Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

Agh, that feeling of they're going to think I don't belong. We all know it. We've all experienced it. It's something a lot of us deal with and sometimes it can take over our lives. But what is it?

Imposter Syndrome: The act of doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It brings on feelings of self doubt and incompetence despite your own abilities, education and qualifications. In turn, we end up holding ourselves to much higher standards and are much harder on ourselves. HR News published statistics and data of 1,000 UK adults that were surveyed about imposter syndrome, 85% of them expressed that they feel incompetent at work.

Although it feels as though our thoughts are out of our control when it comes to imposter syndrome, there are a few ways we can take the reins. 

💫 Re-label your feelings
We know this may sound like a bit of a given, ‘if it was that easy, we would’. However, we urge you to take that extra push and flip those overwhelming feelings of imposter syndrome from ‘overwhelmed with anxiety’ to ‘overwhelmed with excitement’. Only you make yourself feel the way you do, no one else. So remember this and call the shots on your outlook. Take control of your SELF sabotage. 

💫 Own your achievements
We spend so much time doubting ourselves and replaying those ‘what if’ negative situations in our head, but how often do we actually stop and think about all of the great things we’ve achieved? Give it a try. Are loads of great things you forgot about resurfacing?  Feels good right? Now, try this every time you start to double yourself, remind yourself of what you ARE capable of because you HAVE achieved it. 

💫 Use imposter syndrome to connect with others
Studies found that imposter syndrome was more common amongst people than not. So rather than suffering in silence, speak to someone and be vulnerable together. It's not actually a YOU problem. We all put ourselves under pressure, and a problem shared is a problem halved.