Imposter syndrome and how to overcome it!
A topic I have been discussing recently has been all about Imposter Syndrome, something many people suffer with at some point in their lives.
For anyone not familiar with Imposter Syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome), let me give you a brief outline:
While Imposter Syndrome seems to be ever more relevant in today’s hyper-competitive, economically uncertain world, and nobody appears to be immune to its grasp, it’s often a feeling that your success has happened by accident and at any given point it’s going to catch up with you, and you’ll be ‘found out’. People will discover that you’re fake, that you’re not that good at what you do and that you don’t deserve to be there.
I started to peel away some layers on the subject. Most people have this feeling at some point in their life, and top performers and celebrities are not exempt from this feeling either.
Chris Martin, Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kate Winslet are, but a few big named players reported to have been suffering from this Imposter Syndrome.
This got me thinking, like most things we have been educated on in life, is this also wrong. Things like don’t talk to strangers, don’t get into debt, stress is bad; save your money for a rainy day. (I’ll explain these in a minute or so).
Is Imposter Syndrome a really good thing, something that we should massively embrace…
I would like you to question when you get the feeling, when does it most often occur? Is it when things are going well, business is good, or your career is flourishing. Chances are this is precisely when it happens, so rather than looking at this as a bad thing, change the way you think about it, Imposter Syndrome is your way of realising you’re moving out of your comfort zone.
I often say to my clients; I’m going to show you how to get ‘comfortable being uncomfortable’, so apply this same reasoning to Imposter Syndrome. Get ‘comfortable being uncomfortable’, and realise that every time you feel that feeling of being caught out, or that you don’t deserve it, just acknowledge that you are moving from a place of comfort to a new area of your life and that is a good thing!
To close with the other things mentioned above:
Talking to strangers – everything you want in life a stranger has it, get used to speaking with them as quick as possible. Now I’m not saying don’t be cautious of danger, but be encouraging for people to do it themselves.
Don’t get into debt – You need debt, but be mindful that there is good debt and bad debt, good debt puts money in your pocket, bad debt takes it out. I.e., rental property is good debt.
Stress is bad – Dr Nick Hall says we need more stress in our lives, think of stressing a muscle, it only grows under massive amounts of stress. Many people confuse stress with fear, follow the stress vein, and it leads to someone’s deepest fear. Get Dr Nick Halls Book on Audible – ‘I know what to do, so why don’t I do it’.
Save for a rainy day – No, don’t save for a rainy day, what a dumb saying. Save because you want to acquire something, not just because, put money to one side for other things, call it a liquid-pot, somewhere that you can tap if you need it, but with the goal that whatever is used gets replace quickly.
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Have I missed anything? Have your say below.