How to tackle imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome, that irritating feeling that we’re completely out of our depth. We feel like we don’t belong in a situation, a work project, on a stage, or even in a job. And yet, here we are and we have to make it work. Are we pretending and faking and it will all come crumbling down on us?

Nope. We’re right where we should be but the negative, nagging voices in our head tell us otherwise. That undermines our confidence and the belief we have in our own abilities and we risk actually messing things up.

It doesn’t have to be this way, though.

I want to suggest a technique that can help you tackle imposter syndrome, just like it helped me, and that is to put more trust in the judgement of those around you than in those negative voices in your head.

What do I mean by that?

Whether it was your manager who asked you to take on a certain task, or your friend who asked you for important advice, or you community group who elected you to run their operations - they all have a good reason why they asked you in the first place: they value your knowledge, your skills and your contributions.

Why don’t we give them more credit for that?

When somebody asks you to share your knowledge, why do you question their sanity when in fact it’s the self-doubt you should be questioning?

When you shift your thinking in this direction and you put your trust in those around you and in their ability to judge your skills and expertise, then imposter syndrome will gradually but surely disappear.

And then you can take the next step and instead of asking yourself “why on earth would they ask me to give a talk about this topic?” you will confidently state “why not me?” and step into the spotlight and rise to the occasion.