According to the International Journal of Behavioral Science 70% of us think we’re not as good as others believe we are, it’s called Imposter Syndrome. It’s exacerbated by our fear of failure, trying to please everyone around us, striving for perfection but worried we’re falling short all rolled into one! It’s particularly prevalent in women and high achievers and is often the underlying reason we’re driven to over achieve – to ensure we’re not found out and to prove to ourselves we’re capable!
Imposter syndrome is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” It’s that voice of self-doubt that, despite our successes, keeps us feeling like we might fail, we might not be good enough, and we might get found out.
Those with imposter syndrome have a tendency to attribute their success to external factors—like luck, or the work of the team. It takes courage to take on challenges and pursue dreams that leave you open to the risk of failure, falling short, losing face, and being “found out.”
Research has found this to be particularly prevalent in minority groups. For women, especially in business or around leadership tables it makes sense that we may feel like an imposter in an environment for centuries we were told we didn’t belong in. Our heritage and cultural norms around this evolution of our place in the workforce (particularly in authority) means we’ve have this societal hangover and need to prove our worth, earn our seat and show hundreds of years of gender inequality that we are not indeed frauds and more capable than we’ve been lead to believe.
So yes men do suffer from imposter syndrome but when we look at any minority or under represented group of course we’re going to again be at a disadvantage in this space given we’ve been made to feel like actual imposters in positions of power and have centuries to undo in terms of proving ourselves.
Makes sense right? But regardless of what contributes to us feeling this way, what do we do about it?
It’s not something that we overcome rather we navigate it as it appears in our life. It may always be there but have varying degrees of impact on us given how loud we turn the volume up. It can be different at various times of our life or different areas of our life. For some it surfaces at work, for others it’s in relationships. It can be dormant for years and rear its head when we start a new job, get a promotion or return to the workforce after having children. Check below and see if this sounds familiar?
o I find it hard to accept praise
o I tend to focus on the things I’m not good at rather than my strengths
o I think people over rate me and worry one day they’ll find out I’m not as good as they think I am
o I often succeed despite being convinced I’ll fail before I begin.
o I think those around me are better
o I hate asking for feedback on my performance
Generally the more of those that apply, the more likely Imposter Syndrome is to be at play and therefore impacting you. It’s not uncommon for people to experience more than one of the above statements during bouts of imposter syndrome.
It can feel like we’re the only ones experiencing this as it’s not much talked about, particularly in the workplace, we therefore assume it’s a character flaw in us and a weakness we must overcome – further evidencing these feelings of Imposterism.
However, we’re not alone, many people experience Imposter syndrome, especially high achievers and even those we look up to and aspire to be.
It can lead to us playing it safe to avoid failure and having to work twice as hard to prove ourselves wrong and not get ‘found out’. Perfectionism can often be driven from a place of Imposterism and it can impact our brand and credibility if we’re constantly downplaying our achievements and not owning our successes.
Sadly, it’s not something we can easily overcome—but we can learn to navigate it and succeed anyway. Here’s how:
1. Own your successes.
We tend to be modest when it comes to our achievements, and have been brought up not to boast about our strengths. We feel uncomfortable accepting praise and our negativity bias in our brain means we’re wired not to think of the positives so much.
The most important thing to remember is that if we’re getting praise or positive feedback, it’s because we’ve earned it and deserve it. Own it and let it help counter some of those moments of self-doubt.
2. Give it your all and know it’s enough.
Sometimes our imposter syndrome is due to our fear of failure and our perfectionism manifesting all at once to give us this fear of not being good enough. We fail to meet our own unrealistic ideals of perfection—either in the way we look, our abilities in life, or our achievements at work. Perfectionism so often sets us up to fail and feeds these feelings of self-doubt.
Overcoming imposter syndrome requires self-acceptance: you don’t have to attain perfection to be worthy of the success you’ve achieved. It’s not about lowering the bar, it’s about resetting it to a realistic level. You don’t have to be Einstein to be a valuable asset. Nor do you have to attain perfection to share something with the world.
3. Don’t let your doubt and fear stop you.
We need to continue to take risks and challenges even though we might not think we’re ready. Too often, we stand back and let the opportunities pass us by because we doubt our abilities. The best way to see if you’re ready is to dive in and take on the challenge!
There will always be a feeling of fear and the risk of failure—we grow and develop by facing these fears and getting outside of our comfort zone. Don’t let your worries hold you back.
One of the ways we can navigate these feelings is by proving we’re capable, this capability brings with it confidence and less power in self-doubt, increasing our comfort zone and our confidence by proving we have the competence and capability.
4. Remember: your thoughts are not common knowledge.
I know how it feels to be gripped by imposter syndrome—we spend all our energy trying to prove our worth to everyone else to make it go away. The funny thing is, only we believe that we’re not capable. For example, we wouldn’t have been offered the job if people didn’t think we were capable. Often the only person we need to prove anything to is ourselves.
5. Acknowledge it and know it’s not just you.
We need to be mindful that the voice in our head is often swayed. We are wired to see the glass as half empty, to focus on the negative. This comes from evolutionary times when it was helpful for us to scan the horizon for the worst that could happen in order to survive.
What this can translate to in our modern world is a constant focus on what we’re not good at, things that went wrong, and why we’re not enough—in our jobs, how we look compared to our friends, who we are as a person, or what we’ve achieved in life.
To counter this negativity bias, we need to focus on what we have, not what we haven’t, to direct our energy toward the things we’re good at rather than on what might go wrong and where we might fail.
We are all capable of more than we know, and we can do amazing things if we’re not busy doubting our abilities. Next time that negative voice in your head starts to speak, turn down the volume.
What matters most is not whether we fear failing, looking foolish, or not being enough; it’s whether we give those fears the power to keep us from taking the actions needed to achieve our goals.
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