You hear the term thrown around often (mainly towards women) Imposter Syndrome. What is it exactly?
Imposter syndrome, can also be called perceived fraudulence, involves feelings of self-doubt and personal incompetence that persist despite your education, experience, and accomplishments.
It can be a voice inside of us saying -
Why am I here? I don’t belong.
I am a fraud, everyone will work that out soon.
I do not deserve this (promotion, praise, reward).
It can feel like a wave of emotion that is about insecurity, anxiety, not feeling good enough, fear of judgement, lack of confidence and doubting yourself. All feelings that can derail your ability to believe you can achieve.
You can worry about people around you recognising your shortcomings or failures - even though no one should expect perfectionism - we are always learning and growing and no one knows all of the answers, even if you might be credited as an expert in your field.
Related studies talk about the feelings of guilt we can experience that we are tricking people, that we do not have the “smarts” to deliver what they might be expecting.
You are worthy and you need to stop listening to that voice. I know easier said than done.
A great place to start is write a list of your achievements, qualifications and skills and remind yourself why you are being recognised for the right reasons in your industry/field/role.
Remember that your feelings are not facts, do not believe them.
This is an important topic to discuss because a huge percentage of the population suffer from imposter syndrome and we need you to believe you can do this.
