Impostor syndrome: What is it?
Imposter syndrome is a feeling of inadequacy associated with professional success. You can feel like a fraud and believe that your job is unworthy of you. Imposter syndrome frequently gives you the impression that you are deceiving your coworkers into believing you are competent in your position.
Additional signs include:
- Workplace lack of confidence
- sensitivity to minor errors
- fear of letting your group down
- Burnout brought on by excessive labor
- Symptoms of imposter syndrome
- Everyone who has imposter syndrome does it slightly differently, however, there are certain shared traits:
- uncertainty about your abilities and ability
- Giving luck or other outside influences credit for your achievement
- The lower level of confidence
- Excluding team members
- Perfectionism
- Having burnout and overwork
- Having extremely high expectations for yourself
- A low sense of self
- Severe failure dread
- Ways to overcome imposter syndrome
1. Concentrate on the data
You experience imposter syndrome, which makes you doubt your abilities in the workplace. However, these emotions are frequently caused by fear rather than actuality. Distinguishing your emotions from the truth is the best defense against imposter syndrome.
Although you can’t stop your mind from making up stories, you can focus on the facts. Remember the facts vs. stories of the issue the next time you find yourself in a precarious position. Focus on what your team members actually stated, for instance, if you felt awful about standing out in a team meeting.
2. Accept, confirm, and then let go
Your feelings are still just as important even though your interpretations of an occurrence are stories rather than facts. Ignoring your feelings is not a strategy for overcoming imposter syndrome. Instead, the best method to combat this sensation is to admit that you’re feeling bad, confirm that it’s alright, and then, if your feelings aren’t justified, let them go.
3. Express your feelings.
It is quite isolated to experience imposter syndrome. However, as we already mentioned, these emotions are rather typical at work. Globally, 62% of knowledge workers have been affected by imposter syndrome. Try sharing your feelings with someone else the next time you’re feeling this way.
Sharing your emotions has the following benefit:
Recognize your feelings rather than burying them, then get over them. When you hide your impostor syndrome emotions, they amplify and become more difficult to manage. Sharing these emotions with someone else will help you identify them and move forward with your imposter syndrome recovery.
5. Change the way you think
Our thoughts have power. Our perspective on the world has the ability to influence our reality—both positively and negatively.
If you frequently have negative thoughts, consider observing your inner voice and changing it as needed. Although you won’t see improvements right away, using this technique over time will help you view things more positively.
6. Find a mentor.
Try actively enhancing your hard talents and soft skills to combat imposter syndrome. In this way, you can retort to the voice in your head whenever it says you’re not good enough for something by saying you’re improving.
Finding a mentor is a terrific approach to do. Seek out someone in your organization or industry who can offer you support and useful suggestions. This might be a senior leader or a boss at another organization who you like.
