A Guide to Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

What Are the Signs of Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter Syndrome creates a nasty cycle: it convinces people they aren’t good enough, which makes them work twice as hard, inevitably leading to their success and increased responsibilities, which fuels anxiety, and the cycle again. People with Imposter Syndrome are often praised for the very thing damaging their mental health. 

Researchers have found six main characteristics of Imposter Syndrome. These are: 

1. Imposter Cycle: People with Imposter Syndrome tend to either procrastinate or over-prepare. Both scenarios result in a toxic cycle that wears you down and strengthens the sense of Imposter Syndrome. 
   1. Procrastinators: The procrastinator will put their work off until the last second because they feel unfit to do it. However, completing the work last minute makes them feel like more of an imposter, feeding their desire to procrastinate.
   2. Over-preparer: The over-preparer fears failure so much that they do more work than is needed to complete a task. Then, they feel like a “fake” for needing to do so much more preparation than others. Like the procrastinator, this feeling feeds the imposter cycle by leading them to over-prepare again. 
2. Perfectionism: Imposter Syndrome sets unachievable goals, and then makes you feel bad when you can’t reach them. But the person with Imposter Syndrome will always try to reach. This need for perfectionism can lead to “work martyrdom”—sacrificing self-interest and goals for one's pursuit of this perfect ideal. 
3. Super-Heroism: Many people with Imposter Syndrome are fueled by the need to be the best. With their perfectionistic standards, it’s common for people with Imposter Syndrome to believe that if they aren’t the best, then they must be the worst. This all-or-nothing mentality can be harmful to the overall psyche. 
4. Fear of failure: Failure hurts, but for people with Imposter Syndrome, it’s almost unbearable and certainly unthinkable. They will do anything to avoid failure, even if it means working themselves to the bone. 
5. Fear of success: How is it possible to be afraid of both success and failure? This is just one another of Imposter Syndrome’s paradoxical nature. People with Imposter Syndrome fear success because if they succeed once, they’ll need to succeed again, and do even better than they did last time. This added pressure can be terrifying. 
6. Denial of competency and capability: People with Imposter Syndrome are more likely to explain their success was an accident or result of external circumstances. They have trouble claiming their successes as their own, which in turn drives their need to work harder for “true” success. 

In addition to these six characteristics, people with Imposter Syndrome might experience: 

• Intellectual self-doubt
• Low self-esteem
• Feelings of fraudulence and/or inadequacy 
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Burnout
• Excessive comparison to peers

Who is Most at Risk for Imposter Syndrome?

Anyone can suffer from Imposter Syndrome, but you are more at risk if you are a: 

• High achiever

• Woman 
• Otherwise marginalized by race, gender, sexuality, or religion
• Have experienced or are experiencing burnout, anxiety, or depression
• Work in a healthcare or educational setting 

Remember that anyone can experience Imposter Syndrome and that Imposter Syndrome treatment is out there. If you would like help from a licensed therapist, check out Lightbulb’s list of therapists near you.

What Are the Five Types of Imposter Syndrome?

Dr. Valerie Young is the leading expert on Imposter Syndrome, and she describes five types of Imposter Syndrome. Some people identify heavily with one, and others feel like they are a little bit of all five. You might even shift from one type to another depending on the circumstance. The five types of Imposter Syndrome are meant to help you identify how Imposter Syndrome is negatively impacting your life and will help inform you on the best methods to overcome it. 

The five types of Imposter Syndrome are: 

1. The Perfectionist: This type of person may have trouble delegating tasks, tends to micromanage, and is never satisfied with success. To them, anything less than 100% success is a failure. They feel like their work has to be perfect all the time and believe even a little mistake means incompetency.  
2. The Superwoman: This type of person fights their Imposter Syndrome by working harder than everyone around them. They are the ones in the office early and staying late, taking on extra projects at the expense of their personal time, and sacrificing hobbies and self-interests for the sake of a high, unachievable standard. They’re restless and may get anxious on the rare occasion of downtime. They are truly workaholics. 
3. The Natural Genius: Unlike the previous types whose judgment of themselves is largely based on work ethic, the natural genius believes everything should come easily and quickly to them. They judge themselves harshly when they struggle to learn something new. They also may have trouble looking past failures and tackling challenges that make them uncomfortable. 
4. The Soloist: This person believes they have to do everything on their own and see collaboration as a weakness. They see independence as the only true virtue and will work themselves into the ground before asking for help. They view any sort of help as a failure. 
5. The Expert: This person stakes their identity on what and how much they know. They’re constantly in pursuit of knowledge and believe they are failures if they don’t know everything about their subject area. They're terrified of being exposed as a fake who doesn't know their stuff, so they’ll gladly sacrifice work-life balance to know as much as they can.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: At-Home Coping Mechanisms

Dr. Young says one thing is more important than anything else in overcoming Imposter Syndrome and accepting your true worth: adjust your belief about what it takes to be competent.

For example, instead of holding the narrative that competence is zero mistakes and an early submission, start telling yourself that you are competent for turning in an assignment on time and can accept helpful criticism. 

Professional talk therapy—especially Cognitive Behavioral Therapy— is a great place to start. Lifebulb has licensed therapists who can help you learn how to embrace all of your successes. 

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But there are also at-home methods you can use to combat Imposter Syndrome. To adjust your beliefs about competency, you first have to understand what your current beliefs about competency are. Ask yourself: 

1. What are the core beliefs about myself? 
2. What are my thoughts about myself when I experience success?
3. What are my thoughts about myself when I experience failure? 
4. What does success look like to me? 
5. What does success look like to other people? 
6. Do you believe you deserve everything you have in life? Why or why not? 

Those are some heavy questions, and it can help to talk it out. Reach out to a loved one, or get professional help from a licensed Imposter Syndrome therapist. 

Next, choose one or two actionable steps to start implementing in your day-to-day life. Start small! You already have a lot on your plate, so don’t overwhelm yourself. Once you have your one or two action steps, reach out to someone you trust and ask them to help keep you accountable. It can be as easy as having them text you once a day. 

Some coping mechanisms you can use are: 

1. Call out Imposter Syndrome when you’re experiencing it. For example, if you are asked to lead a meeting at work and you experience a rush of anxiety and need to over-prepare, take a moment to sit back and think “I see you, Imposter Syndrome”. Then, if you still want to over-prepare, go for it. But at least you are able to acknowledge where that desire is coming from. 
2. Celebrate success! Define what success is in small, achievable increments. Then celebrate when you reach that metric! This could be dinner out, a fun day with friends, allowing yourself to buy something you’ve been wanting, or even just a guilt-free TV binge session. 
3. Share failures. An integral part of Imposter Syndrome is the belief that others will not accept you if you fail. But this isn’t true. Find a group of people you trust deeply, and tell them when you fail. Over time, you’ll find that failing is a normal part of work and growth, and does not signify worth. 
4. Use social media moderately. Everyone is putting their best foot forward on social media, and it can be easy to be sucked into Imposter Syndrome when all you see is other people’s success. Remember that you’re not seeing the full picture, and try not to compare yourself. Maybe set a time limit for your social media apps. 
5. Write down everything you’re good at. Start making a list of things that you are good at. Every time you accomplish something and have the thought, no matter how small, “Wow, I’m pretty good at that,” write it down. Reference this list when you’re feeling the weight of Imposter Syndrome to remind yourself of the moments you felt competent and powerful.

Conclusion

If you relate to Imposter Syndrome, take a second to truly appreciate yourself. You’ve done a lot of hard things, and you’ve always come out on top. It may not always feel like it, but those successes will keep coming. They weren’t the result of luck or external circumstances, you were successful because you have what it takes. 

If you find at-home coping mechanisms aren’t enough to beat back Imposter Syndrome, professional therapy can help. You don’t have to carry the weight of it alone. Reach out to one of Lifebulb’s licensed therapists to see how they can help you manage Imposter Syndrome today.

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