Imposter Syndrome isn’t something you have. It’s not an object and it’s not a disease. It’s a label and a belief system. This belief system is likely to be deeply ingrained from a very young age.
Impostor Syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. Or alternatively, you don’t feel worthy of being in the position that you are.
While this definition is usually narrowly applied to intelligence and achievement, it has links to perfectionism and the social context.
To put it simply, the feeling of being an imposter is the experience of feeling like a fake—you feel as though at any moment you are going to be found out as a fraud—like you don’t belong where you are, and you only got there through dumb luck.
It can affect anyone no matter their social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise.
Some of the common signs of Imposter Syndrome include:
- Self-doubt
- An inability to realistically assess your competence and skills
- Attributing your success to external factors
- Berating your performance
- Fear that you won’t live up to expectations
- Overachieving
- Sabotaging your own success
- Setting very challenging goals and feeling disappointed when you fall short.
While for some people, Impostor Syndrome can fuel feelings of motivation to achieve, this usually comes at a cost in the form of constant anxiety. You might over-prepare or work much harder than necessary to “make sure” that nobody finds out you are a fraud. This sets up a vicious cycle, in which you think that the only reason you survived that class presentation was that you stayed up all night rehearsing. Or, you think the only reason you got through that party or family gathering was that you memorised details about all the guests so that you would always have ideas for small talk.
The problem with Impostor Syndrome is that the experience of doing well at something does nothing to change your beliefs. Even though you might sail through a performance or have lunch with coworkers, the thought still nags in your head, “What gives me the right to be here?”.
The more you accomplish, the more you just feel like a fraud. It’s as though you can’t internalise your experiences of success. This makes sense in terms of social anxiety if you received early feedback that you were not good at social or performance situations. Your core beliefs about yourself are so strong, that they don’t change, even when there is evidence to the contrary. The thought process is: If you do well, it must be the result of luck because a socially incompetent person just doesn’t belong. Eventually, these feelings worsen anxiety and may lead to depression.
People who experience Impostor Syndrome also tend not to talk about how they are feeling with anyone and struggle in silence, just as do those with social anxiety disorder.
If you think you might have Imposter Syndrome, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you agonise over even the smallest mistakes or flaws in your work?
- Do you attribute your success to luck or outside factors?
- Are you very sensitive to constructive criticism?
- Do you feel like you will inevitably be found out as a phoney?
- Do you downplay your own expertise, even in areas where you are genuinely more skilled than others?
If you answered a big fat yes to the majority of the above then do the below:
1. Write down what you’re feeling and label it.
2. Ask yourself if it’s true. If you answer yes, ask yourself who you would be without this thought.
3. Ask yourself. What’s a more helpful thought?
Don’t try to avoid your feelings, if you’re angry, be angry and if you feel sad, be sad.
Feel the emotion and then let it pass. The goal is the heal the vulnerable child within you. Once you understand why you do what you do and turn it around into a positive, the sky is the limit.
Team A-Game
