4 Strategies To Combat Imposter Syndrome And Reclaim Your Confidence
Do you ever have those moments where you feel like a total fraud, even when you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are? According to the American Psychological Association, up to 82% of people experience feelings of imposter phenomenon, also known in our society as, “imposter syndrome.”
Imposter syndrome is a sense of being a fraud, a fear of being discovered as not qualified, or having difficulty internalizing one’s own successes. Signs of this can show up as self-doubt, feeling incompetent, or feeling like you don’t deserve to have the successes you’ve achieved. This can cause feelings of overwhelm, burnout, anxiety, depression, or even cause self-sabotaging behavior.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or what point in your life or career you are in, imposter syndrome doesn’t discriminate. It can (and probably will) show up no matter how young, old, new, or experienced you are. That’s why it’s always important to be able to recognize the signs of it, and have tools and techniques in your back pocket to help you overcome it.
Talk about your feelings of imposter syndrome
You can’t just push off these feelings and expect them to go away. Find someone to talk about them with - maybe a mentor or someone you look up to and trust. Chances are, they’ve probably had a run in with imposter syndrome themselves at one point in their lives and they can probably offer you helpful insight from their own personal experiences.
You’ve probably heard this a lot, but I will reiterate it - communication is key! It’s a great tool for coping and opening up a line of communication with someone is a great step in the right direction to help you overcome stressful and negative situations in general.
2. Create a list of positive affirmations
Using affirmations has become widely popular in recent years in our society - and for good reason! Self-affirmations are positive statements about yourself that can help you change your mindset and think more optimistically. If you feel imposter syndrome intruding on your thoughts and tearing you down, write a list of as many positive affirmations about yourself that contradict what your imposter syndrome is telling you as you can. Say those over and over again until you really start to believe it!
You can also try the “rewrite the belief” technique (I talk more in depth about this in my blog post, “4 Tips to Transform Your Mindset and Set Yourself Up for Success”). Identify your self-limiting beliefs, figure out where those beliefs are coming from and how much you actually believe (or don’t believe) them, then rewrite them to be EXACTLY what you believe or what you want to believe.
3. Celebrate your successes
A lot of the time, we are constantly working to do more and be better, so much that we forget to celebrate our achievements. We don’t reward ourselves enough for putting effort into something, especially when it doesn’t meet our expectations. I can guarantee the expectations you set for yourself are way higher than those you set for other people (I know this because I’m also guilty of this).
You may feel that a lot of things are not worth celebrating - but you’re wrong! Even the smallest wins are worth recognizing. Pop that champagne! Go out to dinner! Brag to your friends! Appreciate how far you’ve come - even if your progress isn’t linear. Take time to celebrate trying even if the outcome didn’t go as planned. Everything you do takes you one step closer to your goal, even if you can’t see it in the moment. Celebrating yourself will help boost your confidence and take away those imposter feelings.
4. Track your achievements
You may attribute your success to your ability to accomplish your goals yourself. Create a running list of all of your achievements - no matter how small. Next to each achievement list out the steps it took for you to get there. You may not have realized how hard you actually worked until you go through each thing individually. The steps you took are all the reasons you are qualified. This list is proof of your worth and of your competency. Whenever you need a reminder or feel a twinge of imposter system creeping up on you, refer back to this list.
Imposter syndrome is a complication that gets the best of us. I bet every person in your life has experienced it at one time or another. And it probably won’t be the last time they, or you, have a run in with it - that’s why it’s so important to have some strategies on hand to help mitigate it. Find the ways that work best for you so you can get back to being your, rightly, confident-self. Remind yourself that you are competent and worthy of achieving great things, and remember that imposter syndrome has nothing on you!
Sources:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/06/cover-impostor-phenomenon
