How to overcome imposter syndrome: 10 steps to overcome imposter syndrome
Have you ever had the feeling that you are a fraud and don’t deserve your success and achievements? Have you felt this inferiority complex and doubt of your own abilities? If the answer is yes, you are suffering from something called imposter syndrome.
The term was coined back in 1978 by noted American psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes. The feeling of not being good enough, not deserving the high compensation, the job and promotion equates to imposter syndrome. A noted scholar Valerie Young has argued that imposter syndrome is more common within the people with high achievements, creativity and talent. They tend to be too hard on themselves and doubt their skills because they are somewhat perfectionist. Imposter syndrome tends to exist in college and continues into the work life. So, life becomes really difficult as this feeling of guilt persists. Common signs include Self-doubt, attributing your success to other factors, guilt, self-deprecation, and nagging fear of being exposed as a fraud.
Imposter syndrome can manifest itself in more than one way. If you are feeling a wave of self-doubt and inferiority complex, chances are that you are suffering from it. Imposter syndrome can play out in the following ways:
Feeling like a fraud. You tend to feel like a fraud. As a result you feel overcome by guilt. Despite winning the recognition you wanted or the job you have got, you can’t shake the feeling that you didn’t get this job by virtue of your own hard work. There is always a feeling in the back of your mind of being found out for a fraudster.
Low self-esteem. You suffer from some serious lack of self-esteem and you constantly feel like not living up to your expectations and that of everyone else. You tend to underestimate your own experience and expertise. You feel that your skills are not good enough to fit the job that you are working. So, there is always a fear that the company will let you go. This is how imposter syndrome can significantly reduce your productivity, as you are continuously feeling low about yourself.
Low self-worth. You also have a very low sense of self-worth and you tend to sell yourself short. For example, I have constantly agreed to write articles and contents for below par rates as I felt like didn’t deserve better. When I found that writers no better than me are charging far more, this gave me a signal that I was selling myself too short. So, people imposter syndrome feel a sense of low self-value.
I need to confess that I am one of those people who have constantly suffered from this feeling. The constant feeling of fear that I will be exposed to my client that I am not good enough has always hounded me. I have had a constant feeling every once in a while that my work is not good enough to earn the compensation that it is earning. But I used to think that I was the only one with this feeling. Talking to and dealing with more people made me realize that imposter syndrome is universal and even the most noted celebrities tend to suffer from it. But is this feeling inevitable?? Is there no way to completely overcome the guilt that you don’t deserve better. As I was contemplating how to overcome imposter syndrome, I managed to find a few things that really helped. As I have found out, these few steps can help to deal with imposter syndrome if followed.
Stop thinking of your feeling as unique. Whenever you are feeling low, don’t think that you are the only one who feels that way. Imposter syndrome is a universal issue and many top celebrities have felt it. Even Academy Award Winning actor, Tom Hanks, has said that there comes a time in our lives when we feel how we have come this far and we feel like a fraud. If someone like Hanks feels like a fraud, you should realize that there is nothing wrong with this feeling and this feeling will pass.
Share your feelings with others. When you have imposter syndrome, the worst thing that can happen to you is withdrawing to yourself without letting others into your world. It can make your situation even worse. If you don’t manage to vent your frustration by sharing your issues with others, it will make you more depressed.
Don’t compare with others. This is probably the worst thing you can do to give rise to imposter syndrome. Not everyone has the same capability or skills. If you continue to compare yourself with others better than you, it will only make things worse. Let’s say as a software engineer, you compare your achievements and skills with that of Zuckerberg or Larry Page. Such comparison is completely outrageous and too harsh on yourself. You will only hurt yourself and your self-esteem will plummet. Rather, try to be the best version of yourself instead of comparing with others.
Focus on the positives. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Rather, focus on your positives and try to build on them. If you are a perfectionist, you always want your performance to be absolutely prim and proper. So, strive for excellence but don’t be too hard on yourself by focusing too much on the pinpoint details. Learn to go easy on yourself if an inevitable mistake happens.
Curb obsession with social media. Social media has turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. As much as you are able to continuously keep in touch with friends and family, social media platforms are full of people displaying their so called success stories. It’s enough to make anybody feel low about themselves. So, use social platforms moderately to stay away from those things.
A positive response to failure. When you fail to live up to the expectations, don’t beat yourself up over it. Take the positives from failures to do better in future. Think of failure as a learning curve rather than the end of the world. As Henry Ford perfectly worded it, failure is the chance to start afresh more intelligently and effectively. You can do the same. Imposter syndrome will soon be out the door as you keep doing this.
Approach problems more confidently. Confidence is the main factor when it comes to beating Imposter syndrome. You can’t be confident if you have too low of a self-esteem. So, be the man that you want to be and face the problems head-on.
Make progress one-step at a time. If you expect too much of yourself at a time, it will be too difficult for you to make progress. A successful businessman didn’t build his business empire in a day. It required years of taking baby steps and many hurdles. So, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t get results immediately. You will get results sooner or later as long as you stick to the plans. So, focus on making gradual progress.
Note down your experiences. This can help to learn from mistakes. Maybe create some kind of a diary to note down the key happenings of a day. Write down how you faced an issue, if it was up to your expectation and how you would have expected to face it. This recording will help when next time you will be in similar situations. But don’t be very self-critical if you don’t meet the targets as this will only add to low self-esteem.
Give yourself a pat in the back. Be proud of yourself when you have achieved an accomplishment to prevent the feeling of fraudulence creep into your mind. Convince your mind that the new job or the promotion is well-deserved and you have reached there out of your own hard work and dedication. Don’t let imposter syndrome get the better of you.
