How to Overcome Your Imposter Syndrome

Roughly one year ago I took a tremendous leap in my personal growth journey in starting a YouTube channel and beginning to write a blog. For some, this may not seem a big deal but for someone who was terrified of self-expression, it was an incredible challenge.

From having to watch myself back on camera after years of dodging my reflection, to finding a voice on delicate subjects whilst being expressive on worldwide platforms, to tackling deep-rooted beliefs on self-worth and success. To say the least, I had a mountain to climb.

It wasn’t easy; in fact, it was downright mentally exhausting at times. I spent the latter half of 2020 just recording myself on camera and becoming comfortable with myself before I entertained the idea of showing my work to other people. As is the case with all things in personal development, doing things you haven’t done before is always going to present itself with a challenge and I had years of self-conditioning that wired my brain into keeping me small.

You could say, then, that I am quite proud of myself today. To be able to write this with no anxiety and with little problem recording and posting my videos publicly for everyone to see. Of course, it’s still a challenge as nothing in personal growth is linear. I am still susceptible to periods of self-criticism but as a whole, there is a clear upward trend to my progress.

One thing that does continue to show up for me, and is the subject of this article today, however, is my experience with imposter syndrome. Most of my resistance comes in the form of self-doubt and questions over my validity in working within this space. What right do I have to talk about this stuff? Will people doubt my abilities and think I’m a fraud? Can I even succeed at what I am doing? Am I wasting time? Imposter syndrome can be an ugly beast and tempt us into falling back into old patterns, but this doesn’t have to be your story.

Today, I want to present a potentially unconventional route to imposter syndrome management. That is, embracing it and accepting ourselves as an imposter in order to evade its grasp. It’s currently my mode of management and I hope the information I’m about to share with you serves you as well as it does me.

You Are An Imposter

In most cases when we fear judgment from other people, it’s generally a good reflection of the way we view ourselves. The focus of managing imposter syndrome, therefore, isn’t targeting those around us and the views they may have of us, but instead targeting the beliefs we hold true about ourselves. For example, I worry about other people critiquing my expertise and saying I don’t have a basis to talk about this stuff but in reality, that’s only a reflection of my own self-doubt.

My view of imposter syndrome is that it arises in the conflict between our internal beliefs and the way in which we’re showing up in the world. It’s a cognitive dissonance of sorts that produces anxiety due to the dichotomy between belief and action that motivates us to make a choice; fall back into who we believe ourselves to be, or keep moving forward. The problem is, moving forward produces discomfort and as we humans are hard-wired to want to avoid stress and anxiety, it’s easy for us to fall back into what we’ve always known.

I say we’re an imposter as on some level, we are. The old me ruled by his limiting beliefs over success and self-worth, lived a life that reflected those beliefs: I stayed small, I didn’t speak up, I feared judgment, and I didn’t like looking at myself. The new me, however, doesn’t conform to those beliefs. I speak up when I want to, I stand in my truth, I accept not everyone will like me, and I try my best to embrace myself in every way that I can. None of this speaks to the person I used to be and my brain doesn’t understand it.

To the old me, the new me is an imposter. As a result, I project this dissonance onto those around me. Assuming they will see through my newly found confidence because I still don’t believe myself worthy of who I am today. It’s deep, I know, but it’s the truth. Overcoming imposter syndrome requires us to create new beliefs that overpower those that once governed us. It’s a process, but it can be done.

How?

Moving Past Imposter Syndrome

One of my favorite books on self-improvement is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I highly recommend it to anyone in a space of personal growth as it goes into detail about the profound effects our habits can have on our identity. One of the quotes that I remind myself of every day and is integral to my personal growth journey is the following;

“If you believe anything about yourself you will have evidence to support it” — James Clear, Atomic Habits

Our identities are built on our behaviors and subsequent habits. Of course, genetics surely plays a role but I’m sure for each belief you have about yourself you will have a plethora of experiences and memories that you use to validate it. I wasn’t always a writer. It wasn’t until I wrote consistently on Medium that I then viewed myself as one. Likewise, my deep-rooted beliefs over my own self-worth have years and years’ worth of evidence to support them.

Therefore, we can’t expect these beliefs to change overnight. We have to consistently carry out new behaviors in order to solidify our new beliefs and be rid of the old ones. As James Clear also says,

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become”-James Clear, Atomic Habits.

Overcoming imposter syndrome means continuing what you’re doing. Continuing to present yourself as the person you wish to be so that in time you cultivate enough evidence to start believing it.

My beliefs around self-doubt haven’t gone away which is why I still feel discomfort from time to time. What has happened, however, is that I’ve done this work for so long now that I am beginning to counteract that belief. As time goes on, and I ween my old beliefs out, my experience of imposter syndrome fades. I believe myself to be the person I present myself to be now.

This is the route out of imposter syndrome. Be mindful that it is a process and it does get easier with time. I’ve accumulated so much evidence in support of the new me that I can easily dismiss the discomfort that arises from my old beliefs. Starting out is hard as we lack this evidence and therefore rub up against very strong opposing beliefs. You have to keep moving forward, however, as falling back into old patterns only reinforces those old beliefs and will keep you stuck. I have faith you can do it.

Final Thoughts

Look at your life today and see how you are supporting your old beliefs. Are you actively doing things that are subconsciously reinforcing a belief that you aren’t worthy? If so, begin to change them.

If you’re moving in a new direction, or are experiencing success and are feeling like an imposter, keep going. If anything, imposter syndrome is a sign that you are growing, that you are challenging old beliefs, and that you aren’t staying small. You wouldn’t see yourself as an imposter if you continued living by your old beliefs because to them, that’s who you should be.

I hope this post has been of value to you. Wherever you are on your personal growth journey, keep going. This isn’t an easy process but the fulfillment and satisfaction you get out of living your life the way you want to are ultimately worth the struggle.

Thank you for reading this article. I appreciate the support so give this article a few *claps* if you enjoyed it and follow Above The Middle for more like this. If you want to keep reading, here are some related articles for you to check out.