Put simply, Imposter Syndrome is the belief that whatever you’ve achieved has been by luck or circumstance, believing you’re a phoney, about to be discovered, as the fraud that you really are. You believe you are undeserving of any credit that is given to you. And in some cases, even the most successful of Executives have a fear of failure that also alludes to Imposter Syndrome.
That, you have to agree, is enough to set off an anxiety attack in even the most confident of people.
So my question is,
Have you ever felt like this?
I’m not even going to guess, I can tell you that at least 70% of businessmen/women have experienced this at some stage of their career.
Funny thing is, it kicks in when you receive a promotion or are given a raise, asked to take on more responsibility for outcomes and the dreaded KPI (Key Performance Indicator), where you get evaluated on the value you bring to the business. And many more triggers cause this insane conviction that all of a sudden, you’re a fraud, or at the very least, just not good enough to do the job you have. Now the worst thought of all, on the heels of that, is the belief that you will be discovered for the imposter you are!
These are all ‘feelings’, emotions that churn up more feelings, that result in more anxiety and are all fear-based. All created by your self-doubt and vivid imagination.
What are feelings?
Feelings are merely your perception or belief about something. Feelings have a nasty ability to make you second-guess yourself, doubt your abilities, lower your self-confidence, induce insomnia, panic attacks and physiological responses that are all damaging to your health. Constantly moving you to ‘fight or flight mode’.
Let’s turn to facts. Did you achieve something that brought in a great result?
Have you worked hard to deserve that raise? Have you accelerated your career path to a point where your growth and development have been recognized and rewarded?
Have you shown tremendous leadership ability in collaborating with your teams to achieve the goals that were set? Have you been responsible for significant cultural change at work that has evolved into a healthy workforce that has the highest respect for you?
Those are the facts (and plenty others). Guaranteed you have achieved something that was valuable enough and significant enough to be noticed by the ‘higher-ups’. They don’t dish these rewards out ‘willy nilly’.
You know, our minds are very busy places, full of thoughts, doubts, anxiety which dominate all the good things that are present in our lives…genuinely. Are you a person that can only see ‘what you don’t have’ as opposed to seeing ‘what you do have’?
What a bummer! I’ve already had several clients this year, presenting with Imposter Syndrome. All highly skilled, professionals, others not professionals, but all successful people!
Look at the questions below and answer them factually.
- What is your current position?
- Are your opinions acknowledged, respected
- What did you do to get that promotion?
- Do you enjoy your job?
- Are you an achiever?
- What deals did you close?
- What makes you successful? Everyone has different strengths, but they all bring value to the table.
Those are facts! And you can’t argue with facts. Perception is another story. What you see versus what I see and how we process the information can be entirely opposite to each other. Because feelings aren’t reliable… facts are!
If you can relate to this post, then here are a few tips by Valerie Young, an expert on Imposter Syndrome, to safeguard you from falling into the Imposter Syndrome trap, because if you don’t put the brakes on, it’s all downhill from here.
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