How Impostor Syndrome Works
Impostor syndrome causes people to view success as dependent on how much effort and hard work is put in and so they put in extraordinary amounts of effort often to the point of being chronically burned out. Perfectionism can also be a hallmark of the impostor syndrome experience leaving people feeling like unless something is executed meticulously with no errors that it is worthless. Therefore, professionals and students struggling from impostor syndrome at work or school live in fear of making mistakes. Likewise, they may feel ashamed every time they make a mistake, thinking that this error will be where everyone finds out that they have been “faking it” this whole time. Despite the many valid reasons for their success, they may feel like the fact that they have to put in extra hours or effort is evidence of being a fraud.
Believing that intelligence means that things should come easier to you is a classic belief of impostor syndrome. If you have traditionally put in more effort and longer hours than your peers, you might credit your work ethic for your success while still harboring doubts about your intelligence or abilities. In an effort to maintain achievements and prove their worth, many people continue to work longer hours and take on additional work to the point that they become overwhelmed and burnt out by compounding stress.
Even after receiving praise or recognition for an achievement, people who deal with impostor syndrome may quickly feel like they are back to square one and think, “I am just not good enough” when they receive criticism or make a mistake. You may even worry so much about how your work will be received that you end up procrastinating or aren’t able to give the task your full effort.
Do you wish you could break free from the internal doubts and stress that are holding you back? Are you ready to learn how to own your greatness?
How Common Is Impostor Syndrome?
More common than you think. According to the International Journal of Behavioral Science, an estimated 70% of people experience impostor syndrome at one point in their life. When you have been successful, it can feel like you are not allowed to complain about feelings of inadequacy or the development of an impostor complex. As a result, many people suffer with impostor syndrome in silence.
Women and people of color who experience impostor syndrome also deal with the double impact of it — internally feeling like a fraud, and also dealing with the external signals in the environment (e.g. discrimination, bias), which tell them they do not belong.
Our Three Phases To Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
At Dynamic Transitions, we have been helping successful individuals own their greatness for 15 years and our books about imposter syndrome have helped thousands develop the skills to overcome their Imposter Syndrome. Our extensive experience as career counselors in New York City has given us unique insights into how imposter syndrome develops and what you can do to reduce insecurity and feel more confident and empowered.
What is imposter syndrome? It’s a compilation of behaviors and thoughts that are keeping you from accepting your accomplishments and advocating for yourself. Our programmatic approach to helping people overcome feelings of inadequacy was developed from years of professional experience and informed by our own struggles with imposter syndrome that had us feeling like a fraud.
Phase 1: Clarify
Before you can take concrete steps to overcome the imposter phenomenon, you need to know how it works in your life. The best books about imposter syndrome help you understand your imposter origin story and the ways it is affecting your daily life. Once you can identify “trap doors”, then you can change your narrative.
Trap doors are areas where you are particularly vulnerable to feeling like a fraud. When you know your triggers—for instance, your imposter feelings may increase when you are given a new project—you’ll know the ways you’re vulnerable and how to engage your skills to fight self-doubt with strength and self-compassion.
The goal is to learn how you can shift the narrative around how you define your skills and own your accomplishments. So when someone says, “You did such a great job,” you can respond with gratitude instead of deflecting or giving credit to other team members.
Phase 2: Choose
Whether your drive to achieve is motivated by internal or external factors, learning to make strategic choices that support internalizing your accomplishments will help you to move away from Imposter Syndrome. Our imposter syndrome book will help you choose yourself by speaking your truth, silencing automatic negative thoughts and committing to thoughtful self-care.
We all struggle with automatic negative thoughts or ANTs. These ANTs can lead you to believe that you are being viewed negatively, that you are failing even when you are not, and distort your experience of what is really happening. And even when you know better, they can push you into an exhausting cycle of trying to prove yourself.
The surest way to combat feeling like a fraud is to learn to choose behaviors and thoughts that support an accurate viewpoint of yourself. By learning to speak your truth, silencing your ANTs and taking care of yourself, you can build a structure and support mechanism around you where you confidently share what’s happening with people you trust. Dynamic Transitions has the best book on imposter syndrome to let you know that you aren’t alone and are accountable to the changes you want to make—a vital step in overcoming imposter syndrome. We have taken hundreds of professionals through the book in several cohorts of our Masterclass and see a 30% decrease in Impostor Syndrome scores in 12 weeks.
Phase 3: Create
We all have certain conditions that help us perform at an optimal level. In the past, you may have associated your success with overworking or the protective relationships you built at work. But those strategies are no longer working for you, and the more you go back to that well, the more drained you feel.
By experimenting with new roles and trying new things, you can find ways to be successful that won’t reinforce the thoughts and beliefs that are keeping you stuck. If you are always in the helper role, for example, it may be feeding the belief that you are best suited for a support role or that things will fall apart if you ask for help.
As you surround yourself with the people and tools that you need to perform optimally and trust your decisions, you will be creating a support system that can help you thrive.
Are you ready to clarify your needs, own your self-care, and create a system of support that empowers you at work and at home? We have the best book on imposter syndrome to help you. We offer four different ways to own your greatness and to overcome Imposter Syndrome, so you can find the right approach for you.
Four Ways To Own Your Greatness
This book doesn’t just show you how to overcome imposter syndrome, it provides practical, engaging activities, tools and real-world examples that help you learn the process and skills you need to own your greatness.
And if you need a little extra support or accountability, you can find a like-minded community in our Own Your Greatness course or retreat.
Our intensive retreats help you move through each phase of overcoming imposter syndrome so you can come out the other end with the tools and resources you need to trust yourself and your abilities to do this consistently on your own after the experience. Together, we’ll work through exercises, use tools from the imposter syndrome worksheets, and discuss different ways people use them so you can find an approach that works for your unique goals and needs.
It’s a chance to take a vacation that includes really working on yourself with our help and guidance.
If you lead or manage a group (e.g., you are a senior leader, HR manager, school administrator, run a leadership program, etc.) who needs to hear this message or needs executive coaching, we can come to your organization to talk about creating a healthier framework around how you work.
We’ll walk through our three-phase Own Your Greatness methodology and provide practical steps and exercises your team can take to reduce internal stress, acknowledge your strengths, and work hard without overworking and burning out
You may have questions about how to overcome imposter syndrome…
You Can Learn To Own Your Greatness with Imposter Syndrome Books
If you are ready to escape self-doubt and foster greater confidence, we’d be honored to help in your journey. You can order our imposter syndrome book and imposter syndrome worksheets, work with us in person, or sign up for our newsletter and receive tips and tricks to your inbox regularly.