To begin this post l'll first define what imposter syndrome is in order to start this discussion off on the right foot.
Imposter syndrome is the constant feeling of self-doubt and worry that you'll be "found out" to be a fraud. It's when you have success (es) under your belt, yet you attribute your success to external factors.
Other common signals of imposter syndrome are:
- Inability to assess your competency and skills realistically
- Minimizing your performance
- Constant fear that you're not living up to the standards of others
- Straight up overachieving
- Sabotaging your own success due to fear
The real concern and question here is why do this to ourselves?
I'm not here to go through the details and psychology of why many of us human beings resort to this thinking style in times of fear and uncertainty. There are a ton of sound resources from doctorates that divulge this information.
This post is simply outlining ways to stop feeling this way now and moving forward. The first step to not feeling like an imposter is to stop thinking like one.
Thoughts manifest into reality through our constant dwelling. One needs to be very clear and intentional about your thoughts.
In order to succeed at winning this battle you'll need to filter out as many negative and unproductive thoughts as possible.
I do this by questioning myself. Asking myself " Tee...is this a thought that will produce results?"..."Tee...is this thought helpful or hurtful?" Seriously. It works when you are trying or doing new things that are outside of your comfort zone.
When you're in the learning phase you need to give yourself praise for learning something new.
You can break your silence on how you feel by opening up to others. Usually others can relate to this feeling.
The reason why they can relate is because most people may feel "stupid" doing new things but it doesn't mean that you are!
That's why it's important to relate to someone outside of yourself to get grounded thoughts back into your mind and spirit.
Once you get grounded you'll be able to easily recognize self-doubt as being apart of the ride when using your competence and intelligence.
When I entered a job competition to become a sous chef in my previous career, I was scared shi-less of proving myself worthy of this position over my peer. The fear of disappointing myself was less than the fear of not winning the competition.
That's how I knew that I had grown from sabotaging my own success to owning my fear and pushing past it to claim my successes.
This is how you're able to gain more success on your journey. Pushing past the fear.
Take a moment at the end of your week to highlight all the positives and successes that have happened to you.
Take another moment to highlight all of the negatives and mistakes that have happened to you.
Now rip up the negative sheet of paper. You only wrote it out to get it off of your mind and chest. Use the positive sheet of paper to build up your resilience and dust off mistakes.
Know that when you're in rooms, you have as much rights at the table as anybody else. You're thoughts, views, opinions and beliefs are just as valuable as the next persons.
Perfecting this skill is knowing which rooms to appropriately use that voice. The other part is knowing when to not use that voice at all and just listen. I know, I know there are levels to this syndrome.
With the many levels we must peel them back to expose the truth and pivot ourselves to change the script. This is not a "once upon a time" fairytale. This is your life so you need to live it with intention, purpose and direction.
Visualize success by picturing it, feeling it, tasting it, seeing it!
Engulf yourself in the vision of success by actively keeping it one-hundred with yourself and checking in when things are going off course.
Lastly, fake it until you make it. If you are having a hard time understanding what I just said … I meant keep pushing past that fake feeling because it's only temporary.
You know that feeling when you start a new job and you have already proven yourself in the interview(s) but now you're overachieving and burning yourself out just to live up to the expectations of others instead of bringing the best you. Not good whatsoever.
Just trust yourself and your abilities from the beginning. Nothing new is ever easy so embrace the change and get closer to your goals!
- You've read another one of my article and I more than appreciate it!
I hope that you were able to take away some gems from this post and apply it to your life!
- Articulate Tee
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