If you’ve been feeling under-confident in your abilities, regardless of what you achieve, you may be experiencing Imposter Syndrome. Perhaps you feel as though you may have inadequacies that are just waiting to come to light, or you can’t recognise your own success through negative self-talk or over-thinking.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome was first identified and named in 1978 by two clinical psychologists, Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, and was at first only looked at in professional, high-achieving women. However, research has shown that commonly men and women can equally suffer from it.
While humility stems from an accurate assessment of your capabilities, imposter syndrome stems from a feeling of inadequacy in a particular environment even if you are objectively competent. You don’t assess the situation, you assess yourself and then affirm that you’re not good enough.
Do I have Imposter Syndrome?
You might have imposter syndrome if you consistently experience self-doubt or self-limiting beliefs, even in areas in which you typically excel, and if you experience a sense of time running out, as though you can’t keep up an act much longer. Symptoms of anxiety and depression are often accompaniments of imposter syndrome too, caused by low self-worth.
What are the effects of Imposter Syndrome?
The feelings of anxiety and inadequacy caused by imposter syndrome can lead people to avoid challenges or opportunities that would be suited to them and allow them to shine. They may not seek out or explore useful relationships at work or school, which can impact their job and overall life satisfaction, leading to feelings of frustration or shame.
Imposter syndrome can motivate some people to achieve higher, but this usually results in experiencing constant anxiety which makes them over-prepare to try and be perfect or work harder than necessary. This creates a vicious cycle, as they believe that the only reason they obtained that success was by over-working. The experience of doing something well does not change their beliefs and typically they allow their negative self-talk to win the day.
Many high achievers may reach a point in their career where they feel like they cannot continue at the same rate, which feels shameful to them and makes people suffer alone and in silence. People don’t realise how many others suffer from imposter syndrome as no one wants to admit it.
The Types of Imposter Syndrome
Psychologist and expert on imposter syndrome, Dr Valerie Young, has identified five types of imposter syndrome, and you may find yourself fitting into more than one category.
The Perfectionist: the perfectionist feels that unless they were absolutely perfect, they could have done better. They feel like an imposter because their perfectionist traits make them feel as though they aren’t as good as others might think they are.
The Expert: the expert feels like an imposter because they haven’t mastered every step in a skill, or they don’t know everything there is to know about a particular topic. There is more to learn, so they don’t feel as if they have reached the rank of ‘expert’.
The Natural Genius: the natural genius thrives on picking things up quickly and getting things done. If they don’t get something right the first time around or take a while to master a skill, they feel like an imposter.
The Soloist: the soloist feels like an imposter when they have to ask for help, and often refuse to. If they cannot get somewhere by themselves, they question their competence and abilities.
The Superperson: the superperson wants to prove that they are capable of handling anything and often works overtime. If they aren’t the hardest worker, or achieve highly, they see themself as a fraud.
Which one do you think you might be if you experience imposter syndrome?
Our best tips to overcome Imposter Syndrome
It is so important to overcome imposter syndrome, as it can dramatically hinder progress in both your personal and professional life. Some steps to take are as follows:
- Share your feelings
Talking to other people can help you overcome irrational beliefs, as they may alleviate your fears and comfort you. Talking to those you trust outside of your professional circle is particularly important to provide you with your accomplishments and value, as talking with peers could heighten feelings of imposter syndrome. - Assess your abilities
Make a realistic assessment of your abilities if you have beliefs about your incompetence. Write down your accomplishments and skills, then compare these with your beliefs about yourself. You’ll see whether these actually line up with each other. - Question your thoughts
As you assess your abilities and take small measures, question the rationality of your thoughts. Given everything you know, does it make sense to believe that you are a fraud? - Take baby steps
Focusing on doing things perfectly is detrimental to productivity and wellbeing, accepting that doing things reasonably well is the order of the day, and reward yourself for taking action. - Celebrate your successes
If you struggle with imposter syndrome, you may tend to play things down or brush off your successes, which can only exacerbate these feelings. If someone congratulates you accept it, embrace it, and pay attention to how you speak about yourself. Internal reflection is good, but external reminders can also be useful. If you receive an email with positive feedback, save it or print it as a reminder of your value. - Practise self-compassion
Self-compassion is about using mindfulness to shift from an external locus of self-worth to an internal one and can help you let go of perfectionism. Try to observe when your impostor feelings surface and how you respond to them. Imposter syndrome is more of a mindless feeling, where mindfulness can help you move forward in a positive direction. - Talk to a professional
These negative cycles of self-talk can be difficult to overcome alone. This is why counselling and talking to a mental or wellbeing health professional can transform your life and help you realise your own self worth.
Therapy, particularly cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), is very effective at helping you deal with negative thought cycles and behaviour as a result of this way of thinking.
Healthy Mind Coaching can provide you with effective methods for managing your negative emotions stemming from imposter syndrome. Healthy Mind Coaching offers one-to-one sessions designed to enable you to live a more positive lifestyle by providing strategies designed to challenge and overcome negative thoughts and unhelpful feelings.
Healthy Mind Coaching offers a free 20 minute consultation for you to see how they can work with you to achieve your goals and aspirations.
And if you’re an employer worried about your staff’s mental health, check out Healthy Mind Coaching’s Mental Wellbeing Workshops.
