How To Combat Imposter Syndrome
How To Combat Imposter Syndrome
By Daniel Ferguson
Timmy had always been a good footballer. His Dad got him kicking a ball from a few years old and ever since he's loved having a ball at his feet. Throughout school he was always one of the best in his year and a star player for his Saturday team. As Timmy got older, this became more noticed. He now plays for the year above team at school and has been scouted by his local academy, Hull City. Timmy is now 14 years old and still playing great football, but doesn't feel worthy of his success; feels like he shouldn't be in the position he is. This is what we call Imposter Syndrome.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
It's when someone doubts themselves, doubts where they have got to and if they deserve to be where they are. It's self-doubt of intellect, skills and accomplishments amongst high achievers. In Timmy's example, his hard-work and natural footballing ability has resulted in great success: playing for the year above and being scouted for Hull City. He deserves this success, but feels like he doesn't as he's surrounded by people older than him and other very well gifted footballers.
Where does it come from?
Verywell Mind have come up with 5 types of Imposter Syndrome which is a great way of seeing where these feelings come from, which can lead you to thinking you're a 'fake' or a 'fraud':
- Perfectionist: always feeling as though you, "could have done better", that you should be 100% at your best all the time but this isn't possible, leading to being too critical of yourself.
- Expert: feel like you should be an expert, so when you don't know something or make a mistake, you feel like a fraud, which can lead to over preparation: working harder to to achieve the same goal as someone else
- Natural Genius: don't feel naturally gifted, intelligent or competent.
- Soloist: if you needed help along the way or at any point, you feel as though you're an imposter, because you didn't do it all by yourself: feels like 'someone else's work'
- Super-person: feel like a fraud if you don't reach the highest level or if you're not the hardest worker
As well as this, Imposter Syndrome can be experienced from being highly competitive and having a low confidence and self-esteem. As Anthony Taylor put it, it can come from, "a pressure to live up to the talent; a pressure to keep performing, which then becomes part of your identity." In Timmy's case, he's always been good at football and enjoys it. But now he's reaching the levels he deserves, due to his talent and hard-work, he feels pressure to keep performing well. He begins to feel and think in this way to the point it becomes habit. He may feel this every training session and before every match. How would this feel?
How does it feel?
It can feel like you don't deserve to be where you are. You're a fraud. It creates a fear of living up to expectations and you can become very critical of your own performances. In Timmy's case, he's younger than everyone in his school team so he doesn't feel as though he should be there. When he became surrounded by other players who were just as good, if not better than him at Hull City, he felt like he shouldn't be there: experiencing feelings of not being good enough.
How can you combat Imposter Syndrome?
It's about discovering what works best for you. When those feelings of being an imposter creep in, what can you say to yourself to ease the thoughts and emotions? Here are some suggestions:
- Remind yourself of your capabilities: you're the reason behind your success and there is evidence of this (i.e, Timmy making it into the year above side)
- write down small wins (i.e, Timmy could write down what went well at a training session), this will make you visibly see and feel your success, it's important to reflect and at the same time, this will create an evidence log of your achievements [Celebrate Small Wins]
- Don't compare yourself to others: it's very difficult to avoid doing this, especially in the world we live in today, however, limit this as much as you can
- use social media in moderation and try your best to compare yourself to yourself, not others (think about where you were this time last year, or a few years ago, where have you improved?) Write this down and set short term targets for yourself, tick them off once you achieve them, creating feelings of accomplishment as you do so
- Acknowledge your thoughts: it's okay to feel these thoughts and emotions, try not to suppress them. Instead ask if they are rational (reasonable thoughts), speak to your loved ones about how you're feeling and you can share these feelings outside of the area you're feeling them from to gain a different perspective on things.
Combatting Imposter Syndrome
At the end of the day it's about realising you do deserve to be where you are because you're there for a reason. Trust your value and who you are, because you're worth it. It can be difficult, however, you will always be a work in progress and when you do fail and make mistakes, this is your learning ground: your ground for growth. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, do get in contact. Keep focusing on being the best you and in this case, combatting imposter syndrome.
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