Earlier this week, I lost in on an opportunity. I cannot categorically say I was not ready for that opportunity, but I’ll say, the balance that held whether I should apply or not weighed heavier towards holding off applying. Some would say, imposter syndrome, but then, only me knows what happened there.
- Does this happen to you often?
When I think of imposter syndrome, I think Identity. I think, not believing in myself enough, and honestly I don’t think I am in a position to invalidate that thought.
However, what if we looked at it another way, the reason behind our actions.Some people say, imposter syndrome is not something you necessarily can overcome, but for people like me, I think it is a battle of realities. Currently, I am in a constant friction of determining what I want to be a reality in my life, and to obliterate imposter syndrome from my system is to not make it a reality in my life.
Not to sound like I live in a bubble, but to consciously gear my actions to make life work. This means, whatever curveball I am hit with, there is a huge blob of gel ready to absorb it… (if you watch cartoons, you’ll understand what I am talking about).
Earlier, I said that imposter syndrome has it’s roots in Identity. What I mean is this, what if we knew ourselves through and through like the back of our hands? What if we knew ourselves enough that, a second of imposter syndrome was just an insult to who we are and what really matters to us? Maybe at this point, imposter syndrome would have nothing on Us.
Another way to face imposter syndrome is to see it from the lenses of the reason we are doing that thing. Is your reason strong enough? Some of the people we admire often say that having imposter syndrome at the beginning of something is natural, especially when you have big dreams. What I’d add is, is your reason big enough? For people like me, let your “why” fuel you. Inflate that “why”, and focus on it. It may be as simple as making more money. You could inflate it to mean as much as, buying a first class ticket for a mum that has never even been on a plane. At the end of it all, we will always feel (imposter syndrome).
It is how you handle it that matters. You can.
