4 Ways to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Anytime we strive for something new, there’s always that question of if we are experienced enough to finally deem ourselves worthy of a specific title, especially if we’re striving for a freelancer or other self-employed role. How do we keep from feeling like we’re just playing pretend roles? Here are a few tips on how to overcome Imposter Syndrome!

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  Make yourself a brag list!

We tend to severely overlook our own accomplishments while at the same time envying the accomplishments of others! Want to hear the true irony in this? There are others that envy us while doing this exact same thing!

This might be a bit uncomfortable to do, especially if we were raised to be modest about ourselves, but take out a sheet of paper and pretty much write a glorified mini auto-biography about yourself! List every moment that made you proud or was a challenge to overcome!

We tend to overlook many qualifying attributes about ourselves because we feel like the experience doesn’t count if it wasn’t earned in a “professional” environment. Read this very carefully: Every…moment…counts.

Again, EVERY…MOMENT…COUNTS!

You say you have absolutely no sales experience? Were you selling chocolates back in high-school to raise money for a team or club? That moment counts!

You say you have no skills at writing? Did you score a passable grade on an essay in school that required research on a topic that you couldn’t have cared less about? That moment counts! 

Need experience in team building and communication? Have you ever organized a group gaming session? You can guess the rest of this one.

  Take advantage of down-time!

How often do we use the excuse, “I don’t have the time” throughout our day? All of our schedules vary. Some of us work multiple jobs. Some of us have multiple kids’ schedules to balance throughout the day. Maybe we’re attending college or a multitude of other things that eat away the measly 24 hours we are limited to each day. What’s even worse is that in the midst of these busy times, there are nearly unavoidable delays that LOVE to test our already diminished patience levels! These moments, however, actually do not have to be inconveniences but opportunities! 

I highly recommend downloading Audible or getting some audiobooks on CD if you prefer this method. Personally, I prefer a digital copy because 1) it’s saved on the Cloud for me to download onto any device and 2) anyone who has ever heard a cracking noise within a case knows that the disk is either dead…or darn near dead.

  Confront your worst-case scenarios!

If you fail, what’s the worst possible thing that could happen? Would you have wasted money? Maybe your family and friends will pelt you with a thousand “I told you so” comments. Maybe you think you’ll disappoint the ones that actually believed in you. Our fears have so many masks that they can wear.

Here’s the thing: just like when we first learned to walk, talk, read, write, everything, we had to mess up so many times before we finally got it right! It’s the same as today. I’ve wasted money on promoting my content incorrectly because I didn’t understand the term “targeted audience”. I accepted a job that triggered a social anxiety attack that had me crying uncontrollably with near hyperventilation in the middle of a shift. I got fired for putting in a two-week notice at my Technical Support job because the high turn-over rate had a replacement already on standby. All of these “fails” have been learning opportunities that still pushed me to this point. Accept that the misstep happened, analyze what went wrong, try again as many more times as necessary. Readjust your path if needed.

Maybe your worst-case scenario involves the safety of others.

Even in this case, I understand the resistance to push forward. Seriously, I really understand the paranoia of knowing that my decisions could jeopardize someone’s life. I went from being the high-school shy girl who used to fix roller-skates to an Aviation Structural Mechanic attached to a Rescue Squadron in the Navy fixing H-60 helicopters! When I was instructed to get qualified to perform inspections on our helicopters and realized that a single careless oversight could kill everyone attached to that mission, I panicked that night. I was straight out terrified to accept that type of responsibility.

In this case, use that fear of failure to be your drive to become the most qualified individual for that role! We need people to be leaders. We need people to be heroes. Why shouldn’t it be you?

Start calling yourself what you are striving to be!

It was SO agonizing trying to call myself a Blogger during those first few months! It was weird considering it a title when I wasn’t even getting paid to do stuff yet! I felt like I had to add a disclaimer to every intro like, “Yeah, I’m a ‘beginner’ blogger. Like, I’m still trying to figure it all out so I’m still an amateur at this…” 

NO! STOP THAT! I had to learn how to stop this too! If we doubt our own skills, others will doubt it too. No one can define your worth other than yourself. Let me place that in on its own line for emphasis:

  No one can define your worth other than yourself.

 We’ll be denied projects and partnerships.

We’ll have rude and hateful commenters.

We will have family and friends “advising” us on the many ways our ideas can go wrong.

We’ll have surprise expenses arise that make us question if investing in our own ambitions are “irresponsible”.

We WILL make mistakes again and again and AGAIN!

We will have so many bull-crap things happen in our lives during the climb towards our dreams that will have us questioning if the whole world is against us…and if our dreams are really worth it.

They are. Your dreams are worth it, and you are worth accomplishing them. Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise. You’re not an imposter. You’re just promoting the future you today.

Now let’s hear from you.

Have you ever had Imposter Syndrome? What was it that you were/are afraid to call yourself? Why? What are some resources that you think would help you feel less like an imposter in your desired field? Leave your story and requests in the comments below!

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And as always, remember to just live your life one story at a time.

Take care,

Kyndall Bennett from Kyrabe Stories

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