Simply put, there is no overnight miracle fix for imposter syndrome. As with all worthwhile things in life, to persevere requires consistency, hard work, and persistence. Oftentimes it’s helpful to understand the real damage something poses in order to find the motivation to stand up to it, and overcome it.
With that in mind, let’s go over some reasons why imposter syndrome is serious and must be taken as such.
Table of Contents
7 Ways Imposter Syndrome Is Damaging
It Brings a Flood of Negative Thoughts
Those that suffer from imposter syndrome will usually experience a lot of negative thoughts each day. These thoughts will constantly remind them that they are a fraud and have no place being where they are. Our world is full of negativity, and it is hard enough dealing with this. Imposter syndrome just makes the situation worse.
Imposter Syndrome Can Cause Procrastination
One of the worst aspects of imposter syndrome is that it usually causes a lot of self-doubt. You start to doubt your ability to perform even the simplest of tasks. Complex tasks can scare you to death. When you fear tackling something, it is a lot more likely that you will put it off until later. This is the start of procrastination.
We all procrastinate from time to time. But if you start to do this regularly, then this can be a symptom of imposter syndrome. A task may overwhelm you and when you procrastinate it will make you feel a little better. The pressure of not starting the task will be there in the background, though, so it is not a good thing.
It Creates Too Much Uncertainty and Can Be Crippling
Your levels of uncertainty can rise dramatically if you are experiencing imposter syndrome. It is natural to be uncertain sometimes, but if you have too much uncertainty, then you will find it difficult to make even the simplest of decisions.
Imposter Syndrome Will Force Opportunities to be Sacrificed
When you are usually feeling that you are not good enough due to imposter syndrome, you are more likely to miss out on opportunities when they present themselves. These opportunities can be right under your nose, and you will not spot them.
It Clouds The Mind and Creates Horrifying Levels of Self-Doubt
A lot of people that experience imposter syndrome can end up being unable to assess what they can do. Before, they may have held the belief that they can do anything, but imposter syndrome has knocked this out of them. This is a very serious problem caused by imposter syndrome, in our opinion.
It Creates Workaholics (And Not In A Good Way)
If you are always feeling like you are an imposter, you may start to believe that you need to work much harder than other people do just to keep up. The confidence that you had to do your job before has been eroded by imposter syndrome, and now everything is going to take you a lot longer to complete.
Relationships Will Be Affected by Imposter Syndrome
It is not unusual for imposter syndrome to start affecting relationships that people have. You may start to believe that your partner can do a lot better than being with you. In addition to this, you may find it hard to form new relationships, as imposter syndrome makes you feel that you have nothing to offer the other person.
5 Ways To Overcome Imposter Syndrome
People that suffer from imposter syndrome often feel that they are trapped and that there is no way out. They believe that they will always experience thoughts of being an imposter for the rest of their life. Life doesn’t have to be that way though. Give the following tips and techniques a try and do them consistently, daily.
Identify what is Causing the Imposter Feelings
When you can identify what caused the imposter feelings to take form within, you can attack them at the root. But you can’t face something head-on without staring it in the eyes. Take a step back, get very honest with yourself, and determine the real cause.
Validate The Feeling Of Insecurity
You may be experiencing feelings of insecurity because you are not sure what you need to do to tackle a problem. This is often the case when you are taking on a new challenge. It’s very normal to feel this way.
What you need to do here is to validate the feeling. Accept that experiencing some level of insecurity or even anxiety is perfectly normal.
Take the time out to analyze the situation properly. What kind of thoughts did you experience? Remind yourself that you’re a real human being, like everyone else. As such, you’re not immune to thoughts of insecurity because everyone has them.
Become a Thought Control Master
Imposter syndrome is all in your head (as it’s not physical). When you experience feelings of being a fraud, these emanate from a negative thought that occurred. Several things could have caused this negative thought to come into your head.
The important thing is that you neutralize this immediately with a positive thought. Nothing will help you more with imposter syndrome than being a master of thought control. When you can automatically neutralize a negative thought, you will diminish its power significantly and prevent it from becoming a negative thought spiral.
While it’s a simple enough concept to understand, neutralizing a negative thought with a positive one isn’t easy to do. Practice doing this with any negative thought that comes into your mind. With enough practice you will form a new empowering habit and will eventually be a master of thought control.
Use Positive Affirmations Daily
Another effective way to keep imposter syndrome at bay is to create and use positive affirmations every day. Some people think that these are a waste of time, but they really work if you create the right affirmations and read them out loud each day.
We recommend that you make the reading of your positive affirmations part of your daily ritual. Always keep a copy of your affirmations with you so that you can read them again during the day if the need arises.
Start and Maintain a Journal
Reflecting on your past accomplishments and recognizing the value of them is a good way to keep imposter syndrome at bay. We recommend that you start a journal and record your achievements in this. Include past achievements and update your journal with current achievements too.
Reflect on your journal at least once a week.
3 Most Important Keys To Controlling Imposter Syndrome
Talk about the Imposter Syndrome with a Person you can Trust
This is not an easy thing to do if you are suffering from imposter syndrome, but it can really help you a lot. One of the biggest fears that people have that believe they are an imposter is being found out. They are therefore reluctant to talk to anyone about it.
What you need to do is to find someone that you can really trust. This will be a person that will not only listen to you and try and help you, but will also be discreet and keep everything confidential. The ideal person would be someone that has experienced imposter syndrome and managed to overcome it.
The reason that talking to someone will help you is that sharing the problem will provide you with a lot of relief. There is an old adage that says “a problem shared is a problem halved” and this is very true.
If you genuinely cannot find a person that you trust enough, then you can always turn to the professionals for help. Yes, there will be a cost involved, but this is a small price to pay if it helps you to overcome imposter syndrome.
Identify the Imposter and give it a Name
This may seem a bit crazy at first, but it can really work well. It is a great way to provide some distance between you and imposter syndrome. When you next experience a thought about being an imposter, identify which type of imposter that it is, and then follow this up with a neutralizing thought.
For example, if you experience a thought that tells you that you are a fraud because you are not doing everything perfectly, you can tell yourself that this is the perfectionist imposter just trying to ruin your day.
Take this a step further by naming the imposter. Say something like “Peter Perfectionist is bothering me again and trying to make me feel like an imposter”. This should make you laugh or at least smile, and it will certainly weaken the negative thought considerably.
Learn how to deal with Criticism
One of the worst things to cope with for a person that is experiencing imposter syndrome is criticism. But criticism is a part of life, and it will be difficult to avoid this all of your life. The thing is that there is negative criticism and positive criticism, and the latter is a good thing.
If someone uses negative criticism, they are doing this with no foundation. It can hurt you and strengthen your feelings of being an imposter, even though it is not true. The best way to deal with this is to treat is as an opinion that is not right.
Positive or constructive criticism is a well-formed opinion that could be worth considering. Usually, those that give constructive criticism are trying to help you. Be prepared to take this advice on board if it is valid.
