Why Not You?

A short post to help you tackle your imposter syndrome

May 14, 2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about Rachel Entrekin, the 34-year old ultramarathon runner who last week broke all records when she finished a 250 mile race in just over 56 hours (she also became the first woman to win the race, but I want to focus on the fact she ran it in the fastest time of any human ever in history). Entrekin survived almost entirely on mashed potato and only 19 minutes sleep, and so I officially anoint her my new Queen.

But she also said something really powerful when she crossed the finish line, and I’m going to repeat it here because I want you to absorb these words and perhaps adopt them into your own life:

“During the race, the mantra that I kept saying was, ‘Why not you?’… Maybe especially women, we tend to talk ourselves out of even trying to do things, because we think that we’re not qualified, or we don’t have the experience… But why not, you know? Why not try?”

Our Queen Rachel Entrekin on the finish line of the Cocodona 250. Photo: Getty Images.

Entrekin is right: why not you? It doesn’t have to be an ultra-marathon, or even a marathon. It could be a 5km Parkrun, or signing up for an evening course, or starting a work project, or beginning that book you’ve always dreamt of writing. WHY NOT YOU? WHY NOT TRY?

Speaking of which… I’ve been avoiding starting my next book for the last week, because (full disclosure time) I have a mad brain which tells me that because People Pleaser didn’t make the Sunday Times Bestseller List, I’m no good at writing novels. But what kind of ridiculous, limiting belief is that? Honestly, imposter syndrome can get in the bin. WHY NOT ME? WHY NOT TRY? Why does it even matter if I don’t hit some metric that only the publishing industry pays any attention to? And I’m telling you this because we can’t all win the race, like our new Queen Rachel Entrekin. But we definitely won’t if we don’t even take part… and by God, taking part is the most fun bit, because that’s when you get to eat the mashed potato.

So today I’m going to start the next book. And you should start whatever it is you’re putting off. Because: why not you? Why not try?