Have you ever felt as though all your achievements have been attained through just dumb luck? Or questioned if you belong on your course or even in university? Imposter syndrome describes that gnawing feeling of doubt and fear that you are not good enough, a fraud waiting to be exposed. All too common amongst students, imposter syndrome can prevent high achieving individuals from reaching their full potential and keep them trapped in a cycle of feeling inadequate. This post will explore how to recognise the trappings of imposter syndrome and use research findings to suggest how to overcome it. 

How to recognise imposter syndrome

Feeling triggered by other people’s success

As they say, self-comparison is a thief of joy, and constantly comparing your grades, work experience and opportunities to those around you is one of the first signs of imposter syndrome. Nobody likes to think of themself as a jealous person, but jealousy can easily creep up in competitive environments like university. Like when your friend does well in an assignment you struggled with, or when someone on your course is given that grad scheme opportunity you really wanted. 

Doubting yourself despite the evidence

Like how we tend to focus on the unkind things people say to us, and not the positive things, it’s easy for our opinion of our own academic ability to become tainted by one bad mark. Falling victim to this way of thinking means ignoring all of the great achievements that have landed you exactly where you are right now. Imposter syndrome ignores all the rational evidence we have that we are capable and instead focuses on the negative. 

Feeling pressure to always be achieving more 

It’s the classic plague of the high achiever, to keep pushing and pushing yourself to do better even if that means sacrificing your sanity. There is a fine line between setting achievable sensible goals and setting impossible standards for yourself. But the idea that we constantly need to be attaining higher than our previous grade is unhealthy and unrealistic. 

Overcoming imposter syndrome 

Talk about it

Imposter syndrome is so common in the academic world. It’s unfortunately not spoken about enough, which is the first step to normalising it (Young et al., 2019). Talking about it with course mates, lecturers and mentors, you open the dialogue for valuable advice and insight from how others deal with their own feelings. 

Setting realistic goals 

Breaking down large daunting tasks into small, manageable chunks is an effective way of staying motivated, and getting that sweet sense of achievement at the end of each day. Research has also found that celebrating small victories and rewarding ourselves more often can help us to see ourselves more positively, chasing away imposter syndrome (Locke and Latham, 1990)

SMART goals 

One way of visualising your realistic goals is using the SMART goals framework, often used in counselling practice. SMART stands for goals that are Specific, measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. There are tonnes of free SMART goal templates on google images that can be used to draft up your own goals for the year, semester, or even the week. 

Growth mindset 

A growth mindset is talked about a lot in education, but what is it really? Someone with a growth mindset embraces challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, rather than a reason to run and hide (Dweck, 2006). For example, getting feedback on an assignment you weren’t happy with can feel like insult to your ability, but feedback can be seen as constructive. By embracing a growth mindset, you lean into criticism and look for the learning opportunities instead. 

Overcoming imposter syndrome isn’t an overnight thing. Most academics will tell you that even when they feel they have beaten the worst of it, it can reappear when you are faced with new challenges. As with most psychological phenomenon, everyone experiences imposter syndrome differently and everyone will find different tools useful for managing it. Remember that failure is a part of the process, and you have every right to be exactly where you are right now. 

References

Young, V., & Sibson, R. (2019). Imposter syndrome: A crisis of confidence. British Journal of Nursing, 28(2), 102-107

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance. Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.