How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome. For Good.
What is it?
Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where someone experiences feelings of being a phoney and a concern that they are about to be found out. The people who experience this have usually had some sort of success in their life, be that in their career, home life, with their friends or even in relationships.
Research shows that more than 70% of people will be affected by imposter syndrome at some point in their lives.
It can manifest in many different ways; self doubt, negative self-talk, perfectionism, procrastination, fear of failure, discounting, comparing yourself to others, not accepting feedback… The list goes on and all of us will experience it in slightly different ways (although in the masterclass I ran recently, there was definitely a common theme around self-doubt).
When I asked the masterclass attendees where and how they are triggered by imposter syndrome, again there were a variety of answers and again, there was a common theme - in the workplace and with people more senior than themselves.
A different perspective.
Basima A. Tewfik, an assistant professor at MIT Sloan, did a study where she recognised that people with imposter syndrome often performed at the same level as those who did not. She also discovered that people who experienced imposter syndrome, often out performed those who didn’t from the perspective of their interpersonal skills.
The thing to note here is that sometimes imposter syndrome can influence people in a positive way. Maybe it drives you forward and makes you work harder. Maybe it helps to push you outside of your comfort zone where you challenge yourself more.
So before you think about ridding yourself of imposter syndrome for good, it is important to work out where it serves you and where it does not serve you.
For example, I used to feel it in my relationships. I would get paranoid they were going to leave, thinking that I was not lovable - this is how it was not serving me. It also spurred me onto thinking about our relationship from another perspective and meant I was a more empathetic and supportive partner.
Quick fixes.
There are things you can do today that will help you with short term fixes for imposter syndrome;
Get a mentor - someone who can help boost your confidence and remind you of what you are capable of.
Become a mentor - sharing your knowledge with others will help to reinforce how much you know.
Speak to others - people who are in a similar position to you. The more you speak about it, the more you will realise how many people experience imposter syndrome.
I was speaking with an impressive CTO once. I was asking for advice on how to advance my career and while we were chatting, imposter syndrome came up. He shared with me that he experiences it too, a lot. This is someone who was at the top of their game and incredibly well respected. This helped me realise it is not unusual and that I was not alone.
How to overcome it for good.
While the tips above are helpful, they are helping to solve the symptoms of imposter syndrome. What they are not doing is addressing the root cause. It is only once you start addressing the root cause of an issue that you can really start to solve it in the long term, in a more sustainable way.
If we use the analogy of an ailing tree… if you snip away at the branches and leaves you may solve the manifestations or symptoms of the problem. But, unless you dig a little deeper and look to the roots, these symptoms are likely to come back. If you can uncover the root cause and address this, you are much more likely to come up with a long term and effective solution. The same can be applied to imposter syndrome.
If you are interested in solving imposter syndrome for good, this starts with more awareness. Download this checklist to work out if you have imposter syndrome and how it is manifesting for you. If you need any help, get stuck or want to chat, book in a free 30 minute coaching session with me.