How To Make Imposter Syndrome Your Ally
The doubt’s there for a reason.
Feeling like a fraud? Anxiously awaiting the day that your luck runs out — for people to realise you don’t deserve your success? You’re not alone. Research suggests that 70% of people experience feeling like an imposter at some stage in their life.
This feeling of phoniness was first formally described in 1978, coining the term ‘imposter syndrome’. Psychologists conducted a study on high-achieving women and their tendencies to feel like imposters — describing the phenomenon as “an internal experience of intellectual phonies”. Symptoms included;
- Feeling as if your accomplishments are the result of ‘luck’ or something outside of your control.
- Finding ways to reject any evidence supporting the contrary.
- Fear that you’ll be discovered for being an imposter.
- Experiencing general feelings of anxiety.
- Having a lack of self-confidence.
- Feeling frustrated by your lack of ability to reach your standards.
- Measuring self-worth and gaining approval from achievements.
- Engaging in negative self-talk.
However, further research has shown that these symptoms are not exclusive to women — men are just as susceptible.
So, regardless of who you are, we’re all vulnerable to imposter syndrome. And such is the nature of the beast, the risks and effects of this self-imposed doubt continue to grow as you do. It’s an unfortunate situation —at least under stereotypical self-improvement standards.
Imposter syndrome doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad. To put it bluntly, it's a potential lifelong battle that can easily be avoided by simply not fighting it.
Rather than trying to regain your confidence and power in your position by removing the imaginary mask, you’ve created for yourself — you can harness the power of your supposedly fraudulent identity. You can make imposter syndrome your ally.
Jung’s Persona
Popular psychologist Carl Jung discussed the idea of ‘the persona’ under his theory of archetypes. In his book The Archetypes and The Collective Unconcious he describes the persona to be;
“…the individual’s system of adaptation to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with, the world. Every calling of profession, for example, has its own characteristic persona. It is easy to study these things nowadays, when the photographs of public personalities so frequently appear in the press. A certain kind of behaviour is forced on them by the world, and professional people endeavour to come up to these expectations.”
Personas are our way of dealing with and adapting to our environment — a survival instinct of sort. Although potentially viewed as negative due to their support of conformity, they can be a valuable tool when it comes to facing a new challenge.
Say you’re moving from an employee position to a leadership role. Although your imposter syndrome deflated ego might resist this change — aware that it is not actually ‘who you are’ — you can still play the role and wear the mask. You know the persona you need to have and in order to rise to the role of leader, you’ll put on that persona.
Jung’s Self
By adopting a persona you’re hiding what Jung identifies as your ‘self’ — who you truly are;
Your self cannot be changed. It’s the reason you feel like an imposter in the first place — the part that’s separating you from your persona.
When you’re experiencing imposter syndrome it’s your persona that’s achieving, not your self. You don’t feel deserving because it is not you who’s succeeding, it’s the person you’re acting as who is.
The Power of The Persona Mindset
However, by the same logic of imposter syndrome and personas, when you fail, is it not by fault of your persona — not you?
There’s a freedom that comes with acknowledging your persona. By embracing the fact that you’re not truly the person you present yourself as there’s less responsibility associated with being that person. People’s judgement isn’t a reflection on you at all — its a reflection on a character you’ve created and can just as quickly discard.
In other words, you have unlimited potential to become anyone you want to be. Are those anyone’s who you really are? Strictly speaking no, but persona’s grant you the ability to reach possibilities beyond what you believe you are capable of.
Making Imposter Syndrome Your Ally
The danger with personas is how we identify with them — when we do consider them a reflection of who we are. With imposter syndrome, you’d think by the definition this wouldn’t be an issue. However, that’s not often the case.
Despite feeling like an imposter, people still tend to tie themselves with their persona — basing their self-worth on the achievements of their imposter, trying to live up to the standards of their imposter. The only way to harness the power of the persona is to identify and accept your imposter syndrome — then to disassociate with that character.
By getting in touch with your true self you can relieve yourself of the pressures of your persona and play the role with freedom. The ups and, more importantly, the downs of your persona won’t affect you. In making imposter syndrome your ally, you're inherently shifting your source of fulfilment from externalities to something deeper and internal.
In order to get in touch with your deeper self, you can exercise cultivating your witness. Your witness is that state beyond thinking, it’s the point of consciousness where you are simply experiencing — your meta-conscious. If you’re uncertain as to what that state of mind is exactly, scientists have linked the meta-conscious to the part of the brain that causes people to lucid dream. So, being in a state of meta-consciousness is like lucid dreaming.
Cultivating your witness is the practice of trying to access this part of the brain — sitting with your thoughts until you can separate from them… until you can become the witness. As the witness, you can release yourself from the noise of your persona, remove any concerns regarding ego or public perception.
It’s when you reach this point that you can use your imposter syndrome to your advantage. You can allow your imposter to live freely as you live undefined by their success or failure.
The Take-Away
Imposter syndrome is only as bad as you allow it to be. At the end of the day, it’s your choice what you consider fulfilling — and if your definition of fulfilment is based on external achievement then so be it. However, if you want to turn your imposter syndrome into a positive, you need to redefine your values.
Finding fulfilment from a deeper source — one not as fleeting as success and failure — will allow you to separate from the persona you’ve created that has caused your imposter syndrome. When you’ve separated from that persona you can access its unlimited potential and become whoever it is you want or need to be — you can go beyond your capabilities.
Imposter syndrome is a way to live without restraints. Embrace your imposter and let it flourish. Don’t try to become your imposter — let it live its life while you live yours.
Grow together.
