How to Get Past Imposter Syndrome in Your Career Journey
Illustration by Bronwyn Gruet
In new career situations, it is easy to doubt yourself, get caught up in comparisons and be paralyzed by your anxiety. Create a few systems to help you combat feeling like an imposter.
What Would You Say to a Friend?
We are often kinder to our friends and colleagues than we are to ourselves. We are hype people for those in our circle, while we internally bash ourselves. Treat yourself as you would a friend. Honestly, compliment yourself. Verbalize, to yourself, that your boss trusts you. Find or create mantras and affirmations that help you stay positive and actually say them to yourself consistently. Doing so helps you magnify your strengths and diminish negative feelings that contribute to feeling like an imposter.
Collect Memorial Stones
Start an intentional process of charting your successes; print that thank you email about your contribution and pull out your stellar evaluation. Use a spreadsheet, create an online mood board or print documents and post them on a bulletin board in your office space. Consider buying actual stones and write an achievement and its date on the bottom of each stone and store them in a drawer or display a few in your line of sight.
These "memorial stones" will help you remember the ways in which you have been successful and help you to focus on your strengths and skills as you take on new responsibilities.
Consult Your Career Advisory Board (C.A.B.)
In "Build a Career Advisory Board," Dr. Marcia F. Robinson offers the acronym C.A.B. to emphasize how a career advisory board is a vehicle to help a person get from Point A to Point B. If you are starting a new career or taking on new responsibilities, your C.A.B. can support you through the process. Not only can your C.A.B. remind you of your strengths, it can also point you in the right direction as you pursue a new responsibility that you are anxious about. If a lack of knowledge makes you feel like an imposter, your C.A.B. can help you find more knowledgeable people to help beef up your skills in that specific arena.