Defending the Castle Against Imposter Syndrome
During the Vira Heinz Conference retreat in the Spring of 2023, we learned about how to be an exceptional leader. We also learned what Imposter Syndrome was and how to combat it as a leader. This topic is important to me because I have suffered from Imposter Syndrome. When I received the Vira Heinz scholarship, I wondered why they picked me. I wondered whether I deserved to be selected and if other people were more qualified than me. You can say I was exhibiting classic traits of Imposter Syndrome.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter Syndrome is when a person feels as if they aren’t good enough regardless of what they achieve and often feel like a fraud. Individuals with Imposter Syndrome generally have low self-esteem despite their past and current successes. This condition is not a diagnosable disease in the DSM, but can be linked to underlying mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. A long-term effect of this can include holding back from opportunities for fear of failure. This topic is incredibly important for college students to talk about since every day, we are striving to find who we are and who we want to become.
Do I Have Imposter Syndrome?
Psychology Today states that 25 to 30 percent of any type of achiever can be affected.
- Are you a perfectionist? You may feel as though you are failing yourself if you don’t perform perfectly. Whether it’s in your sport match, your practice, your exam, a lab or a homework assignment.
- Is it hard for you to take compliments, accept awards or accept a good exam grade? You may feel as though you don’t deserve the compliment, the award or recognition. You may have low expectations for yourself on your exams despite the large amount of preparation you did.
- Do you feel as though you don’t deserve to lead, that you aren’t a good enough captain for your team or that you shouldn’t have gotten that promotion?
If you experience any of these, you may be suffering from Imposter Syndrome.
Who is Affected?
Anyone can be affected. Any student in any major can be affected. We are all trying to figure out what future we want for ourselves. Some people are their own motivators as well as their own enemies. Sometimes we feel pressure from our families or compare ourselves to our friends or siblings. Sometimes just being in college itself makes us hold ourselves to extremely high standards.
Ways to Combat These Feelings
It is completely acceptable to not perform at your absolute best 100 percent of the time. You are allowed to have off days.
- Accepting imperfections is a perfect way to start. We must learn to give ourselves grace. What does this mean? This means accepting yourself as a human being with imperfections and letting go of the past. Don’t let the small things bother you. Focus on the present and work toward the future. Think of the big picture.
- Take time to reward yourself. You don’t need someone to tell you that you deserve to take care of yourself and that you deserve what you have achieved. Do what will make you feel good. Go for a run, read a book, paint or watch your favorite TV show.
- Journal in the mornings. Start your day off with writing what you love about yourself and what you want to accomplish that day. Beginning the day with an open, positive mind helps to combat negative thoughts.
- Give yourself a pep talk. Remind yourself that it’s ok to fail. You can redo things. You can retake classes. You can even change your major. If you are an athlete, you are familiar with the feeling between starting and not starting in a game. The coach’s decisions may seem unfair to you. You may have been injured and recovery isn’t linear. You can train to start next season. This is a minor setback. You don’t need someone to recognize your greatness to feel accomplished.
- Do not compare yourself to others. Everyone is on a different path, with a different timeline. Some individuals have more setbacks than others. Everything happens for a reason. Didn’t get into the graduate school you wanted? Didn’t get as much playing time as your teammate? What other people do does not matter. Focus on yourself and your growth. Comparing yourself to others will just get into your head and set you back mentally. This tactic is more important than ever due to the popularity of social media. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we unconsciously compare ourselves to those we see on our screens. This leads to my next point.
- Limit social media and phone usage. Using social media more often than not leads us to compare ourselves to others. Putting our phones down and living in the moment helps us to focus on our current tasks, making us more successful, both short and long term.
Let’s Interview Some Students
At a recent horse show, one of my teammates scored second place. She could not believe she scored so high. She said to me “I went to get my ribbon and when they told me I got second, I told them there had been a mistake. They said ‘No you placed second congratulations!’” She then went on to say “I am going to check again just to be sure”, and sure enough, she had placed second.
For some of us, it is hard to accept achievements even when they’re true. We feel as though we don’t deserve it and need reassurance. My teammate and I have been close for years. This is how she reacts quite often when good things happen to her.
One of my other teammates is a senior international business student. When I asked if she is hard on herself if she fails something on her first try, she responded with “I can be quite self-critical when I fail at something on my first try, but I have actively been working on using those failures as valuable teaching moments to grow and improve. It’s a continuous process of self-development for me.”
While most of us don’t consider ourselves leaders, most of us are in many small ways. It is important for us to give ourselves grace and be proud of ourselves for even the smallest of milestones. I am trying my best to implement this as my teammate does.
Further Help
Arcadia University has an exceptional Counseling Center, located in Heinz Hall. Students can take advantage of the counseling services and they are free of charge. Psychiatry is available to all students with additional charge. Don’t want something regular, but want to talk? Drop-in sessions are available to those needing urgent care. The important thing is that you seek help if you need it.
