The Natural Genius-Perfectionist Imposter Syndrome: Undermining Yourself and How to Overcome It
Imposter syndrome is a real thing. It’s when you feel like a fraud in your own life, despite your accomplishments and skills. It’s something that everyone deals with at one point or another, but it can also be incredibly detrimental to your career. And the Natural Genius-Perfectionist type of impostor syndrome is one of the 5 types based on the work of Dr. Valerie Young. In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about The Natural Genius-Perfectionist Imposter Syndrome — how it affects people, how to identify its signs in yourself and others, and what steps you can take to overcome it.
This is the 3rd article in a series of five about the types of imposter syndrome. You can read my previous articles about impostor syndrome here 6 Tips To Overcome the Perfectionist type Imposter Syndrome, and here 5 Signs You Have the Superwoman Type Impostor Syndrome.
If you’re like me, the title of this post might represent a bit of a contradiction: if I’m a genius, why would I feel like an imposter? Being a genius is good right. You know Everything!
In reality, no one knows everything. No matter how much success we achieve and how many people praise our talents and abilities, many of us are plagued by doubts about whether we deserve our accolades at some point in life. And whether or not we know enough to be worthy of those accolades.
Imposter phenomenon (mostly known now as impostor syndrome) is a phrase coined in the 70s by clinical psychologists Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes. They noticed that many high-achieving women felt like frauds. Unable to internalize their accomplishments and always fearing, waiting for someone to discover the “real” reason they’d been successful. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way — no one has to feel this way forever.
What is impostor syndrome?
Imposter syndrome can cause feelings of inadequacy It’s when you believe that you’re not as good as other people, and that your success is undeserved — that despite all the hard work and determination, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds out that you don’t belong where you are.
If you’re like most people, you’ve experienced the presence of imposter syndrome in your life: a disturbing sensation that you are not as smart, talented, or successful as everyone around you believes you to be. These feelings of inadequacy can have a paralyzing effect on your happiness and success, keeping you from feeling like you belong or deserve your successes.
You may also feel like being fired is inevitable because one day someone will realize they made a mistake hiring or promoting you in the first place.
Who does it affect?
- You are not alone. Imposter syndrome is a common phenomenon, found in many successful people. In the US over 70% of the population; and in the UK 77%; and worldwide over 70% have experienced impostor syndrome.
- Women are more likely to experience impostor syndrome than men. It’s thought that this may be due to the fact that there are fewer women in leadership roles or in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). This can cause women who have excelled in these areas to feel like they don’t belong there — as if their success is undeserved and part of a conspiracy against them rather than something they truly deserve for their skillset and hard work. However, men also experience impostor syndrome as well.
- People who have high expectations of themselves tend to experience impostor syndrome more often than those who don’t feel this way about themselves or their future goals. In other words: If you think highly of yourself but aren’t confident in your abilities and achievements yet, then chances are good that you might be suffering from some degree of impostor syndrome!
Who does impostor syndrome affect?
The list of people who have experienced some form of impostor syndrome includes actors such as Jennifer Lawrence and Tina Fey; TV personalities such as Oprah Winfrey; authors including Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou; musicians like Beyonce Knowles; athletes including Serena Williams — the list goes on! Anyone can experience imposter feelings at some point in their life no matter what they do for work or how much success they’ve achieved thus far.
What are the signs of imposter syndrome?
When you’re experiencing imposter syndrome, you feel like a fraud and fear that others will find out the truth. You may experience these symptoms:
- Feeling like a fraud — you’re overqualified for the job/position/role you’re in
- Feeling like you don’t belong — you aren’t qualified for what’s expected of you
- Being too hard on yourself — your self-criticism can lead to feelings of inadequacy and even self-doubt
- Feeling like a failure because you didn’t complete a task or project perfectly
- Trying to prove yourself to others — you may feel as though you need to constantly prove your worth and value in order to feel accepted by peers and colleagues at work, school, or home
What is Natural Genius-Perfectionist Impostor Syndrome?
The need to be perfect, the need to be liked, the need to be accepted and the need to succeed are all related. The Natural Genius — perfectionist thinks she should be EXTRAORDINARILY successful the first time she attempts every project, task, job, etc. And if they don’t, then there is something wrong with them. Fraud. Undeserving.
They are often perfectionists and feel they should be able to do everything perfectly the first time. She can worry about what other people think of them, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and even self-doubt.
Trying to prove yourself to others — you may feel as though you need to constantly prove your worth and value in order to feel accepted by peers and colleagues at work, school, or home.
Often feeling like a complete impostor who doesn’t belong.
So how do you overcome this? First, you don’t stop wanting success; you just need to accept that it’s not going to happen overnight. And that there will be some work required. Second, you have to understand that learning is a process. You’ll always come across something you don’t know. And you may have to expend some elbow grease to learn it. And that’s okay because you can learn new things. And learn to do them well! That’s a part of your continuous journey to gain knowledge. Rather than believing you’re an impostor and unqualified when you face something you’ve never done before, Dr. Valerie Young advises that you should acknowledge your inexperience and your full capability to learn the new role.
Why does it matter to career and business?
- Imposter syndrome affects how you perform in the workplace
Imposter syndrome can be a mental block that occurs in people who feel like they’re not good enough or don’t deserve what they have. Feeling this way makes it hard to push past your own doubts and fears, which can make it difficult for you to reach your full potential. If you let imposter syndrome hold you back from doing great work, then it affects how much success your business has too.
- Imposter syndrome affects how you feel about yourself
When someone feels like they don’t belong somewhere, they may begin to question their identity and worth as a person — and when those feelings are strong enough, they’ll start having trouble performing their job well at all.
This is because self-doubt can cloud judgment more than any other emotion; if someone doesn’t believe in themselves enough to take on challenging projects or situations (either professionally or personally), then no amount of training will prepare them for success either professionally or personally! The end results? Not only does this prevent employees from reaching their full potential but also impacts each employee’s relationships with colleagues.
How can we spot it?
The first step is to recognize the signs. If your head is filled with thoughts like “I’m not good enough,” or “They are better than me,” then chances are you experiencing imposter syndrome.
If this sounds like you, there are a few things that can help:
- Understand where it comes from. The root of your imposter syndrome could be insecurities from childhood (when we were too young to know any better). However, most people who suffer from this condition have had a similar experience at some point in their lives — for example when they started a new job and couldn’t quite match up to expectations in their first few weeks. It’s important to acknowledge this and understand where these feelings come from so that they don’t get in your way anymore!
- Know what you are capable of doing and focus on those areas rather than comparing yourself to others or feeling inadequate because someone else has achieved more success than you have so far…and remember: You’re only human! Research, take a class, or ask a subject matter expert when you don’t know something.
- Build your mental fitness. Benefits of increased mental include self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and increased confident. You can actually identify all your pesky saboteurs so that you learn how can quieten them. Ultimately reducing that inner critic voice that causes so much doubt, self-sabotage, and feelings of inadequacy.
You can click here to take a Saboteur quiz to identify your saboteurs. I’d love to know which saboteurs you discovered! You can share them with me in the comments or email me at twanna@twannacarter.com.
Find information on building your mental fitness using Positive Intelligence Mental Fitness coaching to ultimately quieten your saboteurs, click here.
Watch the Youtube video, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: The Natural Genius-Perfectionist Revealed
