70% of people have experienced at least one of them at some point in their lives, and women are 20% more likely to have gone through it than men, so what is it?
Imposter syndrome is one of those things that can be hard to put a finger on because it touches different people in different ways. To give you an idea about how it might be influencing your life without you even realising it, we’re going to take a look at the 5 main ways that it manifests itself. But first, let’s start with a quick definition…
What is imposter syndrome?
Have you ever started a new job where you’ve finally got the role you’ve wanted, only to find out that you’re completely out of your depth? Do you go to the gym and do all the right things when it comes to sleep and nutrition, and yet when someone in better shapes walks by your workout station you feel like hiding inside of yourself? Or how about when you’re out with your friends and someone new comes over and unintentionally makes you feel tiny and insignificant? These are all examples of imposter syndrome: a state of mind where you feel like you’re so far out of your depth that you simply shouldn’t be there. The problem is then compounded because you convince yourself that everyone around you has already spotted you floundering and is waiting for you to give up.
The key thing to note here is that if you subscribe to this way of thinking about yourself, it will come to fruition before you know it. That’s why we want to spend a couple of minutes taking a look at the most common ways imposter syndrome manifests itself, how it makes you feel, and most important of all what you can do about it. We’ll focus mainly on how these ideas about yourself take hold in relation to work, but they can touch any area of your life.
Perfectionist: Learn that ‘good enough’ is still okay
Are you someone who never wants to submit a report until it’s absolutely perfect, no matter how long it’s going to take? How about someone who will put everything else to the side and agonise over the smallest details long into the evening, and still decide that what you’ve produced is pure rubbish?
If you are then it won’t have escaped your attention that there are others in the office who seem to cruise through the working day producing work in a tenth of the time that you’re able to. In your mind they must be cutting all sorts of corners, but before you know it they’ve built a reputation for themselves as someone who gets things done quietly and efficiently. Either they’re a bonafide genius and you’re just nowhere near their level, or they know something that you don’t. The chances are that it’s the latter, so let’s shine a light on what you’re missing:
- Good enough is often all that’s required, so tell yourself that your idea of perfection isn’t something that you have to hold yourself to
- There will always be differences of opinion and style when it comes to how to do a piece of work, so opt for good enough and then make yourself receptive to feedback
- Remember that you’re there to do a job and keep things moving — not to create a masterpiece that will be remembered for generations
You might find it hard to draw a distinction between doing something good enough and doing something by cutting too much out, but stick at it. If you’re getting good feedback on the quality of your work then clearly you must be doing something right. You’ll also be able to get more done in less time too which is never a bad thing!
The One Person Band: You are not alone in this
It’s so tempting to think that to truly belong and be able to justify your position you have to be able to do everything yourself. You’ve convinced yourself that asking for help and assistance from others is nothing but a sign of weakness and a sign that you just can’t cope with your newfound position. At least that’s the way it can feel at times…
The truth is that there are no real advantages in life to doing everything by yourself when there’s an entire team around you ready and waiting to help. In fact, making optimal use of them is something that won’t go unnoticed by those in charge. To make sure you don’t feel like you have to resort to doing every little thing yourself, take a look at a few ideas of ours:
- Why not consider delegating some of the easier, more repetitive tasks that make up your day, to someone else? Not only will this take some of the pressure off, it’ll also you give you the time and energy you need to really focus on the high-value tasks that need more attention
- Imagine that you could find someone on your wavelength with the same passion and knowledge that you have, wouldn’t that be amazing? Now imagine how likely you would be to find them if you simply walled yourself up from the rest of the office and never let anyone know what you were working on from one week to the next. See what we’re saying…
- Take a moment to ask yourself whether the world’s most successful people actually scale their businesses and careers without a shred of input from anyone else. It’s a romantic notion that someone does everything by themselves and changes the world, but is it really ever going to happen?
The Mozart of the Office: Not everything has to appear effortless
Making things appear effortless is what the best in their field seem to be able to do, but ask them how they developed those skills and you’ll find out something else out about them. Anyone who gets great at something has to put in thousands upon thousands of hours of practice to get there, which is where the idea of being the Mozart of the Office runs into difficulty.
Even Mozart himself had to practice for hours and hours and had the benefit of a musical father teaching him for 6 hours a day from the age of 3. That means before he was celebrated at 6 years old he already had thousands of hours of practice under his belt. Why do you need to know this? Because if you recognise that those Mozart-like figures you’re trying to emulate at work have actually developed their skills through thousands of hours of practice, you’ll come to realise that there’s no shame in not being able to do things effortlessly. Here’s 3 ways you can recalibrate the way you think about excellence:
- If you practice something over and over again you will gradually get better and better at it
- Practice is something that takes effort and discipline to get through, so why not take pride in the journey as well as the destination?
- Remind yourself that even the best in their respective fields practised for thousands of hours before they were able to deliver the types of performances that the rest of the world now takes for granted
The Endless Fountain of Knowledge: Acknowledging what you don’t know actually makes you better
One of the common causes for imposter syndrome is feeling like you’re frequently caught out because you don’t know the answer to something you feel you should. It’s only natural to want to impress the rest of the team with your overall knowledge and experience, but there really is no harm in admitting that you don’t know something. In fact, if you voice that you’re unsure about a specific aspect of a task you’ll probably be surprised to learn that you’re not the only one. The difference is that you’re the only one who had the courage to ask, and that without you no one would have been any the wiser. Rather than this making you an imposter, it’ll make you better at the task at hand — something which won’t go unnoticed.
The Metronome: Taking a break or saying ‘no’ is a healthy choice
Last but by no means least we come to the problem of feeling like you have to work like a robot or perform like a metronome. Surely if you want to be able to justify your position and show everyone that you have what it takes you need to be able to work, work, and work for hours without ever missing a beat or taking a break?
Honestly that’s not the case, which is why we want to give you 3 reasons why taking a break and saying, ‘no’ is often the best approach:
- If you want to gain perspective and come up with new ideas you need to master the ability to take a step back and consider the big picture
- When you work all the hours in the day and are always on people will soon come to expect this as the status quo. You’re then trapped in a cycle of excessive work because you feel you constantly need to justify your position
- Overwork leads to burnout, a lack of creativity, and longterm mental health issues. None of these are conducive to a productive career, and all of them will help your feelings of not being good enough slowly become reality.
What happens next?
When you start to see yourself falling into one or more of the traps above, it’s your brain’s way of telling you that you need to step back and take a break. By making time for yourself and stepping away, you can gain fresh perspective by seeing the big picture. This may sound easier said than done, but once you commit to the process you will soon see a new sense of confidence and belief in yourself start to flourish. Why does that matter so much? Because when it does, you’ll be the one who can really start to fulfil your potential and show yourself that you’re anything but an imposter.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannecroteau/2019/04/04/imposter-syndrome-why-its-harder-today-than-ever/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7174434/
Photograph by Mark Decile
