Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Regardless of what you do for a living, you’ve probably experienced thoughts that you’re not good enough, incompetent, or a fraud. These thoughts are called imposter syndrome, and many experience them at least once in their lifetime.

I want to share my experiences with imposter syndrome, what causes it, and how you can defeat it.

Key Takeaways

• Imposter syndrome comes from feelings of inadequacy and incompetence despite previous education, experience, and successes.
• Nearly 70% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point.
• Imposter syndrome keeps many people from reaching their true potential.

What Is Imposter Syndrome?

According to WebMD,

"It’s not an actual mental health condition. But this term (also known as imposter phenomenon, fraud syndrome, or imposter experience) describes someone who feels they aren’t as capable as others think and fears they’ll be exposed as a fraud."

So, although imposter syndrome isn’t in the DSM5 as a recognized mental health disorder, many psychologists see it manifesting in people suffering from depression and general anxiety disorder.

Signs Of Imposter Syndrome

It’s sometimes difficult to know when you’re experiencing normal self-doubt and when you have imposter syndrome because both exhibit similar symptoms. However, whereas self-doubt is typically episodic, like you’re going on a first date and doubt you’ll live up to the person’s expectations, imposter syndrome can be ongoing and more detrimental.

Common symptoms of imposter syndrome include:

• Crediting luck with any success you have instead of your talents, education, or ability.
• Fear of being discovered as a fraud or failure.
• Downplaying your accomplishments.
• Fear of leaving your comfort zone or trying something new.

One of the worst things about imposter syndrome is that it keeps many people paralyzed, similar to paralysis by analysis; however, in the case of a person with imposter syndrome, instead of becoming paralyzed from overanalyzing, they’re paralyzed by thoughts of inadequacy. People suffering from imposter syndrome often think, “Why should I do this? What the hell do I know?

How to Beat Imposter Syndrome

The good news is that imposter syndrome is primarily feelings and not fact-based. Emotions aren’t always trustworthy, so the key is to separate facts from feelings to get over your imposter syndrome. One way to do this is to tap into the Spock part of your brain. 
For those who don’t know, Spock is a character in the Star Trek universe. As part Vulcan, he valued science and logic over feelings and emotions. Your brain is capable of reasoning, but occasionally the feelings and emotional part override its critical thinking ability. This is typically easier said than done because our feelings and emotions are powerful, but with some effort, you can overcome this problem.

Ask What is the Truth Years ago, I took a job at a newspaper as an ad designer. My goal was to get into comics, and I thought I could do a strip for the paper, then parlay that into my becoming the next Charles Schulz. However, that didn’t happen. What did happen is I had to become more involved with news reporting, photography, and journalism, none of which I had a background or education in. Eventually, I became the newspaper’s editor, and I felt like a fraud the entire time, even today, after being out of the business for several years.

But what is the truth?

The truth is that I didn’t know what I was doing when I started, but I learned. I wrote and edited stories, managed people, put out metaphorical fires, and got a paper out every week dependably.

So, maybe the truth is that I was better at work than I give myself credit for. Perhaps the truth is that, despite not having the education or background, I learned enough to do the job well. And possibly the truth is that if I were as stupid and uneducated as I thought, my publisher wouldn’t have, couldn’t have, kept me in the position.

Listen to Others If you suffer from imposter syndrome or low self-esteem, you probably have difficulty taking a compliment. If someone praises you for a job well done or something you’ve created, the thought often goes like this, “Yeah, but you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thinking this or saying it out loud is equivalent to calling the other person stupid or misinformed when it’s probably not the case, especially not if it’s coming from someone in the know, like a teacher, therapist, or someone with more knowledge and experience than you.

The bottom line is that if you don’t think you’re smart and that you’re a fraud, there’s no way you’re fooling people more intelligent than you, so believe them when they tell you you’ve done well.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others It’s normal to compare ourselves to others regardless of what we’re doing, but it’s one of the worst things you can do for your imposter syndrome and self-esteem. It’s good to admire other people’s accomplishments and to want to better yourself, but constantly comparing yourself against everyone else is a recipe for disaster. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and Bruce Lee said, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

You’re never going to be the smartest, the most successful, the most influential, or the most educated person, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have value. There will always be people more accomplished than you, and there are people you’ll be more accomplished than. Find your place and work from there.

Talk to a Therapist Because imposter syndrome is often linked with other mental health issues like anxiety and depression, it’s worthwhile to invest in therapy to sort these issues out and develop tools to overcome them. Maybe you need behavioral modification and habits to combat these issues, or medication can help.

Embrace Failure Fear of failing and being exposed as a fraud is at the heart of imposter syndrome, so one way to beat it is to embrace failure. Let’s say you want to write an article on imposter syndrome. Still, you’re not a mental health expert, and, hell, you didn’t even get a real education, went to art college for god’s sake, so you don’t really know about anything more than how to sharpen a pencil and avoid getting high coloring with markers. You write the article, put it on your blog, and everybody hates it. Every commenter tells you how stupid you are and how the only career you’re qualified for is a dishwasher.

So, then what?

Tomorrow you’ll wake up in the same house, the same town, eat your usual breakfast, and go on with your life. Unless your failure involves jumping out of an airplane and forgetting your parachute, most failures are inconsequential to our day-to-day lives, even though we think otherwise.

So, writing that article that bombs or screwing up at work is like being a kid, falling off your bike, and skinning your knee. Get up, put on a bandage, and try again.

Memento Mori

The Stoic philosopher Seneca said,

"Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day . . . The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time."

Memento mori tells us to remember that we are going to die. It’s not a pleasant thought, I know, but it’s a fact whether you like it or not. I can’t count the years I’ve lost to imposter syndrome. If, for no other reason, you try that which you’re afraid to try, do it today because tomorrow may not come.

So, that’s my take on imposter syndrome. And if you still have difficulty getting over it, try looking in the mirror every day and repeating the words of the famous Stuart Smalley,

I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”