Are you suffering from imposter syndrome? Find out here


 

You all might be wondering what Imposter Syndrome topic is doing in a self-love blog as it comes under the category of mental health and psychology.

I want to tell you that at some point we all suffer from imposter syndrome and that is why I decided to bring this topic out here so that we can deal with it and continue to love ourselves at every phase of our life.

Let's find out what exactly is Imposter Syndrome ? and Are we suffering from it? If yes, then how can we deal with this issue?

What is Imposter Syndrome?

 Imposter Syndrome means that you are an imposter (in terms of intelligence  & perfectionism) and that you don't deserve success; whatever you have achieved till now is because of your luck and not because of your hard work or determination.
In simple words, the behavior of self-doubt which states that you are not good at anything and convince you that success is not made for you is known as Imposter Syndrome.

When Dr. Pauline Rose Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes, (2 psychologists who founded this phenomenon), noticed in a research pattern of over 150 highly successful women that these women believed that they were successful merely because of their luck or a mistake and not because of their ability, they named this pattern as Imposter Phenomenon.

Key Characteristics:

Some of the relevant indications of Imposter Syndrome are as follows-

  • Becoming anxious while doing a task or a project.
  • Refuse to accept any positive feedback, thinking they might not deserve this.
  • Feel they are lucky to get success without any real knowledge or skill.
  • They don't think they deserve success.
  • Self-doubt over and over again.
Imposter syndrome is something that you have and you might not know it or even heard about it.
When you are preparing for a test or working on a project, you might think this is not for you or you are not fit for this work.
If you are facing this kind of behavior or thoughts, then you must understand that this is nothing else but a cycle of self-doubt and alternatively, Imposter Syndrome.

We feel like imposters because we think we have more flaws and fail to realize that everyone has imperfections and nobody is perfect. 
This is also the reason that we think people are better than us.



Causes of Imposter Syndrome

Before we know what are the reasons behind this behavior of us, I want to tell you that imposter syndrome affects 70% of people and it keeps on affecting those who are doing things out of their comfort zones.

If you don't know, a lot of well-known celebrities like Albert EinsteinMaya AngelouTom Hanks, and 25 other celebrity stars have talked about getting affected by this syndrome publicly.

So, it's not an actual disorder that you have, but the anxiety and fear that you feel when you think about being fraudulent.

The reason you feel like an imposter is because of the cluster of feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. Once our brain experiences something, it decides whether that experience is good or not. If the brain opposes the experience, it sends you negative thoughts.

For instance, you decided to apply for a new job at a higher level and when you finally got that job, your brain might send you signals like you don't deserve this job or you are unfit for this job. 
Whenever you will do something out of your comfort zone, your brain will send you such signals and because of that, you may feel like that you are a non-deserving person.
However, it doesn't mean you should stop getting out of your comfort zone and procrastinate, otherwise, you won't be able to experience growth.

Another reason behind Imposter syndrome can be the lack of role models, mentors, supporters, and caretakers in your life.
When you don't have many positive people around you who can guide you and make you feel better, then also you can experience negative thoughts and feelings.


How to deal with this issue?

 If we find something upsetting or disturbing we can work on it and change it to encounter better things in our life.

1. Talk kindly to yourself- You know I always talk about positive affirmations and positive self-talk because these are worthy. 
If we say to ourselves that we don't deserve this or we don't have any right to celebrate our achievements as they don't belong to us, then we need to change how we speak to ourselves.


2. Acknowledge your knowledge and expertise- Take some time to think about what you have learned and gained till now and how much you have made progress in your life. Take the time to remember what bad situations you have been through and watch your growth. All your achievements were possible only because of you.


3. Write your positive compliments- It is said that memories are a precious token as they remind you of the wonderful moments or experiences. Every time you receive compliments from people either face-to-face, or on social media, or through someone else, write all those positive clauses in a notebook, and whenever you find yourself doubting, procrastinating, sabotaging yourself, read those thoughts and make yourself feel better.


4. Stop your unhealthy comparisons- The need to be perfect in all that you do makes you compare yourself to others. These comparisons not only make you feel vulnerable but sucks the happiness and confidence out of you. Instead of getting jealous and insecure from someone's success or beauty, take out what you can learn from them, and add their skills to your personality. In this way, you may learn something new without being anxious or stressed.


5. Seek help- Talk to someone who can support you mentally, either a therapist or a psychologist. They may have more helpful tips and tricks that can get you out of this problem. Understand that you are not being fake or pretending to get success, but you truly got success because of your abilities and hard work. A professional can always tell you and guide you if you are a real fake or a fake fake!

CONCLUSION

I hope this article has cleared all your doubts and dilemmas about Imposter syndrome. Now that you know the reason behind your self-doubt along with anxiousness towards this action, you can deal with it either through self-help or if you think it has stuck in your mind and you want to get rid of it then you must take the help of a professional coach.
Besides this, if you know someone near you facing the same issues, then you should definitely help them to get out of this situation.

There are a lot of resources available on the internet about Imposter Syndrome. You can also read this article by medicalnewstoday

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