Finding Comfort in Discomfort: Imposter Syndrome

A year ago I sat for my MCAT. A year ago I thought I would be getting ready to attend medical school at either UT Southwestern, Baylor, or A&M. Never in a million years did I think I would be in any other industry besides medicine, let alone prepare to be a speaker at a technical conference. But I think many people find themselves in the same situation at some point in their life. There is something oddly comforting in the fact that we all have this experience. Maybe you thought you would be an aerospace engineer and you’re a medical sales rep for Pfizer. It’s important to find comfort even when there is discomfort.?

My discomfort recently has been imposter syndrome. I constantly interact with people who are 10+ year's my senior and they turn to me and treat me as an equal. “Why me? Do they know they’re talking to someone with less experience? How the h*** am I going to add value to this conversation?” This is often my internal monologue when imposter syndrome is at its finest. According to Medical News Today, up to 82% of people experience this phenomenon. Congratulations to the other 18% who #cantrelate, I envy you. So how do we combat imposter syndrome? or do we?

Visualize it, recognize it, and move past it.

My dad, who is certainly in the 18%, told me this long ago when I was applying to college. You can imagine the eye roll 16-year-old me gave him (and sometimes still do give him). But I realize now that visualizing, recognizing, and moving past it, can make you STRONG. Visualize where you want to be. Recognize that you are feeling anxiety. Move past the anxiety to achieve the goal you visualize. Easy enough, right? How do you just move past the anxiety? If you’re like me, you internalize things quite a bit and it can be almost impossible to just move past the anxiety aka imposter sydrome. But what if the imposter syndrome is the secret sauce to excelling? You see, imposter syndrome is kind of like coffee in the sense that it gives you just a bit of anxiety along with the energy to complete the task at hand. This anxiety that you’re less qualified, not good enough, etc, keeps you on your toes and pushes you to do your best possible work. Why? Because you ARE good enough, smart enough, qualified enough… infact you probably are the most qualified for that particular goal. Others believed in you and you deserve your seat at the table. Imposter syndrome can truly be a tool in your toolbox to achieve greatness. The discomfort that comes along with imposter syndrome can actually bring you comfort if you recognize imposter syndrome's role in maintaining your edge and ability to excel. You legitimately deserve what you have based on your tallents, skills, and work ethic… and imposter syndrome keeps you humble and reaching for that next goal in life.

So I know you were probably expecting a how-to article to combat imposter syndrome and I know this method might not work for everyone. This is just how I find comfort in discomfort when dealing with imposter syndrome and I hope this view might resonate with someone else.