The Impostor Syndrome Is On The Rise

You don’t have to be a social scientist to see that the Impostor Syndrome is on the rise. One contributing factor is the rise in the culture of comparison resulting from our lives being more open and visible than ever before. Thanks to the rise in social media,where once we generally only compared ourselves to those in our immediate circles, now we have a tendency to compare our abilities and achievements with anyone and everyone across the globe.

With this incredibly broad array of people to compare ourselves to is not surprising that, more often than not, we find ourselves lacking. For women this is further magnified with a constant bombardment of messages from the media about how we should look, behave, and achieve.

However, comparing ourselves to others now and again can be a motivator. We may gain inspiration to do better, to push ourselves a little harder and to aspire to be like our role models. Unfortunately when we constantly compare ourselves to others, and repeatedly feed ourselves the message that we are not as good as them, we can soon develop the Impostor Syndrome.

The Impostor Syndrome takes many forms but ultimately I believe every case comes down to 1 of 2 core beliefs. Either you believe that you do not deserve your success, or you are telling yourself that you are just not good enough and so not successful at all. Either way you find you hold yourself back because you keep listening to that critical voice inside your head. It tells you that you shouldn’t have got as far as you have and that any moment now people are going to realise that you are a fraud and an impostor.

I remember a personal experience I had of the Impostor Syndrome at a networking event. Before I even entered the room I had this thought that the other participants would be far more important me, have greater experience, and I was sure that when they saw me they would ask themselves “what’s she doing here?!” I wish now that I had heard this inspiring quote by Oprah Winfrey:

“I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.”

If you don’t address your Impostor Zone symptoms you can soon find yourself falling into the Comfort Zone trap. Increasingly you stay within the confines of your safe space, ceasing to challenge yourself and knocking back opportunities that come your way. No wonder you struggle to take advantage of opportunities when the sheer volume of them can be overwhelming.

So how do you move past the easy option of doing nothing? How do you choose which opportunities to take advantage of and which ones to pass on?

The first place to start is by clearly identifying your vision of what you would like to achieve in the future. When we know where we want to go to it becomes a lot easier to make decisions. Any opportunities that don’t contribute to you reaching your ultimate destination can be rejected.

But that doesn’t mean you go ahead with all the remaining opportunities. Each one needs to be assessed against your values. At The Smartest Path we have identified three value compasses. The Moral Compass, Motivation Compass, and Heart Compass. Click here if you want to learn more about them. When you are crystal-clear on your three compasses you can quickly identify those opportunities that will help you to keep your compasses aligned and which should be rejected because they will send you down a path of internal conflict.

In addition to making decision-making easier, having a clear vision and value set are powerful ways to help you keep pushing forward when self-doubt enters your head.

When you are fully focused on achieving your vision, and 100% comfortable with your actions, it becomes a lot easier to combat that internal voice when it tries to hold you back, or downplay your successes. When you find yourself putting your success down to luck, or the efforts of others, you can reflect back on the steps that you have just taken, and the decisions you’ve made, to prove to yourself that your achievement is fully deserved.

I don’t believe you can ever truly eradicate impostor thoughts. They are simply our brain’s way of protecting ourselves. According to evolutionary psychology, our brains are hardwired to keep us alive and safe. They urge us to stay in our safe space, to not take risks, and to avoid challenges. However, with the right techniques we can successfully combat the Impostor Syndrome when it does arise.

If you would like to find out more about any of the issues in this article such as techniques for combating the Impostor Syndrome or how to identify your value compasses please get in touch by clicking contact us or emailing us at info@thesmartestpath.com.au