Impostor Syndrome can be defined as “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills”. Being a woman working in a male-dominated field, it's easy to feel undeserving of your place at the table. Impostor Syndrome affects EVERYONE and can be categorized into five types.
The Perfectionist
The Expert
The Superwomen/man
The Natural Genius
The Soloist
1. The Perfectionist
Perfectionists set extremely high goals for themselves that are often unable to be met and when these goals are missed it comes with self-doubt and worry.
2. The Expert
Experts tend to measure their “worth” based on how much they know but never reach a level of knowledge that is self-satisfactory and worry that others will think less of them for not knowing enough on the topic at hand.
3. The Superwomen/man
Superwomen/man is just that someone who pushes themselves to cover up the worry and self-doubt they are facing.
4. The Natural Genius
Natural Geniuses believe that they should already know the information and that everyone else in the scenario just knows the information without any studying or learning and believe that they should know the information and get it right on the first try and hold themselves to extremely high goals.
5. The Soloist
Soloists struggle to ask for help when they need it due to the fear of being looked down on for “asking the dumb question”. Someone who tries to do everything themselves and refuse assistance to try to prove their worth.
Impostor syndrome sucks. Luckily, there are ways to lessen the effects of it and find what works best for you based on what type of impostor syndrome you struggle with, Perfectionist, Expert, Superwoman/man, Natural Genius, or Soloist.
Ways to help lessen Impostor Syndrome:
Reflect on what activities or environments lead you to believe you don’t deserve to be where you are or what opportunity you’ve been given
Make a list of your accomplishments, it is so important to celebrate your success and a great way to shift your mindset when you start to feel the impostor syndrome come in. Your successes can help change your mindset as you’ve already come so far in your journey and overcome the difficulties that came along with the success.
Surround yourself with others who will point out your successes and help you realize that the doubt you are feeling is internal and you can accomplish what’s ahead and that you 100% deserve to be where you are.
Encourage others. Help others see their accomplishments and be a support system for them as much as they are for you. Stick with the people who constantly remind you of how far you have come, what you’ve accomplished, and help you maintain on a journey to continue to accomplish and achieve your goals
Reminders:
You are always going to be your WORST critic. No one is going to judge you or look down upon you as much as you will to yourself
If a company didn’t believe you were qualified to do the job, they wouldn’t have hired you. They chose you for the job as much as you chose them as an employer.
Everything you need to have to be successful you have within you
-Courtney Shimp
Wilding, Melody J. “5 Types of Imposter Syndrome and How to Stop Them.” The Muse, 8 March 2022, https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-different-types-of-imposter-syndrome-and-5-ways-to-battle-each-one. Accessed 9 August 2022.
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