Welcome to the world of Imposter Syndrome—where many of us find ourselves doubting our accomplishments and fearing exposure as a “fraud.” Have you ever felt like a fraud, like you don’t belong, or that your success is just sheer luck? If so, you’re not alone.
It’s far too common and the complexities of it keep us from actually getting the support and help we need to overcome our doubts. This is where imposter syndrome wins! It aims to isolate us so those negative self-talk and self-beliefs can flourish without hesitation. This is dangerous – but let’s check out how you can navigate through it with ease.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud.
Despite evidence of competence, those experiencing imposter syndrome feel they aren’t as capable as others perceive them to be.
Does this sound familiar to you? It’s more common than you might think.
The Roots of Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome often stems from internalized beliefs and external pressures.
Have you ever felt that you need to be perfect or that you must constantly prove your worth?
These pressures can cultivate self-doubt and perpetuate the feeling of being an imposter. Understanding these roots is a crucial first step in addressing the syndrome. This is where external support is valuable, because you can hear objectively of the deceptive thoughts your doubt are creating about yourself.
What Does Imposter Syndrome Feel Like?
Imagine achieving something significant, yet still feeling anxious or unworthy. Or even trying something new, be it a new job, completing a new project, winning an award, networking, etc.
Imposter syndrome feels like a shadow that follows you, whispering doubts in your ear despite your successes, accompanied by experience anxiety, stress, and an overwhelming sense of inadequacy.
Common signs and symptoms
- Self-Doubt: Do you frequently second-guess your abilities?
- Fear of Exposure: Are you afraid others will find out you’re not as competent as they think?
- Overachieving: Do you push yourself to work harder to prove your worth?
- Attributing Success to Luck: Do you often dismiss your achievements as mere luck?
- Perfectionism: Are you setting impossibly high standards for yourself?
Recognizing these signs is the first step towards managing imposter syndrome. Remember, awareness is power.
5 Types of Imposter Syndrome
Thankfully, imposter syndrome can be grouped into these five types; and understanding these can help you which patter/s resonate more with you. Each has their own challenges, and when imposter syndrome gets out of control, they can compound and create more doubt and have a debilitating affect on us.
1. The Perfectionist
The perfectionist often feel like a failure when they don’t achieve their perfect vision, leading to self-doubt and stress. Perfectionists can get stuck with tiny details – fixating on them, telling yourself that you’re not doing this perfectly, keeps you circling back to make tweaks, hate feedback, etc. Some self-talk might resemble the following:
“If it’s not a 100% then I did a terrible job”
“I’m not good enough because it’s not perfect”
Core feelings association with perfectionist might look like panicking as the deadline approaches, constant frustration that it’s not “good enough”, fearing getting feedback or any form of criticism.
Core thoughts might be “getting it right the first time proves I’m capable”, “I need to get everything done to 100%, 100% of the time.”
2. The Superhero
The Superheroes feel they need to excel in every role they take on, leading to burnout and exhaustion. Do you push yourself to work harder than everyone else to prove your worth? The superhero wants to accomplish everything better than anyone else, they’ll put in extra, extra, extra hours to accomplish their goal, and external validation is crucial to sustain this imposter type.
“I need to be the best, better than anyone here.”
“If someone outshines me, then I’m not worthy and I am terrible”
Superheroes have a core feelings of insecurities about their accomplishments, struggles internally with their priorities, putting external validation ahead of internal satisfaction, this can lead to tension with family and friends. They’re ready to sacrifice themselves, their happiness to dedicate to their work.
Core thoughts include I’m not good enough until EVERYONE thinks ‘I’m the best.’” and more towards “I am what I produce.”
3. The Expert
The experts often feel inadequate if they don’t have all the answers, fearing exposure as a fraud. Do you feel the need to know everything before starting a task? They straive towards having deep knowledge in one particular area of expertise, spends exorbinant amount of time researching and learning, and often reaches analysis paralysis because they have too much information.
“I MUST know everything about the topic to be effective.”
“If someone knows more than me than i’m terrible at what I do, and I should give up.”
Experts are afraid of not knowing the answer, the anxiety over preparation for their subject takes over and they’re unable to process or engage with the world around them, they have a sense of guilt and continues replaying scenarios where they didn’t know the answer. They have a thought, “I am what I know”.
Core thoughts from Experts include, “I’m a hack if i don’t know everything”, “I don’t know enough”, “I should be doing more research and preparing more for X”. All to keep them intellectually occupied.
4. The Natural Genius
Natural geniuses judge their competence based on ease and speed rather than effort, often feeling crushed by setbacks. Do you believe you should excel without effort? Natural genius believe they should be able to master any skill immediately or they feel insecure about their ability, learning and failing isn’t an option. They play down their accomplishments and can’t accept praise for their effort, and struggles in environment where they need to make incremental improvements.
“I should already know how to master this skill.”
“I’m not good enough if I can’t make X immediate to perfection.”
Core feelings for natural genius include feeling indifference to their strengths, can often feel like they’ve peaked in their skills, they look for opportunities to use their skills at their comfortable level, because they’ve already mastered the skill.
Natural geniuses think “if it’s easy for me than others can do it too”, or “i’m not a value add with this level of knowledge, it needs to be easier and deeper level of knowledge.”
5. The Soloist
Soloists feel like frauds if they receive assistance, equating independence with competence. Do you hesitate to ask for help, believing you need to accomplish everything on your own? You can do everything by yourself, you prefer to work alone so others don’t see the struggles you have to overcome, because they saw it, then it would mean you aren’t good at your job. They avoid engaging in conversation and fears they might be asked questions without preparation. They thrive when they know the answer.
“I can’t let others help me, if they help me than I didn’t accomplish this.”
“I don’t need anyone’s help”
Core feelings are constant pressure (self-pressure) to perform, they’ll have moments of loneliness and feel they can’t connect with anyone at work, and feel guilty over the outcome thinking they could’ve done better. Always seeking to work alone to keep their insecurities from reaching other people’s awareness.
The soloist never wants to look ‘dumb’, they’re seeking ways to step outside the spotlight, and believes they need to be ahead of the curve where they already know what they need to accomplish.
What do you think is your primary?
Ask yourself, If I were to learn a knew skill, when would I be able to show other people about my skills?
This can aid in guiding where you’re in your imposter syndrome, we ebb and flow through the imposter syndrome, whenever our imposter self feels it’s about to be discovered, it changes it’s techniques to continue having an hold on your self-doubt.
How Do I Deal with Imposter Syndrome?
Dealing with imposter syndrome is a journey—one that requires patience, self-compassion, and practical strategies.
Here are some steps to overcome these feelings and reclaim your confidence:
1. Acknowledge Your Feelings
Start by acknowledging your feelings.
It’s okay to feel like an imposter, but recognize that these feelings are not a reflection of reality.
Have you ever tried journaling your thoughts and emotions? This can be a powerful tool to understand and process your experiences.
I suggest also having a conversation with yourself and with your imposter self. This can feel silly, or odd but one of the parts that give imposter syndrome more power is our action of avoiding it. The more we attempt to avoid, the stronger it grow. Acknowledging your feelings and approaching it work compassion can help you build self-awareness and self-compassion, both loosen the grip of imposter syndrome.
2. Challenge Negative Thoughts
When those doubting voices start to creep in, challenge them.
Ask yourself, “Is this thought based on fact or fear?”
Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations.
For instance, remind yourself of your past achievements and the hard work you’ve put in. Does this shift in mindset sound helpful to you?
Challenging our self-talk can be tough because we believe it, this is where writing down a list of your top 5 self-talk on paper get it out of your head and mind, and then coming to it with fresh eyes, start countering each though with facts and opportunities where you overcame a challenge.
For example, if your a perfectionist, you might have the ALL or Never mentality, if it’s not perfect all the time, it’s never perfect. Then talk about a situation where you delivered something, that wasn’t perfect and how it lead to positive outcome.
Be careful, if the imposter syndrome has a deep hold with you, it may be tough to start with 5, maybe start with one of the low powered self-talk and build your resilience up to the top 5 self-talk.
3. Seek Support
When imposter syndrome becomes tough, and it often can become challenging to escape, seek external support. A Career Counselor is the best person to support you through this, a career counselor has a mental health background who can support your mental wellbeing while working to develop strategies to help you cope and address the strong imposter syndrome hold.
Additionally, when you’re ready, connect with your peers, friends and family to share your imposter syndrome feelings. Everyone has gone through and will go through these thoughts and feelings, it’s because when we try something outside of our comfort zone, we are more self-conscious about how to portray ourselves. Sharing yourself with others that have your back can be validating and ensure you’re in a healthy and healing environment.
4. Celebrate Your Successes
Take time to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem.
Keep a “success journal” where you jot down achievements and positive feedback. How does it feel to acknowledge your successes regularly?
This is crucial to help with challenging your negative thoughts. Having a collection of your successes shows even with imposter self lingering around you, you are capable, you are able, and you will overcome the challenges.
5. Embrace Imperfection
Nobody is perfect, and that’s perfectly okay!
Nobody is perfect, and that’s perfectly okay!
Nobody is perfect, and that’s perfectly okay!
Give yourself permission to make mistakes and learn from them. It’s liberating to give yourself grace to be human and make mistakes because we learn the most from our mistakes, and when we are trying something new, going beyond our comfort zone we are challenging ourselves to grow. Growth often comes from challenges and setbacks.
Imposter syndrome doesn’t have to hold you back. By acknowledging your feelings, challenging negative thoughts, seeking support, celebrating your successes, and embracing imperfection, you can navigate this journey with renewed confidence. Remember, you are not alone, and you are worthy of every success you achieve.
Seeking support
Imposter syndrome is complex and it’s common, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to navigate. Increasing your awareness and recognizing the patterns that affect you will help you manage your symptoms better. When we’re impacted with imposter syndrome, we tend to seek isolation, and HIGHLY recommend finding community, coach, counselor to help you feel connected with yourself and those around you. Isolation is the fuel to grow imposter syndrome. As a career counselor and coach, I’m here to help. Please schedule a consultation to get support so imposter syndrome doesn’t hold you back from getting to your authentic self and making the impact you’re meant to make in this world.
