Own your success: Overcoming impostor syndrome

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This article was written by Qaqamba Falithenjwa.

Ever feel like your success is pure luck, and everyone around you has it more together than you? Welcome to the world of impostor syndrome, where self-doubt can sneakily overshadow your achievements and convince you that you don’t deserve your own success.

Here’s the good news though, you’re far from alone, and overcoming impostor syndrome is possible. There are powerful strategies to kick impostor syndrome to the curb and start owning your greatness.

According to the McLean Hospital, impostor syndrome is a common mental health issue where individuals repeatedly feel incompetent or not good enough, despite evidence to the contrary. This is believed to hinder success and life potential.

The Reset Brain and Body mentions that perfectionists are unsatisfied and constantly strive for improvement, leading to self-pressure and anxiety. It is stated that superheroes push themselves to work harder, while experts constantly seek knowledge and underrate their skills. These individuals set excessively lofty goals for themselves and then feel crushed when they don’t succeed on their first try. Soloists tend to be very individualistic and prefer to work alone. Self-worth often stems from their productivity, so they often reject offers of assistance. They tend to see asking for help as a sign of weakness or incompetence.”

Overcoming imposter syndrome is not about ignoring emotions but acknowledging them, validating them, and letting them go if they aren’t based in reality, claims the Asana publication. Adding that a simple framework to acknowledge, validate, and move on is to notice, name, and acknowledge imposter syndrome.

“Instead of internalising the emotions, recognize them and move on. When you keep your feelings about imposter syndrome a secret, they grow bigger and harder to deal with. Sharing these feelings with someone else is a great way to recognize them on the path towards overcoming imposter syndrome.”

This article first appeared on Bona.