Don’t let Imposter Syndrome slow you down

Have you ever experienced the sneaky whispers of nagging self-doubt, incompetence and insecurity – you’re not alone. We have all been there, and I know I have!

Imposter syndrome is often caused by our personal traits such as perfectionism where we feel the most pressure to give more than 100% into what we do or when we experience failure in reaching a string of objectives and cause us to start questioning our ability to succeed.

Not long ago I started a new job, completely out of my comfort zone and being a perfectionist, I felt like I was quietly comparing and competing against everyone in almost every meeting I was in and putting added pressure on myself to complete every task flawlessly (to impress) and feared that one tiny mistake might make others think that I’m not smart or good enough for the job.

I soon realise that allowing imposter syndrome to manifest in my professional life also impacted other areas of life, it’s not easy to get rid of it especially if it’s been happening for a long time, therefore a good way to tackle it is to confront it!

Confronting imposter syndrome can help to thrive in what we aim to do.

Below are a few things I’ve learnt to put into practice that helped me throughout the years.

Own your expertise – embrace it and use your strengths to overcome the feeling and whatever task it is that you might need to complete. Whether it being sharing your experience or leveraging your skills and contributing to a project or conversation at work.

Celebrate wins (big or small) – be kind and take the pressure off yourself, take the time to pause and reward yourself. Also, write them down to track your successes as it will help to process and understand your success, building momentum and the courage to do things outside your comfort zone.

Restructure your thinking – shift your mindset, it’s easy to feel that you haven’t got what it takes to make a change, keep reminding yourself that “this is something that I am going through” rather than “ this is something that I am”. Let go of your inner perfectionism and self-critique!

I wouldn’t say that I’ve completely tackled imposter syndrome – let’s be real – I’m human and always learning. I hope the above has helped you in some way.

Practice what suits you, go on and reclaim your rightful space in the spotlight!