Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: I’m Not Enough: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

I'm Not Enough: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

Do you ever think I am not enough? Do you ever doubt yourself? Get overwhelmed by the inner critic? Do you dismiss people's words of praise and compliments? Are you afraid people will find out you are a failure or that you are useless? If so, you could be suffering from imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is rife in people's minds. Self-confidence is the core of the problem, and in fact, 70% of business leaders are affected by Imposter Syndrome at some point throughout their lives. ??

 "I'm not enough "... is just one of the lies we tell ourselves. And it is probably damaging your business performance and possibly the rest of your life too. ??

When you face it, you feel like you're on your own, which isn't true; even Einstein had it. He has a quote that says, "The esteem within which my works are held leave me feeling like an unlikely swindler." Somebody renowned to be a genius doubted themselves.

Imposter syndrome is caused by subconscious thoughts that are sabotaging your peace of mind. 

People who suffer from imposter syndrome will always be dealing with an inner voice telling them that they're not good enough, that they're going to get found out, that they are a fraud, and that they can't do the things that they're doing.

And it's a horrendous place to be because you're there desperately trying to look like you're in control of the outside world whilst continuously battling with that voice inside.

More often than not, it says:

"What are you doing? You're just going to look stupid. You're just going to make a fool of yourself; they're going to find out that you're not worthy. That you are not enough!"

Not being good enough, and having that play out in every moment of your day can be debilitating. It's tough to continue to have a conversation outwardly whilst you're desperately trying to quieten in the inner voice.

The way that we can talk to ourselves can be brutal. And that's a tough place to be. We use cruel language internally, which we would never dream of using externally. Imposter syndrome can be challenging for people to live with and limit our success and happiness until dealt with properly.

I had lived with it for myself for nearly 45 years at the point that I decided I needed to do something. I had been at board level for ten years, and I was convinced that I wasn't good enough, that at some point they we're going to turn around and say: "Oh, my goodness! We put a hairdresser on the board; get her off!"

It never happened, but actually, it didn't matter what award I won, what accolades I got. I was convinced that if they only knew, I was hopeless. I wasn't good at what I did. Then all of that would get taken away, and it wasn't true.

But it was my reality. Over the years, I learned that until you can acknowledge to yourself what you've achieved, you're never going to believe it doesn't matter how many people tell you that you're right. You've got to learn to accept it for yourself."

Understanding how to get out of it and move beyond it is certainly possible, helping people when they're feeling alone, when they feel like there's only them, to regain that control is very rewarding and opens the door to a new life. It is what prompted Nat Schooler, Lisa Ventura and I to launch International Imposter Syndrome Awareness Day, to raise awareness and share advice to help you regain control of your inner critic.

If you would like to learn more about International Imposter Syndrome Awareness Day, please join us via the link ???? https://subscribe.influentialvisions.com/im  

If this is you and you need help please checkout our podcasts around this topic or grab the mini course.

This post was originally published on https://kimadele.org/2021/03/26/imnotenough/