Dealing With Imposter Syndrome

Entrepreneurs are constantly striving to develop and push themselves to be better in their lives and their businesses. While dealing with so many people, activities, and achievements, one may wonder if they deserve the things they get.

It makes one think that they are been overvalued and they don't deserve the things for which they would've actually struggled. Such a psychological situation that is strongly rooted in a fear of failure or appreciation is known as impostor syndrome.

People who face the problem of impostor syndrome feels that they are frauds and lives in the fear that one day people will know that they don't know anything or they are not worth the respect they get.

Entrepreneurs are one of the largest group of people who faces this situation. This is not about how successful you are. In fact, many entrepreneurs who are so successful and are appreciated in their lives are the ones who are likely to have impostor syndrome.

The first thing that one needs to understand when they try to deal with this psychological phenomenon is that it is very common and it is okay to feel the way they are feeling. Various studies show that more than 70% of people in the world feel that they are imposters at one time in their life or the other. It is important to acknowledge and discuss this issue without letting it affect your business.

Identifying Signs
Positive Affirmations
Remind yourself
Stopping Comparison
Celebrating Victories
Seek help
FAQ

Identifying Signs

The first step that one should take towards identifying impostor syndrome is by looking out for signs that your mind and body gives every time you doubt yourself.

Think honestly about what you believe you are and understand why you are feeling what you are feeling contrary to the general belief that you have about yourself.

After answering that question understand that if you are having self-doubts it is only because you are pushing yourself to greater heights.

In this process, it is important, to be honest with yourself especially in terms of the things that you know and you don't know. Look out for the thoughts that you get when you feel down.

Identify it and tap them down when you get those thoughts again.

Positive Affirmations

Avoid grammatically negative words from your speech. Whenever you are about to do something different or something that you are afraid of believe that you are qualified enough to do that.

Chanting positive affirmations is easier said than done. From having self doubts to talking positively about yourself there is a bridge that might be hard to cross.

Here you should step in with your conscious mind and every time you feel that the impostor syndrome is trickling in, tap yourself down, understand that what you are feeling is not in fact you but caused due to an unfavourable situation you are in.

After acknowledging this feeling, say positive sentences about yourself, your experiences and your achievements.

Remind yourself

Another thing that you can do is that keep a note of good things that you have done and the appreciation is that people have given to you.

Even if you cannot remember these when you are feeling low, you can always look up to these notes to improve your self-esteem.

It will help you realize your worth and continue the works that you have been doing.

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Stopping Comparison

Business is indeed a world full of competition and as an entrepreneur, you are more likely to compare your success with that of others. This can trigger or aggravate impostor syndrome.

You need to understand here that the timeline of a person or a business can never be compared with that of others. Just because a person became a millionaire at the age of 23 does not mean that you cannot be one at the age of 30.

What you have to deliberately do is to stop thinking about others and putting yourself down by the act of comparison. Instead, you should divert that energy to focus on your business.

This can be achieved by keeping a very specific routine for every day and also by keeping long-term goals.

Celebrating Victories

As mentioned earlier comparison can also lead to another dangerous trap where are you celebrating your victories and achievements. This might even lead you to believe in unrealistic expectations and toil towards it only to fail later since they were impractical.

This variation within impostor syndrome can be adjusted and mitigated by celebrating small achievements that you gain as an entrepreneur.

It might not be directly related to the business but can even be related to your own personality.

Never stop celebrating yourself. It will help you accept and acknowledge that although you are not perfect you can always be better than yesterday.

Seek help

This is one of the most important and the least sought method. Impostor syndrome is very common and it needs to be addressed seriously.

Ignoring it as negative whims of the human mind or trying to bury it by invalidating your feelings can only aggravate the situation to an extent where it will start fully affecting your company. Hence, it is extremely important to seek professional help the moment you feel the need to do that.

Also, stay connected with your close friends and mentors who you are sure will be cheerleaders for you when you need them. But the most important thing is that never hesitate from taking professional help.

Conclusion

Impostor syndrome might feel like a silly thing event to the person who is experiencing it.

Although it can be controlled and can be controlled very easily, it is also extremely important to acknowledge and face it.

Unfortunately what most of the entrepreneurs do in such a situation is simply bury down their feelings into the back of their mind or plunge into the lies that our mind creates.

It will only lead to repression which will later culminate in a very bad explosion of all your emotions.

So realize that impostor syndrome is real and it was okay to face that. Embracing your uniqueness, positive affirmations and taking professional help will significantly help you stay away from this menace.

FAQ

Who suffers from imposter syndrome?

As per the Research 70% of people may suffer from imposter syndrome.

How to get rid of imposter syndrome?

Separate feelings from fact, Accentuate the positive, Develop a healthy response to failure and mistake making, and Visualize success are some of the things you can do to .

What causes imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is likely the result of including personality traits and family background.