Imposter syndrome is believing that your achievements weren’t reached honestly and that you are not as capable as others think you are. This frequently comes with feelings of inadequacy and anxiety that can be detrimental to your productivity and mental well-being. Luckily, there are ways to fight and overcome imposter syndrome to keep it from taking over your life. Here are some of those ways:
Look at Facts
If you feel your skillset is inadequate for your job, take a minute to look at the facts. Evaluate your training, knowledge, experience, and previous successes without bias. It can be hard to separate yourself from your abilities to evaluate, so you may need to get a neutral party involved for a better perspective. Once you look at the facts, you may find that you are better qualified than you previously thought.
Do What Works
A big part of imposter syndrome is worrying about the projects you’re responsible for failing. If you experience this, one way to combat it is by using patterns you know will work. Taking low risks and doing what you know will work is a great way to regain confidence and start to break out of the imposter syndrome cycle. Of course, some risks are necessary and those may be frightening for a while, but once you’ve built confidence in the more reliable projects, it will be easy to build confidence elsewhere.
Set Reasonable Standards
Feeling like you’re falling short can be caused by setting too high of a bar. One way to combat this is by setting and tracking goals. Goals are a good way to get tangible evidence of progress and success. You might want to run your goals by someone else to make sure they seem relevant and achievable, so you don’t end up setting to bar too high.
Confidence is what makes a lot of business leaders great, and it can be concerning to lose yours. Use this advice to combat imposter syndrome and reach your full potential.