We all have at times doubted our capabilities. Sometimes the self-doubt can be so enormous that you may think you don’t really deserve your success. Despite external validation, you strongly believe that your accomplishments are due to good luck or the result of people overestimating your capabilities. When your self-doubt reaches that level, you may experience what the experts call Imposter Syndrome.
Those experiencing Imposter Syndrome feel like they don’t really belong to their perceived league.
As the name suggests, they feel like an imposter, a fraud. The result is feelings of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and frustration.
What causes Imposter Syndrome
The causes of Imposter Syndrome vary from person to person. The most common ones include
- High-achieving families
- Overprotective parents
- Internalized gender stereotypes
- Cultural norms
- Anxiety
- Particular personality traits like perfectionism
The cause could be any. The suffering is real and universal.
It could exist in the nerd next desk to highly accomplished professionals in every field.
You are certainly not alone.
7 Imposter Syndrome exercises to help you cope
1. Imposter Syndrome Test: Look out for these signs
Many who experience Imposter Syndrome do not seek help since they see their problems as unworthy of attention. Identifying and acknowledging the symptoms is the first step to overcoming the problem. Some signs of Imposter Syndrome include:
- Low self-esteem
- Berating your accomplishments
- Quick to discount praise
- Feelings of unworthiness
- Guilt about own success
- Extreme self-doubt & anxiety
- Fear of failure, of being “caught” at any moment
2. Get a healthy perspective
Recognize that your perception of yourself could be flawed. Maybe your expectation of yourself is unrealistic. Ask your mentor about what criteria you should be evaluating your own performance. Ask him for honest feedback on your work. An objective assessment from someone you trust will give you a healthy perspective on your capabilities.
3. Use your breath against the negative self-talk
Imposter Syndrome brings a lot of anxiety and negative self-talk. This disturbance in the mind cannot be dealt with thoughts alone. Your breath is a powerful force to manage your mind. Nadi Shodhan or Alternate Nostril Breathing exercise can help you calm down.
4. Use your breath to remove stress
Imposter Syndrome is a result of internal stress that in many cases has accumulated due to years of conditioning. Practice Sudarshan Kriya to remove such deep-rooted stress from your mind-body complex. Studies show that even two weeks of regular practice decreases the release of the stress hormone cortisol by 56.6%. When your stress and anxiety levels drop significantly, you are more likely to develop a more positive perspective toward yourself and your work.
5. See your doubts as passing clouds
In the words of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “Moments of doubt are like clouds. The clouds do come, but they come and disappear. If you do not cooperate or engage with them, they will simply come and go. If you shake hands with them and flow with them, then it will take a longer time to overcome them.”
Develop a practice of looking at your self-demeaning thoughts without participating in them.
Self-doubt and Prana
“Only prana (one’s life-force energy) can eliminate self-doubt. When a doubt arises in your mind, know that your prana has gone down. Pranayama (breathing exercises), Sudarshan Kriya, meditation, and prayer are some ways to increase your prana.” - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
6. Allow room for imperfection
The desire for perfection often leads to Imposter Syndrome. Recognize that perfection is impossible. You may be doing all the right things and still not getting the expected result. Mistakes are an inevitable part of life. When you allow some room for imperfection, you change your response to it. Instead of anger, you will respond with spontaneity. Healthy self-esteem requires acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses.
7. Practice Self-Compassion
Be kind to yourself. If you make a mistake, treat yourself the way you’d treat your best friend. Acknowledge that everyone is a life-long learner including you. When you recognize that you are always learning, you are motivated to learn from mistakes and failures instead of fearing them.
Based on inputs by Dr. Prema Seshadri, Psychologist & Faculty, The Art of Living
To know how to overcome imposter syndrome, do the following -
Find out if you have Imposter syndrome or not from these signs - feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, guilt feeling about success, self-doubt, anxiety, fear of failure or being caught redhanded and criticize your accomplishments
Maybe your self-expectations are unrealistic. Ask your mentor for an honest feedback
Practice breathing exercises (Nadi-Shodhan) to get rid of negative self-talk
Remove deep-rooted stress with Sudarshan Kriya and Meditation
Not necessary to be perfect all the time
Believe that ultimately, doubts as passing clouds and will disappear
You can get over Imposter Syndrome by -
Celebrate your success and learn from failures
Be self-compassionate
Delimit your boundaries of acceptance
Self-doubting is damaging to your confidence. Get over it with the practice of yoga, breathing exercises or pranayama and meditation.
Develop a practice of witnessing your self-demeaning thoughts without participating in them.
Imposter syndrome may not be a part of anxiety, but it is associated with anxiety disorders. The person suffering from Imposter syndrome is usually anxious.
The five types of Imposter Syndrome are -
Experts
Perfectionists
Natural Geniuses
Workalones
Workaholics
Imposter Syndrome is triggered by -
*Feeling of incapability during the transitional period between two jobs or college and a job
*Societal pressure
*High-achieving families
*Overprotective parents
*Internalized gender stereotypes
*Cultural norms
*Anxiety
*Particular personality traits like perfectionism
The opposite of Imposter Syndrome is the feeling that you are smarter than you are. It's called as Dunning-Kruger effect. It is a cognitive bias where people overestimate their knowledge in a specific area where they have little or nil experience.
Imposter Syndrome has not been reported as a mental illness in any research.
Yes. One of the signs of Imposter Syndrome is the feeling of low self-esteem.
Check with the help of the Imposter Syndrome Test. Find out if you have Imposter syndrome from these signs - feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, guilt-feeling about success, self-doubt, anxiety, fear of failure or being caught red-handed and criticizing your accomplishments.
Imposter Syndrome is associated with the feel like of fraud. Although there is no medical diagnosis for it, you may look out for the signs - feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, guilt feeling about success, self-doubt, anxiety, fear of failure or being caught red-handed and criticizing your accomplishments.