Imposter syndrome is more common than we think. More than 70% of people have experienced it at least once in their lifetime. Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people consider themselves as fraud and are unable to see their accomplishments, dismissing them as timing, luck, or as a result of misleading others to think they are more smart and intelligent than they believe themselves to be. Overcoming imposter syndrome is really difficult as more often than not, people aren’t even aware that they are suffering from it.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
It’s known that a lot of high-achieving and entrepreneurial women have it, but sometimes it is also found in men. Everyone, may it be men or women, feel that they are faking it and deceiving the people surrounding them, especially in their professional life. It is a healthy practice to question your own potential, but only if you can get over it and regain your confidence while moving forward. Here are some steps on how to overcome imposter syndrome:
Step 1: Recognize that it exists
First and foremost step would be recognizing that you require coping up with imposter syndrome or the very least – you have it. You can not cure something unless you know what to cure.
Step 2: Own your accomplishments
You didn’t get lucky by chance, it took hard work and perseverance to accomplish everything that you ever have. Instead of thinking it as luck or timing, take the credit for your success, you deserve it. As you take responsibility for failure in life, you must also take responsibility for your success. If you still feel undeserving, try to recall all the things that you did in order to get that instead of focusing on things that you didn’t do. This will allow you to see how well deserved you are.
Step 3: Stop comparing your inside with someone else’s outside
Comparing your anxieties with someone else’s strengths doesn’t make any sense. Your weaknesses may be someone else’s strength, but you need to remind yourself that your strength is also someone else’s weakness. So, when you are too busy thinking “If I could be as confident as Joey,” Joey might be thinking if he could be as creative as you!
Step 4: Maintain a diary of people saying nice things about you
Keep a note of all the compliments that you have received for your work or when people said nice things about you for doing a great job or helping them out. Then, whenever you feel like an imposter, look at all the things that you’ve noted in the file or diary, it will help you in coping with imposter syndrome.
Step 5: You change continuously as a person
You are not constant, nobody is. You’re changing every day and becoming a new person with changed opinions and perspective. You might be spending a year traveling and doing the most adventurous stuff, and next year you are into mindfulness and meditation. You thought you are a horrid person before two days, but today you think you are the brightest of them all. You are trying to improve yourself over time. And that’s not a lie, that’s valor. You May Also Like: Honesty is the core of Leadership A List of Things That High Performers Do Differently