Your business is thriving as clients and customers are gravitating to your buying cycle and top tier marketing, although, somehow you feel like a fraud. You’re great at what you do and deliver quality work as a talented individual, however, sometimes you have a tendency to doubt your performance. This sense of internal insecurity is normal, and numerous entrepreneurs and business owners suffer from what is called imposter syndrome. What is imposter syndrome? Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". According to the American Psychological Association, imposter phenomenon occurs among high achievers who are unable to internalize and accept their success. People that suffer with imposter syndrome put themselves through a spiral of chronic self-doubt and feelings of fraudulent that negates any proof of competence and their prior accomplishments in their field of work. People with imposter syndrome or imposterism will experience characteristics such as:
Self-doubt
Berating your performance
Fear that you can’t deliver
Sabotaging your own success
Looking for validation within your work
Attributing your success to external factors
Downplaying your competence and skills
Falling short from overachieving then feeling disappointed
If you find yourself experiencing these characteristics, it’s time to pull yourself out of your self-doubt and look to these 3 ways to overcome imposter syndrome.
Recognize your expertise
In order to avoid these negative feelings, it’s important to assess your own expertise. If you have to visualize it, write down the areas of work where you are the most qualified. Working with people that reach out to you for mentorship and guidance can help you realize how far you’ve come. If you need to, go back and look at your customer reviews. Search your email archive for positive feedback messages you may have received from past clients. Notice that you are landing customers and clients that trust your work and expertise.
Realize that no one is perfect
The greatest entrepreneurs and workers had to experience failure and come to terms with what works and what doesn’t. There is no dash pass that allows you to bypass the failure line. Valuable lessons and guidance are rooted in our failed work. This concept proves that no one is perfect. People struggling with imposter syndrome should stop striving for perfection and to approach a task with knowing that you will do “good enough”. This way of thinking takes the pressure off of your endeavours and allows you to work without those feelings of anxiety.
Share your feelings
Talk to other people in your line of work about what you’ve been feeling. Very Well Mind suggests that imposter syndrome tends to fester when it’s hidden and not talked about. Many people experience this imposter phenomenon and will be able to relate to those imposter characteristics if you take the time to share your feelings. It’s better to have an open dialogue about the reality of imposter syndrome in entrepreneurship and in the workplace. You will come to find that there are people like you who have difficulty processing success and huge milestones.
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