From Imposter to Instructor: How I Reclaimed My Inner "Dancer"

Reset Mindset Week 4: The Identity Shift

Can you remember the name of your very first email account?

I’m thinking back to nearly two and a half decades ago, when being online required dialing up on a prehistoric AOL account consisting of a flashy mix of letters and numbers. I sat with my best friend, brainstorming cool (corny) screennames, and ultimately chose one with the name "dancer" in it (ahem, kbdancer2 😜), reasoning that dance was the hobby I had stuck with the longest at that point.

Fast forward a handful of years later. Heading into my first year of University in NYC, my freshman roommate was an actual dance major on track to become a professional.

I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment. Who was I to call myself a dancer?

Compared to her, I felt like an imposter. So, I sheepishly buried my love for dance, assuming that it was just a "childhood hobby" that needed to be packed away for good.

It wasn’t until I discovered Zumba in Taipei that, suddenly, I had this feeling again. Wait, there might still be a dancer inside me.

Not only that, but with each class I eagerly attended, I discovered someone who was committed rather than ‘lazy’ as I had sometimes feared. I discovered someone who now chose exercise even though she had always dreaded PE class; someone who was strong and up for challenges, rather than fragile or too scared to try.

I found myself enjoying class so much that I eventually became interested in teaching, truly just so I could dance more!

I realized that my identity wasn’t about opinions, judgments, or permission from others—or even myself. It was a mix of being in alignment with core values, and doing or choosing what is valued over and over again: connection, movement, expression, dance.

This brings me to the final week of our Reset Mindset month: The Reset of Identity.

When we shift our mindset from "I should do _____" or "I need to reach _____ goal" to "I am someone who values ________. I am/am becoming a __________ person," we can start bolstering our identity with each choice we make.

The being and doing support one another, building habits or behavior changes that stick for life.

So, this week, if you were to think up a new screenname, email address, or title for yourself, what would feels most authentically “you"? What do you value? Who are you? Who are you becoming?

See you on the dance floor (where we are all dancers)!

Keep moving!

xx,

Katie