Ever felt like a Fraud? It happens to the best of us!

Successful actor?Jodie Foster, popular?for her?outstanding performance?in?“The Silence of the Lamb”?said:?‘When I won the Oscar, I thought it was a fluke!?I thought everybody would find out, and they’d take it back. They’d come to my house, knocking on the door, “Excuse me, we meant to give that to someone else. That was going to Meryl Streep.’

Like Jodie, we all experience imposter syndrome. We could be involved in interesting things: leading passionate causes; running profitable businesses; joggling between parenting and career yet, when an opportunity to perform at a much higher frequency presents itself, we do not consider ourselves competent enough!

Imposter Syndrome?is the?inability to embrace success because of?self-doubt. Even though men and women experience imposter syndrome differently, research?conducted?by?renowned psychologists?Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne?Imes presents an interesting dynamic. A?survey?of accomplished women?revealed that most?of the?women attributed?the bulk of their achievements?to?good fortune or luck, whereas?some believed that?other?people had overrated their abilities. It convinced Clance and Imes that the contributing factor to this disorder was gender stereotype, cultural norms, household problems, and attribution style.?

While this feeling of insufficiency never goes away, here are tips to help us manage them:

? Acknowledge what you are experiencing:?One way to manage impostor feelings is by acknowledging them. Imposter syndrome shows up in different ways. If you find you attribute your success to external factors,?that you compensate by overworking…?that you downplay compliments for well-done tasks, or even that you compare yourself to others, acknowledging?these experiences?allows you proper context so that you can better manage your?response.?Impostor syndrome has more to do with our own self-perception.?Keeping a record of your journey and the positive feedback you have received?can serve as a useful?way?to refute feelings of unworthiness. You will have solid evidence that will boost your confidence again!

? Practise Self Awareness:?A good knowledge of self, even the ability to identify one's emotional triggers, can prevent self-sabotaging behaviors. Sometimes we cannot extend ourselves because past traumatic experiences have formed a tendency for negative bias in our minds.?That one time you failed a course does not mean you cannot succeed at a resit!?By training your mind to fixate on the positives in your experiences instead of the negatives, you?are?better able to able to interpret events.

Talk to someone: While whom you confide in is important, expressing yourself to trusted individuals within your community can provide you with the clarity and assurance you need. Most times, we cannot share our challenges because we doubt other people may not relate to them. But this is ignorance.?Hearing that our mentors or managers also suffer from impostor syndrome can help relieve those feelings of inadequacy.

The best of us battle with impostor syndrome. Not addressing it can threaten our capacity for greatness. Assuming we are alone and not talking about it leaves us with no chance of overcoming it.