How To Deal With Imposter Syndrome As a Thought Leader

Imposter syndrome

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Do you ever look at yourself and imagine someday, someone is going to call you out as an imposter? Or maybe someday you think people will bully you on social media because of the knowledge you’ve shared as a supposed thought leader? Or you are holding back from launching as a thought leader because of imposter syndrome? Well, you are in the right place.

In this article, I will be sharing tips on how to deal with imposter syndrome, and you will also get to see that you are not alone on this path either as you start or progress on your journey as a thought leader.

Imposter syndrome is a feature that has no regard for your industry, years of experience, level of competence, gender, and even your age. It has absolutely zero regards, and most times it creeps unto us like an insect when we are not watching.

According to a 2020 review, 9%–82% of professionals experience impostor syndrome. For you to know that you are not alone whenever you smell it around you.

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Impostor syndrome is an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be, as if you are a fraud, despite the degrees of success you have achieved in that aspect of your life. It involves unfounded feelings of self-doubt and incompetence. This is not because you are not truly competent, you are competent but you simply assume that you are not, and you expect that someday someone will discover and that will be the end of your career.

How will you know you have imposter syndrome?

Symptoms of imposter syndrome

  1. Crediting your success to every other thing except your ability.
  2. Believe in being unworthy of recognition and positions.
  3. Worried about being discovered as a fraud.
  4. Underestimate abilities.
  5. Fake confidence in your success
  6. Reluctant to ask for help or advice

How to Deal with Imposter Syndrome

1. Accept and understand that the syndrome exists and it’s a part of our life. Imposters don’t feel like they are imposters they feel like they are real, which means that you are not originally an imposter regardless of what might have caused it.

2. Record your success: Before you get to where you are, you must have had multiple situations where your idea solved a problem, when you closed a deal for the company or when you helped someone to become better at what they do.

Whenever it happens, record it in your journal, you can have a journal specifically for this alone so whenever you notice imposter syndrome coming your way, you can pick it up to deal with it. for the times when your boss, colleagues, or mentee commended you for something, put it down, nothing is too small to be celebrated, it is your win.

3.  Set boundaries for your feelings: Your feelings are valid but they are not necessarily your reality until you decide to make them your reality. The best you can do is observe them, identify what triggers them and go ahead to remind yourself that your feelings do not define your abilities.

4. Avoid comparison: You are unique in your own way, you don’t have to measure your accomplishment with other people, especially the people you don’t have a personal relationship with.

Social media has made it possible that the only aspect of life that you is what a person wants you to see, definitely not their entire life, so why measure your entire life with just a part of another person’s life, absolutely wrong and unacceptable. Yes, you can learn from them but don’t make them the benchmark for your life. Evolve, and explore, the world belongs to you.

Conclusion

In this article, I have shared how to deal with imposter syndrome as a thought leader in whatever field you find yourself, the symptoms as well. I want you to bear in mind that it takes much more than just reading, you need to put these strategies to work and get results for yourself. Evolving and growing is a continuous work for thought leaders.

More articles on Thought Leadership

Three Proven Steps To Becoming A Thought Leader

How To Create Thought Leadership Content In 6 Steps

5 Effective Thought Leadership Strategies For Your Brand

 

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