Imposter Syndrome, You’re Better than You Think!

You’ve put the time in, worked hard, burned the midnight oil, and finally received that promotion you were after. Yet, instead of feeling confident and at ease with the success you’ve worked hard to achieve, you feel undeserving and allow self-doubt to creep in. You start questioning your abilities and allowing that negative voice to tell you you’re unqualified for your new position. If this sounds familiar, you’ve experienced imposter syndrome at some point in your career.

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that causes people to feel inadequate, as though they’re failures or undeserving of their success, despite evidence to the contrary. Although imposter syndrome can seep into every aspect of life, traditionally, it occurs in the workplace, predominantly affecting women in leadership roles.

5 Signs of Imposter Syndrome:

1. You put in 110% – 24/7/365, and you’re exhausted. You go in early and stay late. You allow work to bleed into your time off and attend every meeting, including the optional ones.
2. You’re an overthinking perfectionist. You are hard on yourself while cutting others’ slack and find it hard to let go of the little things.
3. You’re constantly concerned that others will find out you’re not as good at your job as they think you are. You keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
4. You’ve convinced yourself that your colleagues are at the top of their game while you doubt your abilities.
5. You find it hard to accept compliments and praise from colleagues or superiors. You allow your inner critic to drown out any feelings of accomplishment.

How To Use Imposter Syndrome to Your Benefit:

Imposter syndrome is not fun. No one wants to live in a world filled with self-doubt. Don’t despair; all hope is not lost. Follow these tips and learn how to feel confident in what you do.

1. Take the time to learn a new skill in your field. This will eradicate those feelings that you don’t know enough or are not up to par.
2. Be kind, not to those around you, but to yourself. Our inner voice affects how we think. Talk kindly to yourself, the way you would to a good friend. Self-compassion is a way to keep imposter syndrome at bay.
3. Learn a new craft or skill. This can build your self-esteem and confidence in other arenas and make you feel better about yourself.
4. If you can’t change that inner dialogue on your own, it may be time to seek professional help. A therapist or coach can help uncover the emotions behind why you feel inadequate in the workplace. Once those emotions are sorted out, the hope is that any feelings of inadequacy will dissipate.

Sometimes, imposter syndrome may be a sign of overwhelm. As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to feel alone on the journey to success. One way to resolve this is with a virtual office. Not only can a virtual office provide you with a prestigious corporate address, but it may also offer many services that alleviate the burden of running your own business, freeing up your time to focus on other things, such as client acquisitions. Opus Virtual Offices offers many premium services for a low monthly fee of $99. With services like live call answer, call transfer, digital mail sort, real-time call logs, and meeting rooms on demand, you are sure to feel as though you’ve got it all under control, and you can keep that imposter syndrome under wraps!