HOW TO GET OVER IMPOSTER SYNDROME?
TYPES OF IMPOSTER SYNDROMES
Imposter syndrome can appear in many ways. Some of them are
- THE PERFECTIONIST: Perfectionists are people who are never satisfied and always have the feeling that their work could be better. Instead of focusing on their strengths, they tend to fixate on their flaws or mistakes. This may lead to self-pressure and high levels of anxiety.
- THE SUPERHERO: These individuals feel inadequate so they feel compelled to push themselves to work as hard as possible. They measure their competence based on how many roles they can play and excel in it. If they do not stand up according to people’s expectations in playing any role, it will evoke shame and guilt in them because they feel like they should be able to handle it.
- THE EXPERT: This category is always trying to learn more and is never satisfied with their level of understanding and excellence. Even though they are really highly skilled, they underrate their own expertise and capabilities. Their main concern is what and how much they know or can do in a given challenge. Even a minor lack of knowledge or skill can create feelings of shame, failure, and guilt in them.
- THE NATURAL GENIUS: These individuals set excessively towering targets for themselves, and then feel crushed when they do not accomplish them on their first try.
- THE SOLOIST: These individuals tend to be individualistic and prefer to work all by themselves. Self-worth comes from their productivity, so they often reject when offered help. Asking for help is a sign of weakness or incompetence in their perspective.
GET OVER IMPOSTER SYNDROME
To move past this issue, you have to make yourself comfortable while confronting some of the deep-rooted beliefs you hold about yourself. This can be tough because you may not even realize that have them, but here are a few tips you can use:
- Share your feelings. Share your feelings with your loved ones. Unreasonable beliefs may fester when they are suppressed and not shared.
- Focus on others. This may feel counterintuitive but you must try to help others in the same situation as you. If you see someone who seems alone or awkward, ask them a question to bring them into the group.
- Assess your abilities. If you have long-held beliefs about your inability in social situations, make a realistic assessment of your skills and abilities. Note down your achievements and things you are good at, and compare that with the previous self-assessment.
- Take baby steps. Do not try to focus on doing things perfectly, but, do things reasonably well and reward yourself for going ahead and taking action. For example, in a group discussion, offer an opinion or share your story.
- Question your thoughts. As you start to assess your abilities and take small steps, question whether your thoughts are reasonable. Does it make sense to even think that you are a fraud, given everything that you know and earned?
- Stop comparing. When you start comparing yourself with other people, you will find faults in yourself that will increase the feeling of not being good enough. Instead, during any conversation, focus on listening to what the other person or people are saying.
- Use social media moderately. We know that overusing social media may be related to feelings of inferiority. If you falsely portray an image on social media that does not match who you actually are, it will just make your feelings of being a fraud even worse.
- Stop fighting your feelings. Do not fight your feelings and emotions. Rather try acknowledging them and accepting them. It is when you keep acknowledging them that you can start to unravel the beliefs that are holding you back.
- Refuse to let it hold you back. No matter how much you feel like you are not good enough, do not let that stop you from achieving your goals. Keep going and be unstoppable.
