“Courage allows the successful woman to fail and learn powerful lessons from the failure. So that, in the end, she didn’t fail at all.” – Maya Angelou
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter Syndrome is a belief that you don’t deserve success in life. Maybe you feel you haven’t earned that paycheck, you’re unworthy of a promotion, or you’re not nearly as competent as others think you are.
Sound familiar?
If you’re struggling with this condition, you’re not alone! 75% of executive women struggle with it, according to a 2020 KPMG study.
Imposter Syndrome manifests itself in a myriad of ways and can wreak havoc on your well-being if you’re not careful:
You might overwork yourself because you feel inadequate.
You might avoid submitting projects due to a constant case of perfectionism.
Or you might constantly feel the need to educate yourself because you think you’ll never be knowledgeable enough to tackle the job at hand.
Of course, it’s always important to learn more about everything you’re curious about. But you shouldn’t learn more because of insecurity, and too many women do.
So, What Can You Do About Imposter Syndrome?
Thankfully, this condition is curable with a few meaningful mindset shifts.
Reframe
It’s essential to reframe your thoughts whenever you start beating yourself up internally. Remember: You’ve achieved great things for a reason. And you deserve all of the money, respect, and recognition that’s coming your way as a result.
Listening to Brene Brown or Tony Robbins can help you reframe your internal dialogue if you’re having a rough day.
Sometimes, just playing a positive narrative — even if it’s someone else’s words – can help your brain stop running on that treadmill of self-discouragement.
Learn From Your Failures
No one achieves enormous success without failing at least a few times along the way.
In fact, many celebrities will tell you that failure was simply a stepping stone on their path to success in all areas of life.
We all mess up sometimes. Entrepreneurs who are green in the field may realize that they don’t know as much as they thought they did. Or, they might realize they need to take their skills to the next level in order to increase their income.
You know what? That’s okay.
No one would ever learn anything if life went swimmingly every day of the week. Take failures in stride and use them as lessons. They are not a reflection of your worth as a person.
On the contrary, failures can actually be used as building blocks for creating the empire of your dreams. When you see each one as an obstacle you can overcome instead of an indication of your perceived incompetence, the tough times become easier to navigate.
Track Your Successes
We are so quick to dwell on our weaknesses. As women, a lot of us have been told that it’s inappropriate to talk about our accomplishments, and we may feel it’s overly self-indulgent to celebrate our triumphs in life.
The reality, though, is that a lot of us have achieved great things in life, and we deserve to give ourselves credit for that.
If you’re having a tough day and your negative internal dialogue won’t give you a break, it might be helpful to hang up a degree you earned, re-read that article you wrote that got published in an esteemed magazine, or even celebrate the small wins.
Maybe you just monetized your video content or earned your first paycheck from writing an article. Every accomplishment counts!
Bottom Line
Imposter Syndrome plagues most of us at times. And, although it doesn’t affect women only, it’s often more challenging for females and minorities.
Society often sends us the message that we’re not worthy of earning a good living or talking about how far we’ve come.
But the fact remains: Every woman deserves to celebrate success, no matter how minute or magnificent the triumph might be. We’ve reached the levels we have by dedicating countless hours to our profession with our own blood, sweat, and tears. That’s not insignificant.
Give yourself permission to stop and look back on all the mountains you’ve already climbed. You’ve earned it!
