Imagine this: you’ve just landed a new job or internship and you’re feeling on top of the world. Everything seems to be going right for you until you get there on the first day and suddenly start having doubts about if you belong. You start to feel like you’re not qualified to be there, and even though you’ve worked hard to get to this point you don’t understand why anyone hired you. You feel like you’re a fraud waiting to be found out.
If this situation sounds familiar to you, you may have something known as Impostor Syndrome. Impostor Syndrome is the psychological and constant belief that you’re a failure who is unqualified for something, despite the evidence that you are qualified. In other words, it’s constantly feeling like you don’t know what the heck you’re doing. This is something that I’ve been struggling with all semester, and it’s only been getting worse as I’ve gotten closer to graduating and entering the real world. Luckily, I’ve compiled a few tips to help combat this feeling.
- Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
-
If you’re like me, trying not to compare yourself to your co-workers or other people your age might be extremely hard. There’s always going to be someone who does something better than you or is more qualified than you are, but there’s a reason you were chosen over other people who might have applied for the same job. It’s okay to let other people’s accomplishments motivate you to do better, but comparing where you are in life to everyone else will only hurt you.
- Focus on Small Achievements
-
You’re always going to be able to find something you could have done better after the fact, but looking at the small things that you did well each day can change your whole outlook on a situation. Maybe you showed up to work late, forgot to bring your lunch and embarrassed yourself in front of your boss. You can spend the rest of the day thinking about everything that went wrong, or you can look at the little things that went right and have a completely different outlook on the situation.
- Allow Yourself Time to Feel Sad, Then Move on
-
Some days, I come home from school or my internship feeling emotionally drained and like I did everything wrong. I don’t think I can count on one hand the number of times this semester I’ve jumped in my bed after a hard day and just cried. Allowing yourself time to feel and show emotions is completely healthy. Sometimes a good cry can actually make me feel better, but I try to limit myself to 30 minutes of feeling sad before I move on with the day. It’s okay to let yourself go for a little bit as long as you can get yourself back.
- Understand That You’re Not Alone
-
I didn’t know Impostor Syndrome was a thing until I was explaining to a friend how I felt and they told me it sounded like something they’ve heard of before. There are many people who start a new chapter in their life and get this strong feeling of doubt and not belonging. Talking about my feelings really helps me get to the root of my problems, and it’s reassuring to see that many people feel the same way.
Impostor Syndrome is something that will eat at you unless you find ways to deal with your emotions and whatever else you may be going through. Finding healthy strategies to cope with my feelings has really helped me. I hope that if you’re reading this, you know that you’re not alone in what you’re feeling.