What is Imposter Syndrome?
Have you ever felt like a fraud soon to be ‘found out’? Have you ever downplayed your accomplishments or skillset? Then you may be suffering from Imposter Syndrome. Imposter syndrome is the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved because of one’s own efforts or skills. Do you know the 7 ways to Cope with Imposter Syndrome? Lets learn more about what it actually is to better cope.
Individuals that are more prone to struggle with this phenomenon are those of underrepresented identities. “75% of female executives across industries reported they have experienced imposter syndrome in their careers,” October 2021 KPMG study. BIPOC people who work/study in predominantly white environments and trans and nonbinary people experience similar feelings as well. It is also noted that 70% of people in general have suffered from these feelings at some point in their lives. So, remember that many people have experienced Imposter Syndrome and that you are not alone!
There are 5 types of Imposter Syndrome. Each type experiences the syndrome slightly different but with the same impact on their lives.
5 Types of Imposter Syndrome
- The Expert – ‘I should know the answer to everything.‘ You expect to know everything about a topic before you feel comfortable being called an expert and when you don’t know everything you feel like a failure.
- The Superhuman – ‘I should never make a mistake.’ You feel you need to be the best manager, team member, parent, partner, friend, child, sibling, and you expect yourself to handle it all at the same time perfectly and easily. When you cannot you feel shame.
- The Perfectionist – ‘I should get everything done perfectly.’ You feel how something is achieved is most important and one minor flaw in the execution results in failure.
- The Soloist – ‘I should never need help.’ You feel to be considered successful you need to have done it all by yourself, and needing help denotes failure.
- The Natural Genius – ‘I should get it right the first time.’ You feel you need to master something easily and fast to be considered accomplished and if you struggle you feel it’s a failure and you feel shameful.
How Can You Recognize If You Have Imposter Syndrome?
Do you relate to any of the above 5 categories? How can you recognize if you have imposter syndrome? There are different ways this can manifest. Do you ever have any of these below thoughts? You may be suffering from Imposter Syndrome if…..
- You feel ‘I got lucky’ after any success achieved.
- You struggle accepting praise and end up belittling your accomplishments.
- You apologize unnecessarily, saying sorry when you are not.
- You have a strong fear of failure where it can become paralyzing.
- You feel like a fraud waiting to be ‘found out’.
- You undermine your experiences/expertise and downplay your skills.
- You set unrealistic self-expectations to your own detriment, aka self-sabotage.
At this point we have identified what Imposter Syndrome is, the 5 types, how you can recognize it in yourself, so then you wonder well now what?! How do I cope with this?!
Well, I will be honest with you, it’s not a quick fix overnight. This will all depend on time and effort, the longer you have endured the longer the recovery, but it is so worth the journey. As with anything you will have good days and bad days, but the more you can recognize these thoughts in the moment the faster you can combat them. If you want to stop feeling like an imposter then you have to stop thinking like one. So how can you do that, by learning the 7 ways to cope with Imposter Syndrome.
7 Ways to Cope With Imposter Syndrome
Stop Comparing Your Journey to Others
Do ever experience hearing about a friend getting promoted, getting married, having kids, traveling and living their best life and you get jealous and think why isn’t that me? Well, because that is not your life. That is not your journey. That is not your path. Stop comparing your journey to others. Stop feeling like an imposter in someone else’s life.
Life is a game Chutes and Ladders. Where whatever the dice throws you either you progress forward (climb the ladder) or backwards (go down the chute/slide), but you always continue to move forward to the end of the game. You have no idea what the dice will bring.
You and your friend may start at the same place but will take very different paths in the game. Your friend may be climbing those life ladders as you are still making your way, but a day will come when you start to climb and your friend’s life takes a step backwards down the chute, now starting at a different place.
Just because things are great now doesn’t mean it will stay that way, for any of us. Support your friends’ successes, as one day it will be you. Support your friends during difficult times, as one day it will be you.
Celebrate Your Successes
I encourage you to keep a folder of positive emails, letters, messages, recognition, accomplishments, promotions, compensation increases, job offers and goals achieved all in one place, so you can look them over whenever self doubt creeps in. This can also help build your self confidence. Look at everything you have achieved so far and know that it was YOU that accomplished them! Continue to keep track of all your successes to remind yourself YOU are worthy.
Share Your Failures
Find a support network where you can communicate your feelings of disappointment, regret, frustration, shame, self-doubt and what you learned from them. View failure and rejection as what not to do next time and keep moving forward. Take something away from that experience instead of internalizing it. Onto the next.
Let Go of Perfectionism
Have some self-compassion and realize nothing is or can be perfect. There is no such thing. You need to sit in that discomfort until it subsides. You can start by doing that by stopping negative self-talk and practicing mindfulness. Start telling yourself its ok to let go. Let go of your unrealistic high standards and your overachieving nature. Let go. Celebrate Your Successes.
Learn Facts
Finding evidence and supportive data that debunks your feelings of being a fraud. Prove to yourself with evidence that your feelings of inadequacy are unfounded. For example, if you have accomplished a Masters Degree, take pride and ownership in that. Do research to find out how many people have master’s degree in your field in the world and then compare to the world’s population. You are one of the top few with your education and that is a huge accomplishment. 13% of the world’s population holds a masters degree of any kind, so niche that down and you are elite.
Growth Mindset
Start to see yourself as a work in progress. You don’t know everything about everything, and you are not perfect, so shift your mindset to growth. Don’t use failure to describe yourself, you just haven’t accomplished something YET! Replace the word failing with learning. Shift your mindset to continuous learning and challenging yourself regardless of the outcome. You just learned one more thing that didn’t work, so onto the next. View setbacks or failures and rejections as opportunities to thrive.
Say Yes to New Opportunities
Step out of your comfort zone. You know the old saying ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ Well the only way to push through your imposter syndrome is trying new things to add to your experiences and expertise. They may not be successful in what you hoped to get out of it, but at least you tried, and you may have learned something along the way. The best place to start is by networking. Connect with like minded individuals and see what opportunities may present themselves.
In conclusion, we have identified what Imposter Syndrome is, the 5 types, how you can recognize it in yourself, and ways to cope with the feelings of inadequacy. What you are not changing you are choosing. Start by incorporating one of the 7 ways to cope with imposter syndrome and see how it feels. Then move to the next and so on. We are all a work in progress. Next thing you know you will truly believe you deserve your success!
