positiviTEEN: How to stop feeling like an imposter
Be honest, do you ever feel that you’re a fraud and that you’ll be found out sooner or later? I do, many times. People just look at you and decide that you’re a great student leader or you’re the best athlete, but deep down you continue to doubt your abilities and accomplishments. Due to your continuous doubtfulness, you often internalize fear of being exposed as a ‘fraud’. That is called Imposter Syndrome and we need fi lef’ dat inna 2019.
It’s normal for us to have doubts every once in a while because it really is human nature but the real question is, are you going to let fear and doubt dull your sparkle? Are you going to let that negative voice stop you from being the best version of yourself? At this point I’m pretty sure your answer is no.
From experience, I can tell you that the only way to stop feeling like an imposter is to stop thinking like one. Here are a few tips that you can try:
Stop Making Comparisons
This is really hard to do because sometimes the people who are closest to us continuously compare us to other people; “Why yuh cah be like Betsy down the road?” This spills over to us as individuals and we start doing the same thing. We have to start thinking like non-imposters and stop comparing ourselves to other people. You need to own your achievements and successes and realize that you’re pretty awesome. While you’re at it, use this time to redirect your energy and attention to your own goals.
Collect all a yuh positive experiences
One of the toxic traits we have as individuals with Imposter Syndrome is that we continuously discard the compliments we receive for our work and our achievements and we chose to only focus on the criticisms. Now don’t get me wrong, constructive criticism is not a bad thing. The trouble comes when that is solely your focus. You need to start collecting all your positive feedback and working to truly appreciate them. When you take the time out to ‘medz’ words of encouragement, you’ll find that it helps when self-doubt shows its ugly head.
So what’s next for us Imposters?
If we’re serious about overcoming our Imposter Syndrome, we need to start acknowledging it. Remember it requires self acceptance and a lot of work, but we want good for ourselves right? So we don’t mind the work!
It’s the end of the decade, so let’s leave all the negativity, self doubt and low self esteem in 2019 and welcome PURE POSITIVITY and lots of success with open arms in 2020.
Happy Holidays! Catch you in the New Year…
–ISHEBA CORNWALL
