Have you ever felt less of a person in relation to your achievements, educational qualifications or position? Do you feel like it’s only a matter of time until everyone discovers you are not as perfect as they suppose? These feelings are known as Impostor Syndrome, or what psychologists often call the impostor phenomenon.
Impostor syndrome was initially focused on high-achieving women but research has shown that the syndrome can affect anyone irrespective of their social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise.
What Exactly Is Impostor Syndrome?
Impostor syndrome also known as Perceived fraudulence, is the constant feeling of self-doubt and personal incompetence despite your education, experience, and accomplishments. Regardless of the glaring evidence of their competence in the face of others, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck.
Impostors often find themselves attributing their success to external forces, downplaying their performance and constantly worrying that they may not be able to live up to certain expectations. These expectations often arise from their view about themselves or the views they believe are held of them by other people.
Impostor feelings war between self-perception and the perception of others. To counter these feelings, people experiencing this syndrome might end up working harder and setting even higher standards that introduce more intense pressure on them. This pressure can negatively affect their emotional wellness and increase their feeling of self-doubt.
Signs of Impostor Syndrome
Impostor syndrome can manifest in many ways including:
- Crediting luck or other reasons for any success:
People with imposter feelings often find themselves willing their great achievements to chance, good luck, perfect timing etc. In fact, any other thing except for their hard work, skill, abilities and expertise.
- Fear of being seen as a failure:
Fear is one of the signs that you may have impostor syndrome. Chief of these fears is the fear of failure. People with impostor syndrome always want to do everything within their power to salvage themselves from falling to the ground, especially in the face of others. People with impostor syndrome are constantly overworking so they don’t appear as weaklings.
- Feeling that overworking is the only way to meet expectations:
These people habitually overwork themselves to achieve the impossibly high standards they have set for themselves, with the aim of trying to make sure people do not discover their “incompetence”.
- Feeling unworthy of attention or affection:
They steadily feel underserving of the people in their lives or the great relationships, friendships and connections they have built. This makes them feel unusual in certain social environments.
- Holding back from reaching attainable goals:
Living in constant fear of discovery and failure, imposters strive for perfection in everything they do. This makes them reluctant to even take any step when they perceive things may not go as planned.
Causes of Impostor Syndrome
There’s no single clear cause of impostor feelings. Rather, a number of factors likely combine to trigger them. Potential underlying causes can include, growing up in families that stressed academic achievement and success. If your parents went back and forth between overpraise and criticism or often compared you with your siblings or peers then you may be prone to coming down with impostor syndrome.
Also, societal pressures on what success can contribute to impostor syndrome leaving you to measure your self-worth mainly by what you’ve accomplished. Experts have also linked specific personality traits like perfectionistic tendencies and neuroticism to imposter feelings.
New responsibilities are another reason why some people might experience impostor feelings, they may feel unworthy of the opportunity and fear they may not be able to measure up to expectations.
The worst part about imposter syndrome is that it can easily turn into a cycle that breeds anxiety, depression and guilt with seriously negative consequences. But recognizing it and having the tools to get past it can help you overcome self-doubt and deal with this obstacle that keeps you feeling like a fish out of water.
Steps To Overcoming Impostor Syndrome
Overcoming impostor syndrome starts with recognizing your own potential, taking ownership of your achievements and accepting that you are worthy of them. To move past these impostor feelings, you need to become comfortable standing against some of the previous negative perceptions you’ve had of yourself.
Here are 5 ways you can get this done:
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Remind yourself that your feelings aren’t always factual:
Just because you feel a certain way doesn’t make it true. You need to learn how to filter your emotions and always remind yourself that you are up to the task. If you are prone to impostor feelings, mentally prepare for them. Be ready to respond to them whenever they arise. Start by using a mantra like, “I am capable of success”.
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Journal your accomplishments:
Keep a clear record of the achievements that you are proud of, save special messages from loved ones, and hang your medals or awards where you can see them so that you can always be reminded of your success, especially on blue days when you are experiencing self-doubt.
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Stop comparing yourself with others:
Learn to quit the unhealthy action of comparison. Only compare yourself with your past self and make sure you are making adjustments to become better daily. Remember people only project their perfect scenes, behind the scenes are mostly hidden. Stop measuring yourself by other people’s achievements or societal standards.
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Accept that nobody is perfect:
Don’t focus on doing everything perfectly, rather, set realistic goals and work hard, smart and consistently to achieve them. Your outcome may not be perfect but you are on the route to excellence.
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Talk to your mentors:
A good conversation with someone who knows you and supports you can help you realize that your imposter feelings are normal, but also irrational. They can remind you of the steps you’ve undergone to get to where you are.
In need of a mentor or coach? You can speak to Ifegwu-Mbonu Victor, he provides personal coaching and training to individuals and professionals, designed to help them uncover their uniqueness, develop, and deploy them profitably. Click here to contact him now via WhatsApp.
In conclusion, I would like to end with my favourite quote on this subject,
Never, ever, ever, write off anything you’ve achieved as merely being lucky. You are not lucky: you are hard-working and capable. Don’t ever question it. – Charlene Walters
Now that you have read about Impostor Syndrome and how to overcome it, here are similar posts that will help you continue improving yourself:
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