How is imposter syndrome
different from self-doubt?
How is imposter syndrome different from self-doubt?
When we are first born, we do not have any doubts and we know exactly who we are and why we are here.
We try new things without worrying about what we look like and what others will think of us.
We then learn what is the expected behaviour in order to get conditional love from others. Fear, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome start to control how we live our life.
So, how is self-doubt different from Imposter syndrome?
Self-doubt is a lack of belief and confidence in your abilities, decisions, and actions.
It is associated with anxiety, depression, procrastination, lack of motivation, emotional instability.
It also leads to experiencing low self-image and esteem, low self-confidence.
It can also lead to difficulty making decisions, feeling of hopelessness, and a feeling that one has little control over their life.
Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern that leads you to feel chronic self-doubt, perceived incompetence, fear of discovered fraud or feelings of inadequacy.
It negatively affects your self-image, worth and esteem too.
It leads to a belief that success is not deserved by you despite your talents and skills. You credit luck and external factors for your achievements.
It is often experienced when starting a new venture or journey like starting a business, parenthood, or a new work promotion.
It can cause anxiety, depression, fear, and a lack of courage to the action required to pursue living a purposeful and fulfilling life.
Now that you know the difference between self-doubt and imposter syndrome, you may be asking yourself: “What causes imposter syndrome?” Let’s discuss that next.
Causes of Imposter Syndrome
Here are some reasons that can cause you to develop an imposter syndrome
Personality
It is caused by both personality traits like perfectionism and anxiety levels as well as family background or behavioural reasons.
Family
If your family values achievement above everything else, then there is a high chance that you could suffer from imposter syndrome.
If you were compared to your sibling who always did better than you in certain areas then you may experience imposter syndrome.
People often assume that in order to matter, be enough, and be loved, they have to achieve at the level expected.
Environment
Environment and discrimination can cause feelings of imposter syndrome.
Especially when you belong to a minority racial or ethnic group for whom people have stereotypes about competency.
The more you can see and hear people like you, the more confident you can feel and you are less likely to feel like an imposter.
What are imposter syndrome symptoms
Anyone can experience symptoms of imposter syndrome. Feeling like they are not experts, experienced, or good enough.
They worry that they aren’t worthy of your attention, worthy of the time and energy they will invest, or if they are worthy at all.
They may not talk about it, but they do feel it.
Let’s discuss some of the symptoms of imposter syndrome.
Unworthy
One of the symptoms is severe lack of confidence, feeling inadequate, unworthy, and undeserving of success.
You feel like you need to know everything before starting a new project or journey and constantly look for courses, accreditations and training.
Perfectionist
Perfectionists set very high expectations for themselves. They focus on mistakes and failures and they can never be satisfied with their achievements even if they accomplish the majority of their goals.
They question their competence even if they make a small mistake.
Avoidance
The fear of failure keeps you from trying anything new and/or unknown. You would be less likely to apply to a new job even if you do not have all of the qualifications
You worry about poor feedback and so you procrastinate. You are less likely to speak up because you are afraid to look stupid.
Judgement
You experience constant fear of judgement and feeling like you are a fraud and will be found out.
Denial
You deny your own success and feel like you do not deserve it. You feel like you were lucky and do not acknowledge and celebrate your effort.
Individualist
You put pressure on yourself to accomplish your tasks independently because, to you, asking for help means you are a failure or a fraud.
Work hard
You work harder than others to prove that you are not an imposter. You put a lot of pressure on yourself and feel the need to be successful in all areas of life.
How to deal with imposter syndrome
The most important step to overcoming imposter syndrome is to acknowledge that you are experiencing imposter syndrome.
Here are some ways to help you deal with imposter syndrome any time that you go through it. As long as you are on earth school, you may continue to experience it at different times in your life.
Let’s discuss some steps for you to deal with it.
Why
Start by asking yourself: “Why am I feeling like an imposter?”
Most of the time, you will discover that the thoughts that you are thinking and your internal negative dialogue are causing you to feel like an imposter.
Write these thoughts down in a journal so you can review them.
Identify, acknowledge, and be aware of these thoughts and internal dialogues that do not serve you.
Reframe and replace them with thoughts and words that empower and help you accomplish what you want in order to live your best life.
Talk
Talk to your friends and mentors whom you trust with how you feel, and let them help you.
You may realize that lot of people feel the same way and you are not alone. You may also try seeking professional help.
Focus
Focus on your strength and accomplishments to gain confidence. Celebrate your success from the past to boost your confidence.
Find a community of like-minded people to associate with who can support, help, and cheer you on.
Grow
Learn to develop the courage to try new ventures and uncomfortable opportunities. Know that failures are feedback and they help you grow and get better.
Responsibility
Learn to live from the inside out and take responsibility for your successes, achievements, shortcomings, and failures.
Always remember that your identity creates your beliefs which then lead to your thoughts and feelings, which then lead to your actions, habits and destiny.
Purpose
You are a soul that is having a temporary human experience. You matter, are enough, and you are here to fulfill a purpose or you would not be here.
Are you listening to your soul’s calling and purpose?
You are not an imposter or fraud and you have everything you need to fulfill your purpose.
The purpose of every human being is to grow and serve others. How you do that is determined by the unique natural talents and gifts that you have been given
In conclusion, as previously mentioned, self-doubt is a lack of belief and confidence in your abilities, decisions, and actions.
It is associated with anxiety, depression, procrastination, lack of motivation, emotional instability.
It also leads to experiencing low self-image and esteem, low self-confidence, difficulty making decisions, feeling of hopelessness, and a feeling that one has little control over their life.
It can lead to anxiety, depression, procrastination, lack of motivation, emotional instability, low self-image and esteem, self-confidence, difficulty making decisions, feeling hopeless, and lack of control over one’s life.
Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern that leads you to feel chronic self-doubt, perceived incompetence, fear of discovered fraud or feelings of inadequacy.
It negatively affects your self-image, worth and esteem too.
It leads to a belief that success is not deserved by you despite your talents and skills. You credit luck and external factors for your achievements.
It is often experienced when starting a new venture or journey like starting a business, parenthood, or a new work promotion.
It can cause anxiety, depression, fear, and a lack of courage to the action required to pursue living a purposeful and fulfilling life.
Self-doubts and imposter syndrome may be experienced many times in our life as we are on the earth school and so it is important to know how to deal with them.
We discussed several ways to deal with it within this article. It may be a good idea to explore next:
How fear and self-doubt keep you stuck, and how to deal with it.