Imposter syndrome is one of the most common phenomenons among entrepreneurs and other types of successful people, and it casts a dark shadow over hard-earned growth and achievements. Imposter syndrome occurs when an individual feels like a fraud in their role, despite the fact that they earned their position fairly as the result of hard work.
People experiencing this syndrome live with a constant underlying fear of being exposed. If you suspect you may be living with imposter syndrome, read on to learn some practical strategies for overcoming these feelings before it hinders your continued growth and success.
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Story Stages
Be Honest
Getting to the root of imposter syndrome may mean facing an underlying inferiority complex where you illogically assume others are more qualified or deserving of success than you are.
One way to deal with this is to be truly honest with yourself. Try expressing your authentic feelings with someone you trust. While the reassurance from a confidant can be helpful, putting your thoughts together and working through them out loud can be an important step in helping you acknowledge and understand your successes.
Identify the Signs
Often, an individual will fail to recognize the early signs of imposter syndrome until something goes wrong and they feel their career has been compromised. To avoid reaching that point, it’s important to understand the symptoms so that you can begin training yourself to identify and stop these feelings as soon as possible.
Try holding gentle talks with yourself to work through feelings of inadequacy. Mindfulness or meditation exercises can also help to ground you in reality before getting carried away with negativity.
Track your Success
Another part of dealing with the imposter syndrome is to taking the time to reflect on the role you have in your growth and success. This might sound a bit hard as you will feel that it was all luck when, in fact, it was your strong dedication, preparation, and knowledge.
Show yourself that you are actually putting in a lot of effort and doing well by measuring your wins in a private document to read it later and eliminate your self-doubt.
In addition to that, there are a number of ways through which you can track your successes, like keeping a folder of your wins to scroll through whenever you are feeling down or demotivated.
Right the Rules
One of the reasons that might find yourself experiencing imposter syndrome is setting wrong or unrealistic rules for yourself.
If you have been operating under misleading rules for yourself, such as “never ask for help,” or “I should always know the answer,” or “failures are losers,” etc., then it is certainly time to give yourself a break and correct your standards.
While it is great to push yourself to stay motivated, setting unrealistic goals can eventually lead you to self-doubt and imposter syndrome. This is why you need to determine whether your rules are boosting your positivity or making you feel bad for yourself.
Reward Yourself
It is perfectly acceptable to expect appreciation and acknowledgment for something you have done right in your professional career. However, this does not mean that you have to rely on others for the validation of your success.
For this, you can just pat yourself on the back and reward yourself for achieving your goals to make sure you stay motivated. In addition to that, you can also buy yourself a gift or indulge in a favorite treat for a job well done.
