“Do you know the power of your words? When you tell yourself stories that aren’t true your unconscious mind believes them. Your beliefs also can make you sick. You curse yourself by repeating lies.” – Trish Taylor, “Yes! You Are Good Enough.”
You may experience imposter syndrome in a variety of situations, mainly professional ones, but also in your personal life. This can cause you to feel inadequate, doubt yourself, and fear being exposed as a fraud despite evidence to the contrary. You may believe that you do not deserve your accomplishments and that you are not as capable as others perceive you to be, leading to anxiety, stress, and a lack of confidence in your abilities.
Imposter syndrome can stem from internal factors such as low self-esteem, perfectionism, and a fear of failure. You may judge yourself based on external standards and internalize this judgment, leading to a feeling of fraudulence. People who rely heavily on external validation and are prone to comparing themselves to others are more likely to experience imposter syndrome.
If you experience imposter syndrome, it can manifest in various ways, including anxiety, depression, and a lack of confidence in your abilities. You may be afraid to take risks or try new things because you feel like you will fail or be exposed as a fraud, leading to missed opportunities and a lack of personal and professional growth.
To shift your mindset out of imposter syndrome, you can take various steps. One key strategy is to recognize and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs. For instance, if you believe that you are a fraud, you can challenge this belief by listing evidence that supports your accomplishments and successes. Additionally, you can focus on your strengths and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. You need to pay close attention to how you think, speak, and act, especially in relation to how you speak to yourself and how you react when given accolades.
Another strategy is to cultivate a growth mindset, which involves embracing challenges and viewing failures as opportunities to learn and grow. You can shift your mindset by reframing your thoughts and beliefs about failure and success. Rather than seeing failure as a personal reflection of your abilities, you can view it as a necessary step towards growth and development. When you observe your own judgement, you need to ask yourself, “what other perspectives could I have on this judgment of myself?”. Writing down a list of other perspectives can then give alternative viewpoints that carry equal validity, and the original judgement can be replaced with one that has a “higher” vibration.
Recognizing that you may be experiencing imposter syndrome is half the battle. The next step is to start shifting your mindset and belief system by convincing yourself of another reality that is equally viable as the “lower” vibrational one. This process is not about lying to yourself but rather finding alternative judgments that carry equal weight and validate your success or position. Additionally, you may need to overcome loss aversion, which is a cognitive bias that tells you to avoid taking up a challenge because it is in unknown territory and staying in the status quo is the safe option, even though it is worse than the possible outcome of the unknown.
What we believe about ourselves stems from our past experiences, programming, and conditioning. Taking the next step when having identified your current trigger is to link them back to the source experience where you created the belief that no longer serves you. Once you’ve realised the source you can now address it and heal it by changing your perception of it using the techniques above. Heal your traumas and your wounds and you will alleviate your imposter syndrome.
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