Travis Zipper on Dealing with Imposter Syndrome for Health Coaches
The position of health coach comes with a considerable amount of responsibility. Maintaining active relationships with clients and making suggestions for changes in their lifestyles requires trust. This fact that can lead to the development of “impostor syndrome” within health coaches. When impostor syndrome sets in, you may begin questioning your qualifications or resisting the notion of internalizing your accomplishments with the fear of being found out as a fraud.
The subsequent self-doubt that comes with impostor syndrome can be difficult to deal with and Travis Zipper, a nutrition coach and exercise counselor and functional diagnostic nutritionist from Huntington Beach, California, has an overview of how best to deal with it so that you can continue putting out your best work as a professional health coach.
Identifying Impostor Syndrome in Yourself
There are some key signs that indicate the presence of impostor syndrome. It is important to self-evaluate in order to ensure that nothing will interfere with your work as a health coach.
Firstly, you will need to look at how you react to praise and compliments from others. If you experience regular difficulty in accepting them, this can be an indication of impostor syndrome. Next, when it comes to personal accomplishments and success, impostor syndrome necessitates a disassociation between you as an individual and what you have achieved, whether such success is downplayed or passed off as being entirely outside of your control.
Second, impostor syndrome is centric around personal fears. You might experience a fear of failure to the point where it is interfering with your ability to experience new things in life. Conversely, you might also experience a fear of success, as according to impostor syndrome, it could “expose” you as unqualified.
Finally, says Travis Zipper, there is the notion of comparing yourself to your peers. If you find yourself feeling inadequate compared to others, as if you do not belong with them and are somehow unqualified, this can also be a strong indication of impostor syndrome.
Applying Rationality
According to Travis Zipper, impostor syndrome represents a strong, present voice in the back of your mind, a self-critic that can say discouraging things. One of the best defenses against this is the process of questioning everything you are thinking, applying the concept of rationality to ground your thought process in facts as opposed to fears and feelings. Taking it one thought at a time, you should begin to question the likelihood of what you are thinking to occur in reality. If such an outcome is established as irrational, then you may find it easier to ignore. As soon as you take a step back, it is easy to see that our inner fears commonly stem from irrationality and that factual reality can be used to counter them.
Travis Zipper on Getting the Needed Support
While impostor syndrome manifests itself as an internal process and changing how you think is a critical step towards mitigating it, the reality is that a support system combined with open communication can be just as effective. The ability to open up about your own experiences with impostor syndrome will allow you to hear a much needed second opinion regarding how qualified you are as a professional, as well as create greater awareness on the issue. By both giving and receiving support in this way, you will be able to handle impostor syndrome better the next time it surfaces.
As the founder of Wellfitz Mentorship, Travis Zipper is an experienced functional diagnostic nutritionist. With an invaluable knowledge and understanding of functional health tests, he is able to effectively pinpoint the root causes of issues for his clients and go above and beyond merely treating symptoms.
