4 Ways To Overcome 'Imposter Syndrome' In The Workplace

Many career professionals suffer from what is widely known as “imposter syndrome” at least once during their careers. Comparing yourself with peers and feeling like you aren't good enough can give birth to self-doubt, which can then result in negative consequences for your career growth. In order to overcome imposter syndrome in the workplace, it’s important to build your confidence in yourself and your abilities. The sooner you are able to accept yourself for who you are, the easier it will be to lead you and your team toward your goals and celebrate the milestones you’ve reached along the way.

Here are ways to overcome imposter syndrome:

Recognize and celebrate your success

Remember, you have come this far because you’ve earned it, and it’s good to remind yourself of this from time to time. Make a point of thinking about how far you’ve already come, and your achievements – think back to awards, successful projects, and positive feedback from people you respect.

Develop a healthy reaction to failure and mistake making.

Henry Ford once said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Instead of beating yourself up for falling short, do what players on the losing sports team do and glean the learning value from the loss, and move on.

Visualize success

Spend some time picturing yourself making a successful presentation or calmly posing your question in class. It sure beats picturing impending disaster and will help with performance-related stress.

Separate feelings from fact.

There are times you’ll feel stupid. It happens to everyone from time to time. Realize that just because you may feel stupid, doesn’t mean you are.