Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome is a term that, sadly, I hear pretty regularly, whether that’s in the co-working office I work in, out and about, or, closer to home, when talking to friends. For several years now, it’s something I have struggled with myself - and still do at times.

By definition, imposter syndrome is ‘the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s efforts or skills’. When you do achieve success, you attribute it to luck or describe it as a fluke. It can manifest into self-doubt and the fear that you will be ‘found out’ or discovered as a fraud. It also often coincides with anxiety, less risk-taking in your career, and career burnout.

Personally, I think this stems from going to University. I was lucky enough to attend two fantastic schools in Manchester, where there were many high achievers. I was always relatively bright but had to work hard and was never top of the class. I struggled with dyslexia and never performed particularly well in exams, finding it difficult to focus when revising. I didn’t get the best grades in my A levels, and, when results day came around, I hadn’t made it into any of the Universities I had conditional offers for; at the time, I was devastated! Luckily, I managed to get onto a course through clearing, but I never felt worthy of it. When I was studying for my Degree and my Masters, despite working extremely hard throughout, I would always think I would flunk and get awful results. When I received good grades and feedback on my essays and assignments, I would attribute it to being lucky, not believing it was a result of my hard work. I even received a letter from an exam board commending me for my results on a particular exam at University; I called my parents saying that I thought they had the wrong person… the letter was addressed to me!

Even now, nine years after graduating with my Degree, and six years after graduating with my Masters, the feeling has crept up at various points in my working life. Since beginning to manage a small team 12 months ago, it has been there more regularly, but I feel that I am getting better at learning how to deal with it and overcome it.

I wanted to share what has helped me in the hope that it will resonate with others feeling this way.

1) Take a step back and think – What evidence do you have to support that you deserve to be doing your job? Where are you now compared to where you were five years ago or even last year? If your friend were to come to you and say they felt this way, what would you tell them? Use that same supportive language on yourself!

2) Share how you feel – If step one doesn’t help, speak to your friends, family, or people outside of work. You might be surprised how many others have felt this way before! It will also hopefully open the door for others to share with you what they see in you, what they can see you are good at, and help you better see and understand your value.

3) Celebrate your successes – People often focus on the negatives and brush over the positives. We need to stop this! If someone congratulates you on a piece of work or says you’ve done an excellent job with something, relish it, don’t feel embarrassed and try and change the subject, applaud yourself! If you receive an email with positive feedback, print it out, and save it somewhere so that you can look at it when you aren’t feeling your best.

4) Focus on progress, not perfectionism – Adjust your standards for success, this will make it easier to see your accomplishments. Focusing on the progress you have made rather than striving for perfection will help. If you don’t always meet your standards, don’t view this as a failure; see it as an opportunity to learn and grow, which will help you get closer to or reach your standards next time.

5) Be kind to yourself – Show yourself some compassion, and switch up your thinking. Shifting your self-worth internally will help you recognise the feelings when they creep in and learn that you are okay as you are, without your accomplishments, and they aren’t who you are or your value.

6) Remember, it’s okay not to get it right – Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is at the top of their game all the time; you are human. You can leverage off the times when you haven’t got it right; use them as learning opportunities, don’t see them as failures.

7) Accept it – Although you can do things to help lower the frequency and intensity of the feelings attributed to imposter syndrome, it doesn’t mean they are gone for good and won’t creep back in at times. It is common for them to be present during periods of change and shift in your career. Accepting that these feelings and emotions might crop up again should prepare you. Hopefully, you will be in a better position to deal with them if and when they do!