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Most professionals will experience imposter syndrome at some point in their career. Entry-level talent is incredibly susceptible to this phenomenon because of how much change you go through within a short period of time. Six months ago you were sitting in a classroom, and now you have real-world responsibilities in a full-time role. In part one of this series, we’ll go over the five types of imposter syndrome with tips on how to overcome them.
Identify why exactly you are struggling
Imposter syndrome looks different for everyone, and why you are feeling it can be quite different from your peer’s reasons. Reflect on your work life and identify why exactly you don’t feel capable or adequate. The Imposter Syndrome Institute outlines five specific types of imposter syndrome: The Perfectionist, The Expert, The Soloist, The Natural Genius, and The Superhuman.
Tips for the perfectionist
If you identify with the perfectionist, you likely won’t tolerate even the slightest oversight in your work. While striving for complete accuracy isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it becomes problematic when you don’t allow yourself to be human. Mistakes are going to happen in your professional career, especially when you are just starting out. One way to help with this mindset is to reward progress instead of perfection, meaning don’t put all of the focus on the end result. Reward yourself for accomplishing each step in a larger project, even if it came with some mistakes along the way. You made progress on a project and are moving closer to the end. You can also train yourself to react better to mistakes by making them intentionally. When you message a colleague, misspell a word or two. A few typos aren’t the end of the world, but sitting with the knowledge that you made a mistake, and nothing bad happened because of it, will help you realize that simple mistakes won’t result in your downfall.
Tips for the expert
If you are in the expert category, you expect yourself to have all the knowledge you need to do your work. You want to know every answer to every question and be able to perform accordingly. This becomes an issue because it’s not realistic to be an expert right out of college. You possess all of the knowledge from your studies, but you will continue to obtain more knowledge throughout your career. To overcome these feelings of inadequacy in your knowledge, reframe your mindset to recognize that you have a thirst for knowledge and use this curiosity to make efforts to continue learning. This can look like asking someone more senior about specific topics you’re interested in, or engaging in research outside of work. Find joy in learning more instead of having self doubt because you don’t know everything yet.
Tips for the soloist
Being independent isn’t a bad thing, but it becomes counterproductive when you don’t feel accomplished with a task that is completed with the help of a colleague. If you struggle with asking for help because you feel it makes you appear less competent, reframe your thinking to view help as a strength. Knowing when to ask for help is an important skill, not a weakness. Even experts like doctors, lawyers, and CEOs ask for help when a second opinion could be useful. It’s a superpower to set aside your pride and ask for assistance in order to reach the best result.
Tips for the natural genius
If you relate to the natural genius, you are also similar to the expert, with the one major difference being you want both the knowledge and ability to quickly complete a task with no obstacles. You likely have some skills that come to you easier than others, but expecting yourself to naturally know exactly how to complete every task, especially ones you’ve never done before, is unrealistic. Reframe your thinking–instead of believing that being a genius means something is effortless, shift to understanding that becoming a master requires friction. Some of the biggest breakthroughs come after a mistake or major road block. Running into obstacles that slow down the process can lead to better results and more learning compared to if you would have completed the task effortlessly.
Tips for the superhuman
If you are a part of the superhuman category, you believe that you should be able to juggle every single role perfectly. You should be the perfect friend, employee, colleague, parent, sibling, and volunteer all at once with no issues. Trying to succeed in multiple roles in your life is a valid wish, but at some point your bandwidth reaches capacity. This can also lead to burnout if you are constantly trying to be perfect in every area of your life. Sometimes one area has to take precedence over another, and being okay with that will make your life easier. There will be times where your job requires a lot of heavy lifting, and you may not be able to have dinner with friends as often. Setting boundaries with family and friends during this time will help you succeed at work without feeling like you’re failing in other areas. Once work settles down, start going to dinner again. Your friends and family will be so excited to catch up with you and talk about all the important things you’re doing.
If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, you may fall into more than one of these five categories. Moving forward with less self doubt requires you to change your perspective and reframe your issues in order to overcome them.
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