#34–What the Ghost of Misplaced Shame wants you to believe

Yesterday I was approached by a recruiter: did I want to interview for a corporate trainer role at a maritime logistics company?

Sure, I said. It seemed to loosely fall in my wheelhouse.

Today, after receiving my info, the company sent me two assessments to complete before I could move forward in the process. I was excited.

Then I opened the assessments.

One seemed ok: to write an email.

But the other was a 35-minute Excel test, with 30 questions, some of which contained expressions such as "sparkline" or "pivot tables."

Completing the assessment took me through different phases:

• hand-wringing curiosity – ok, let me see what this is...
• surprise – ooh, I didn't know a spreadsheet could do those things
• (holier than thou) indignation – who do they think I am?
• pure anger – this is stupid!
• foggy-brain boredom – err...
• defeat – skip, skip, skip, submit!

Afterwards, I emailed the recruiter telling her I didn't think I'd pass the test, sorry (I know she'd get her commission if I were to be hired).

What surprised me, though, was that I didn't feel any sort of shame or not-enough-ness. Nor did the moral superiority I'd felt in phase 3 stayed with me.

I don't know Excel–so what?

This absence of shame is today's victory over the Ghost of Misplaced Shame, one step closer towards liberation.

The GoMS wants me to feel inadequate because I dared applying for a job as a Corporate Trainer even though I didn't know Excel??? That's inadmissible, the Ghost says.

In the past, I'd have listened.

Today, I respond differently:

"Dear GoMS: in my land, Corporate Trainers don't need to master Excel, and if they do, they learn on the job."

What victories have you had over your GoMS?

Love,

Carolina

PS: if you'd like to talk more about how money ghosts hold us back, click here to set up a 15-minute chat. I'm not offering coaching programs at this time, but I could speak at your event, write a guest article on your magazine/blog, or be a guest on your podcast.