In the video we saw a brief overview of 5 more ways that you might deal with Impostor Syndrome.
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Let’s repeat what Valerie Young said: “The only way to stop feeling like an impostor is to stop thinking like an impostor.” If you can achieve the behavioural targets you have set yourself, then you will soon see a significant lowering in your levels of Imposterism.
7. Reduce your time on Social Media
In 2008, research by the University of California in San Diego established that the average American consumes 100,000 words, or about 34 gigabytes of information, every day through the TV, internet, newspapers, and more.
As we know, much of that information is presenting images of a perfection that doesn’t exist. People airbrush their photos, choose the best moments from their lives – all to give us the impression that they are enjoying an ideal and worry-free existence.
Comparing our ‘ordinary lives’ to these myths of perfectionism is not good for us, and it is well known that constant use of social media can be directly linked to feelings of inferiority.
Ask yourself:
– How much do I find myself on social media, rather than living my own, real life?
– What one action would help me to spend less time on social media?
This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
8. Shift your focus to those around you
This is going to feel strange – but move your attention away from yourself to your colleagues. Are any of your peers struggling? Does someone seem ‘shut out’ from the rest of the team? Take the trouble to make contact and ask. Practising these thoughtful skills will begin to engender more positive feelings about yourself.
Research shows that a supportive working environment helps to reduce the link between workers’ Impostor feelings and their lack of job satisfaction and commitment to the organisation.
Ask yourself:
– How often have I approached my colleagues and kept the discussion focused on their needs rather than mine?
– What one action can I take to shift the focus from my own worries and concerns to dealing with others’ worries and concerns?
This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
9. Monitor your ‘self-talk’
The way that we talk to ourself – our inner dialogue – has a huge influence on our thinking and outlook. You can’t stop a negative feeling from leaping into your head, but you can respond to that negative feeling in different ways.
For example, if there is someone in your team that you do not like because of how temperamental they are, then you could respond with, “Just my luck to have to work alongside a human volcano”. Or you might say instead, “This person is very difficult to handle, but it’s great practise for when I have to manage similar individuals in the future.”
Be careful of statements you make that limit you. Instead of saying, “I can’t find a way to figure this out”, say to yourself, “I haven’t found a way to figure this out, yet…” The first statement is a dead end. The second statement is about searching for possible answers.
Ask yourself:
– How often do I have conversations with myself where I am too negative about my own abilities and motivation?
– What can I change to enable me to be more positive with my ‘inner dialogue’?
This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
10. Have courage
Courage is about choices and, when we are faced with a difficult choice such as leaving the comfortable summer of what we know for the icy winter of what we don’t know, then it’s too easy to turn any opportunity down. But we can only grow when we move into areas that will challenge us. Otherwise, we stay in one place with our skills and talents becoming more and more irrelevant to working life every day.
You’ve already achieved so much in your life and in that time you have built up some fantastic skills that can be transferred into many different arenas. Your talent is not just your knowledge; your talent is knowing the right approach through difficulties. Your talent can also be about knowing who to ask or where to go for the right knowledge. These are the skills that are valued in organisations – the ‘thinking skills’ that enable you to cope well with so many unfamiliar situations.
Ask yourself:
– How often do I embrace areas of knowledge that I do not understand? How often do I enthusiastically push myself into areas where I know I might struggle at first?
– What action can I take that will demonstrate a greater personal courage to my colleagues?
This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.
11. Find a mentor
As we have seen before, a mentor will probably have also shared the feelings of ‘Impostorism’ in their own career, and it can be enormously helpful to have someone empathising with you who has ‘done the journey’. If you opt for a mentor, make sure that you are completely open with them; don’t allow yourself to hold back the emotions and feelings you experienced for fear of being seen as ‘not coping’ or unable to do your job.
If you really want to stop feeling like an impostor, then you must change the thinking that takes you to those places, and a skilled mentor can often be the best way to achieve that change of mindset.
Ask yourself:
– How often have I needed an independent person to talk to who can help me with the way I think and approach my working life?
– Who could I approach to take on the role as a mentor for me? When am I going to do this?
This response will be reviewed and graded after submission.