Fighting Imposter Syndrome 😓

How do I convince myself that my words matter and my work is important?

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on Substack, LinkedIn, and Instagram about “imposter syndrome.” If you’re unfamiliar with the term, imposter syndrome is used to describe the feeling that your professional success is undeserved or that you don’t really qualify/have the skills that have brought about your achievements. It feels as though, somehow, you either stumbled into each of your successes or you got really lucky. On social media, it seems that the term is often used to signal the feeling of professional fraudulence, whether or not you’re technically “successful” in your career field.

At one point or another during their professional lives, most people experience the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. If you haven’t felt them personally, I’ll save you the research - they all suck. Big time.

One major reason why we experience imposter syndrome is that, at the beginning of our professional journey, we really didn’t know anything about our desired career path, nor did we have the qualifications to be a leader in the field. But these valid concerns rapidly become invalid as time passes.

Basically, what I’m saying above is that it’s actually a good sign that you experience imposter syndrome in the first place: this sentiment shows your humility, meaning you tried to avoid the arrogance of pretending to be someone you weren’t when you first started out.

But now you’ve come a long way, and it’s time to realize that you’re no longer an imposter! Right?

Well, maybe, maybe not. It’s also possible that your imposter syndrome is valid in some respects and invalid in others. In fact, the holistic idea of imposter syndrome may be why you feel like an imposter in the first place: the few areas in which you’re truly fraudulent are making you think that the successes in your whole life/career are one big sham.

What does this mean?

This means that imposter syndrome may feel like a holistic self-sentiment, but it doesn’t necessarily stem from an invalid feeling of complete fraudulence. If you actually separate the aspects of your life/career in which you might feel like an imposter, you can more accurately assess which sentiments are valid and which aren’t. This practice will make you more confident in the areas where you should be and reveal the areas where you do need to put in more work to avoid being fraudulent.

Instead of worrying about a holistic “imposter syndrome,” ask yourself these eight questions to identify where your sentiments of invalidity are coming from:

1. Professional success: Am I more professionally successful than I feel like I deserve?

   
   

2. Professional presentation: Am I presenting myself as more professionally successful than I am?

   
   

3. Financial success: Am I more financially successful than I feel like I deserve?

   
   

4. Financial presentation: Am I presenting myself as more financially successful than I am?

   
   

5. Work-life balance: Am I pretending to have a better work-life balance than I really do?

   
   

6. Mental health: Am I pretending to be mentally well, when I’m really not?

   
   

7. Physical health: Am I pretending to be physically well, when I’m really not?

   
   

8. Spiritual health: Am I pretending to be spiritually well, when I’m really not?

   
   

These eight questions can help you identify the true root(s) of your imposter syndrome so that you can focus on what matters: accepting the validity of your successes and growing in the areas where you can honestly say that you’re just faking it for now.

All that being said, I’d like to point out - especially for you writers out there - that I know imposter syndrome is an especially prevalent sentiment in our community. Frankly, it’s hard to feel like a good writer when you’re surrounded by other good writers. While great writers can (and probably should) be encouraging to one another, it’s way too easy to compare your work and abilities to that of writers who are far more financially or professionally “successful” than you.

Remember, there are words that you can write that no one else can. There are words that someone needs to read that only you have inside.

Your work is valuable, and as long as you’re being honest with yourself and creating pieces that you’re proud of, you’re no imposter for finding success, whether it be professional, financial, mental, physical, or spiritual.

Thanks for reading this week's post. Have a great rest of your week! ❤️