Have you ever felt like all your successes were just a fluke? Like that great mark on your essay was a mistake, or that exam you passed was only a marking error? Or that eventually, the people who think you are so intelligent or successful will one day realise that they made a mistake, and you will be cast out of university for ever more?
If so, may you may be suffering from Impostor Syndrome.
Whilst it may sound scary, like an alien parasite is invading your body or something, Imposter Syndrome actually describes this very feeling. Psychologists in the 1970s coined the term to describe people who were unable to accept their accomplishments and who, despite lots of external evidence of their competence and hard work, remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve their success. They believe their success is down to luck, good timing or the deceiving of others. Interestingly and unfortunately, the syndrome is particularly common amongst high achieving women.
If you feel like you do suffer from this sort of negative view of yourself there are some things you can do to help:
1. Speak more kindly to yourself
Now I know this is an easy one to say and perhaps not so easy to put into practise, but starting with small steps and working on it over time may help. When looking at how you treat yourself ask if you would put up with someone else talking to you like that, or if you would let someone talk to one of your friends in such a way. The chances are you wouldn’t, so, perhaps try and think of yourself in this way, treat yourself in the same loving way you would a friend.
2. Know your worth
To help view yourself in this positive way, remind yourself how you got to where you are now. No matter how much you might believe your current success is a mistake, you can’t deny that there must have been a hell of a lot of exceedingly well-placed flukes to have gotten you to where you are now, which just isn’t probable at all! YOU got yourself to your current position and you are just as worthy as everyone else to be there.
3. Self-care
Whilst you may want to constantly work to achieve and prove your worth, this sort of behaviour will leave you exhausted and eventually burnt out. So try and set some time aside, perhaps a small amount of time each day or a certain day of the week, to do the things you love but which you may neglect due to the pressures of work, such as hobbies, relaxation or spending time with friends or family. Also, reminding yourself why you love your degree or subject is key as this sometimes becomes abstracted by all the stresses of work, but will help keep things in perspective and prevent it from eventually becoming a chore.
The most important thing is to just try and be kind to yourself, you have gotten yourself all the way to where you are today and you are capable of even greater things in the future.