Imposter Syndrome?!

Am I suffering from this?

Do you find it difficult to put forward your ideas? Do you think it will not be accepted as you are not as experienced as others are? Do you question your credibility, experience and skillset and feel that you are may be lagging behind? Do you compare yourself to others constantly and think if you have what it takes to succeed in this industry? Do you get overwhelmed by the new demands from a job and put yourself under pressure to perfect yourself? Do you underestimate your achievements and can not trust the praises from others?

If you answered yes to these questions, then there is a possibility that you might be suffering from imposter syndrome. This syndrome can affect people from all backgrounds, age groups, experience levels or genders.

How does it impact you?

Having imposter syndrome affects your day-to-day tasks as you constantly doubt yourself and deem yourself inadequate for the tasks assigned to you. You fear taking risks and may not be able to perform to your full potential which can impact your overall growth. Being under-confident about your skills and undermining yourself results in further impediments to the advancement of your career. In order to deal with such repercussions, people tend to over burden themselves to deliver with perfection, or try to gain more prominence by doing double the work compared to their peers. The stress that it brings with itself may lead to further anxiety and major burnout.

How people around you can make it worse?

Imposter syndrome can be initiated and worsened if you are surrounded by people who hinder your growth by constantly making you doubt yourself. The syndrome is validated when people around you show rigidity in accepting your point of view. Your colleagues give you assignments no one else is willing to take on because they don’t believe you can lead or handle a certain task. They either stop you before you can finish or don’t try to grasp your perspective. They always try to find a way to bring you down. Such toxic surroundings can make it very difficult for you to re-gain your confidence and fight this syndrome.

How to tackle?

To deal with imposter syndrome,

1. The first step is to acknowledge that you are going through this, so that you can effectively tackle it.
2. Next, you can find yourself a mentor/coach who listens to your concerns and can support you as you try to cope up with it.
3. It is also essential that you celebrate every small thing that you achieve and give yourself the credit for it.
4. Value yourself and your contributions, do not let your mistakes take over you, rather learn from them and try again.
5. Be open to risks, challenges and tasks that you have never done before, this will help you grow personally as well as professionally.
6. Set manageable goals for yourself and work towards them at your own pace.
7. Do not compare yourself to others, just focus on how you can become a better version of yourself.
8. Distance yourself from toxic surroundings.
9. Own yourself. If someone is trusting you with a task or if someone is praising you for something you did, accept it. You deserve that appreciation.

You just need to go with the flow and you will eventually get through this. You got this!

Disclaimer:

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