How To Overcome Impostor Syndrome To Grow In Your Career

What if they find out that I am not as good as they think?

What if they can see right through the mask that I have been wearing all this time?

What if someone better comes in and they drop me like a hot potato?

What if I fail? What if I lose my job? What if I am never able to get a job as good as this again?

I have struggled with some of the above questions and more in my career journey this far. At first I really just thought that I was being too hard on myself and my biggest critic so I found a way of overlooking them and moving ahead. Until one day when I finally found out that I was actually struggling with the Imposter Syndrome.

Impostor Syndrome can be simply defined as a sense of self-doubt related to accomplishments. In today's article I will focus on this in the context of growth, business & career progression. Often times it can make you feel as though you tricked yourself into your job or that you are always putting up a show for your employer as well as your coworkers. It can be a hindrance to advancement and tends to make the victim play small so as to accommodate everyone around them comfortably.

Symptoms:

• Extreme sensitivity to criticism- whether positive or negative. When people praise you for doing a job well you tend to think that they are all pretending and that deep down they think that you are not good enough. Negative criticism immediately takes you on defense mode and you think that they are being unfair to you.
• Taking things personally at work- do you always feel like people are coming at you with hidden intentions? Do you tend to blame yourself anytime something goes wrong? When your boss gets into the office and they are in a bad mood, do you immediately start to think about what you could have done wrong?
• Crippling fear of failure- does fear of failure stop you from going after things that you really want at work? Do you bypass applying for promotions because you fear that you will be rejected?
• Lack of confidence at work- do you always think that everyone else is better than you? Do you struggle to do more because you feel like you are not good enough?
• Excessive need of assurance- do you get discouraged the moment that your boss does not commend you for a job well done? Are you in constant need of affirmation that you are doing well at your job?
• Burnout - you exert yourself without sparing some time to rest and recharge.

Do you now have a better understanding of what you could be struggling with? You know psychologists say that one way to overcome a struggle is to actually name it. The mind finds it easier to deal with an issue that it can recognise. Now the big question is how can you overcome this "giant" and be well on your way towards achieving your big audacious goals?

Upskill & Invest In Personal Development

Stay hungry, Stay Foolish! Refuse to settle for being just good enough when you can be great. When you are good at something it will always help to boost your confidence. Research on ways you can grow your skill-set, invest in your mind, stick around people who are better than you so that they can challenge you to do more.

Always Show Up

Even when the going gets tougher refuse to give up on working on your goals. God & the Universe have a way of blessing the work of your hands. Remember the story of Moses in the Bible? God used his staff to be able to part the red sea so that the Israelites could cross it and be rescued. You have something to offer this world all that you need is the willingness to be used of God and to show up.

Be Your Biggest Cheerleader

One way to ensure that you always stay motivated is if it comes from within. You can never control how people respond & react to life but you have full control of your own life. Learn to pat yourself in the back when you achieve a milestone and to talk yourself into believing that nothing is beyond your reach. It is always nice to receive words of affirmation from other people but when that well is running dry you need to keep yourself going by constantly cheering yourself on. This way you can be able to survive anywhere in the world.

GRIT, GRIT, GRIT

If you can't fly run, If you can't run walk, If you can't walk crawl, but at the end of the day you have to keep moving. Fighting the impostor syndrome is a battle that happens in the mind, you need to be resilient enough to get through the times when you are struggling to get any work done. This is the place of discipline and self-control where you choose to keep doing your best in your work even when you really don't have the energy to do so. The moment that you win this battle in your mind is the moment you get long-lasting success.

Take Up Your Space

Refuse to play small so as to make everyone around you feel comfortable. Keep shining and going for excellence and the world will adjust. Many people shrink and take a back seat at work because they fear appearing as though they are "too much". At the end of the day, it is your life and your career and you need to be wise enough to make decisions and go after the things that set your soul on fire fearlessly.

Have An Open Mind

Always be prepared to receive feedback with a positive attitude. If you are wise you know that there is always something that you can learn from anyone. Be humble so that you can provide an environment where people can openly correct you and you can use the positive criticism to be able to sharpen your skills and be better at what you do.

Stop Taking Things Personally

Always remember that you are a small piece of the whole jigsaw puzzle. People have a life that does not revolve around you, most times we are all just focusing on ways in which we can become better at what we do. When someone does something mean to you, remove yourself from the equation as they could be projecting an insecurity that they are struggling with. Constantly remind yourself not to be too full of yourself or to think that you are better than everyone else. Also whenever you are going through a tough time at work, be quick to remember that it is a bad day and not a bad life.

Reframe Your Thoughts!

"As a man thinketh, so is he" ~Anonymous

Thoughts are so powerful. Always remember that anything that you say after 'I AM' you become! If you often struggle with negative thoughts, start monitoring your patterns and mental voice so as to understand where the problem is coming from. Every time you have a negative thought write it down and over a period of time monitor how often you think negatively and how often you think positively. To make it even more enlightening you can write a summary of what led you to feeling how you are feeling so that the next time you are almost getting into the same rabbit hole you can quickly catch yourself.

I have struggled with this for a while but I am really glad that I am on the journey to healing. I know it feels like it is all so hard to achieve but choose to take one step at a time, soon you will get there. Remember that it's never a failure, always a lesson and life is not a destination but a journey!

Cheers??