Managing my imposter syndrome

Managing my imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome is characterised by an overwhelming and persistent feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt, despite evidence of one's competence, skills, and accomplishments. Individuals who experience imposter syndrome often fear being “found out” as frauds or incompetent, and they may struggle to accept praise, recognition, or success. The experience of imposter syndrome can be debilitating and can impact an individual's emotional, professional, and personal well-being.

I have suffered from imposter syndrome and it is a common feeling. I was telling a psychologist friend how I was feeling one day, and his response changed my life. Actually, let me rephrase that, I was complaining that I hated going to business development events or posting on social media because my imposter syndrome got in my way. My friend said: “Eileen, imposter syndrome doesn’t exist. It was a study in the 70s. You have low self-esteem…”

The Origins of Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome was first identified in the 1970s by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes. They observed that some high-achieving women in academia experienced persistent self-doubt and feelings of fraudulence, despite their impressive accomplishments. The term “imposter syndrome” was coined to describe this phenomenon and has since been applied to a wide range of individuals in various fields and industries.

Individuals who experience imposter syndrome may not recognise the condition but can benefit from learning about it. Some common signs include:

• Persistent self-doubt and questioning of one's abilities

• Feeling like a fraud or imposter, despite evidence of competence and success

• Resistance to accepting praise, recognition, and success

• Downplaying one's accomplishments and attributing them to luck or external factors

• Fear of being “found out” as a fraud or inadequate

• Holding oneself to impossibly high standards

• Engaging in self-sabotaging behaviours. I absolutely had all of these signs and attributed not doing things to the feeling of ‘imposter syndrome’; I couldn’t write that article, I was concerned others would realise I didn’t know what I was talking about and so on.

Everyone is different but I hope my approach might be useful. Increasing self-esteem has been a journey for me and it certainly hasn’t happened overnight. I’m also still very much on my journey! The first thing that helped was realising that if I didn’t want to feel like this it was my responsibility to make changes in my life. Previously, I had been blaming, what I perceived to be an external factor of ‘imposter syndrome.’

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

It can be challenging to overcome but it is possible. I work daily on building my self-esteem and have outlined some of the things that have helped me. Several strategies can help individuals manage and overcome imposter syndrome, including:

• Challenge negative self-talk and replace it with positive, supportive messages.

• Set realistic standards and goals and celebrate achievements and successes.

• Accept praise and recognition and internalise positive feedback. You could even write a journal or have a gratitude diary. I found this to be particularly useful and write down 10 things I’m grateful for every day.

• Set better boundaries for myself. This could be anything from not taking on too much work to just stopping looking at my phone after a certain time

Everyone is different but working on my self-esteem has really helped me overcome the barriers that were keeping me back and keeping me up at night! This article is more personal than I normally would write but time and time again people tell me that their main issue with marketing and business development is confidence, so I hope this story was helpful and give you some views of how I managed to shake my negative thinking.

Eileen Donaghey

marketing and business development specialist, Donaghey & Chance

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileendonaghey/