you.

It doesn't capture. Things like the experiments that you've tried and abandoned, or the traits that you've built through your hard lessons or the failures and successes that taught you more than any degree ever could, and the invisible resume. In other words, resume that you don't show is actually more powerful than the one that you send over to show your qualifications.

It's the part of you that explains why you can walk into a room and navigate a situation that no one trained you for. It's the reason that you've gotten back up when most people would've stopped, and it's the creative skills that you've developed without even [00:02:00] realizing that you were developing them.

And so in today's episode, I wanna shine a light on that hidden record that you've been building all along. Your invisible resume and talk about why it might be the most valuable thing that you own. As I'm sure you know, most people only measure themselves against the resume that's visible. Again, the titles, the roles, the credentials, and that's fine, but the truth is it's a very narrow side of who you are, and I would say it's basically kind of like the marketing version of your life.

The problem comes when we start to believe that that's all that counts, because then we dismiss things that never make it onto that paper, and we downplay everything that doesn't come with a certificate, a promotion, or a bullet point. And yet those are often the exact things that make you effective and resilient, and most of all unique.

Think about it. [00:03:00] Your official resume might highlight the jobs that you worked, but it won't mention the nights that you stayed up problem solving when everything was on fire or everything was on the line, and it won't capture the years that you spent juggling multiple roles at once. For example, being a parent, a partner, a caretaker, a friend, while still trying to hold onto a piece of yourself for me.

It won't show the years that I spent in the classroom as a teacher, learning how to meet people where they are, or how to spot someone's learning styles and adjust in real time. Those skills are part of my coaching now, but they're nowhere on a traditional resume and it won't show the moment I decided to start painting in my fifties.

No degree, no formal training. How I had to teach myself from the ground up. This became an entire career, but the real skills that I built were courage and persistence and [00:04:00] trusting my instincts. Again, invisible. It's not on the traditional resume. I'll bet that the same is true for you. Your resume probably won't say that you moved across the country and had to start over, or that you figured out how to make ends meet in a tough season or that you've been the person people go to when they need perspective or encouragement.

Those moments don't get listed, but they're the foundation that holds up everything else. They're the proof of your character. The evidence of your growth, and if you've ever felt like your quote unquote official resume doesn't quite tell the story of who you are, you're right, because it absolutely doesn't, and I think it's interesting that most people never stop to notice what's actually on their invisible resume.

It just kind of runs in the background yet it says so much about who you are. . So how do you start to see it? Well, one way is to pay [00:05:00] attention to what people naturally come to you for. For me, clients often come not just for strategy, but for accountability because I'm the one who helps them actually follow through when they'd otherwise quit or drift off course.

That's not something I studied for. It's something I developed through years of trial and error. And yes, also by holding myself accountable in my own life, in my businesses and my art practice. So ask yourself, what do people always seem to lean on you for? Is it your perspective? Is it a calm in the chaos?

Is it a creative solution? Those are qualifications, Even though they don't go on a traditional resume, another way is to notice the things that you've repeated without even realizing it. So maybe it's starting over after moves like I've done. Maybe it's rebranding or pivoting.

I've also been through that too. Every time you get better at [00:06:00] navigating uncertainty and that skill is part of your invisible resume, and then finally look at the small things that you've dismissed 

For me, something as simple as curating my home environment with art, natural light plants, books that has taught me how much my surroundings impact my success and creativity, and that might not sound resume worthy, but it actually shapes how I coach clients around environment and inspiration, and also how I keep my own creativity constantly in flow.

So what are the small daily things that you've mastered that actually impact not only your daily life, but also how you show up at your job or in your business? So the challenge here is simple. Just start noticing, start naming, because the minute you bring it into your focus, the story of who you are gets a lot more clear, I promise.

And I wanna emphasize that this isn't [00:07:00] just a nice reflection exercise. And it matters because when you don't recognize what is on your invisible resume, you're likely to undervalue yourself and assume you're only as good as what you can prove on paper. And you forget about the abilities that you've earned the hard way.

and something else you might not realize is that that's when imposter syndrome creeps in. Let me repeat that so that it really sinks in. It matters because when you don't recognize what's on your invisible resume. You're much more likely to undervalue yourself and assume that you're only as good as what you can prove on that paper, and you forget about the abilities that you've earned along the way, often the hard way, and that is when imposter syndrome creeps in.

But when you do recognize it, you operate differently. And I've seen this in myself. When I first started my coaching business, even though I was certified, I [00:08:00] questioned whether I had the quote unquote right qualifications. But the truth is, I had already been coaching for a long time. I had built businesses, I had navigated setbacks, reinvented myself multiple times, and those lived experiences were exactly what qualified me and maybe even more so than my certification.

And once I saw that, I stopped holding back. And the same is true with my art. If I had waited until I had an official quote unquote official training, I would've never started. My invisible resume is now curiosity, discipline, willingness to experiment. Those are the things that carried me into becoming a professional artist.

It also changes how you compare yourself to others because yes, someone might have more formal accolades than you, but they don't have. Your invisible resume. They don't have your exact blend of experiences and [00:09:00] mistakes and recoveries and insights. That's the one thing no one can replicate. And when you start paying attention to it, you'll notice patterns.

Patterns and what people ask you for patterns and where you thrive. 

Patterns in the strength that shows up again and again. Those patterns are signals and they're pointing to what you can lean into next. Alright, so it's one thing to notice your invisible resume 

 and it's quite another thing to put it to work. And so how do you do that? Well, one way is to literally write it down. Personally, I love the visual of two columns. One for the official stuff like jobs, degrees, achievements, and one for the invisible stuff.

The invisible column might say things like, I've rebuilt after loss, or I've learned to stay grounded in uncertainty, or I've taught myself new skills from scratch, or I've figured out how to keep showing up when no one [00:10:00] was clapping for me. Another way is to use it as a checkpoint, so the next time you think I'm not ready or I don't have enough experience.

Pull out your invisible resume and ask yourself, what have I already lived through that proves that I can figure this out? And finally I would say to let it guide your direction. Look at your invisible resume for patterns. For me, accountability is a through line, not just in how I coach, but in how I hold myself accountable in my art practice, my podcast, my writing, and seeing that pattern makes it clear that this is something I should continue to lean into because it's not just what I do, it's actually who I am.

So here's what I want you to think about this week. If you had to actually write your invisible resume, what would be on it? Not a polished list of jobs or titles or bullet points, but the real record of what you have lived through, [00:11:00] what you've built, and what you've learned along the way. Because I want you to really know that the truth is you already have more experience, more proof, and more evidence of your abilities than you are most likely giving yourself credit for.

Invisible resume you've been building, whether you realize it or not, might be the most powerful document you'll never turn in, 

And when you start to see it clearly, you stop asking yourself if you're qualified, and you start asking questions like, how do I wanna use what I already have? And just that small shift changes everything. So my challenge for you is this. Take 10 minutes this week and start your invisible resume. Write down the moments, the lessons, the traits that no one else sees, but that make you who you are.

And I promise you, once you see it in front of you, you'll never look at yourself the same way again. [00:12:00] I.