We’ve all been there (I think). You get a new opportunity, or come to a new place, and it’s supposed to be great, a perfect chance to show your ability. Something feels off, though. If you’re like me, this is a debilitating feeling induced by the uncertainty of not knowing where you belong.
If you’ve never heard of it, let me explain to you the term “imposter syndrome.” The National Library of Medicine defines it as “a behavioral health phenomenon described as self-doubt of intellect, skills, or accomplishments among high-achieving individuals. These individuals cannot internalize their success and subsequently experience pervasive feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and/or apprehension of being exposed as a fraud in their work, despite verifiable and objective evidence of their successfulness.”
This feeling of self-doubt and inability to accept success can exist all the time, but it is particularly strengthened in moments of accomplishment or moments of work (be it school or career).
As a woman
Given that I am writing this for Her Campus, it feels poignant to talk about where this term really comes from and what it means for women. Authors Ruckika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey write in their Harvard Business Review article: “In 1978, psychologists developed the concept of the ‘imposter phenomenon.’ Their research focused on high-achieving women who believed themselves less intelligent and fooling others into thinking otherwise, regardless of their academic and professional accomplishments.” The research for this phenomenon was done on high-achieving women because they couldn’t seem to accept their intelligence and success.
Sound familiar? Probably because it is the reality of successful women in any aspect of their lives. I highly encourage you to read that Harvard Business Review article because it provides an interesting take on this topic and the way the word is consistently weaponized against women instead of being used to focus on systems of inequality and bias.
As an actor
For some more personal experience, I will share that I am a performer. I am an acting major, literally studying to know how to perform better for others. The field that I have entered and will be my career encourages its own form of feeling like a fake. The paradox present in my first year of college at a school with an excellent performance program has continued to be this: I have this sinking feeling that I am not a good enough actor to be here and be among these talented individuals, but I am also stuck the feeling that I somehow fooled everyone here into letting me in. So, which is it? Am I too good of an actor or too bad of one? I stress about it constantly.
I in no way would claim this feeling as being unique to performers. The idea of pretending, or not being in the right place, is a stressor for so many people and presents itself in every college major and career field. But I do struggle with that back-and-forth, and I know that many performers do. The field honestly perpetuates it in many ways, yet so many of us go running towards it. That could be a whole different article that most people probably don’t want to hear, so I am just going to leave it at that.
what to do about it
So, what do we do about it? Whether you want to call it “imposter syndrome” or not, as women we so often doubt our abilities. As high achievers, we so often doubt our place. And as performers, if any of you are reading this, we so often doubt all of it.
My solution for you is to challenge part of it and embrace the other part. Challenge the ways in which society or your field questions you. Challenge those who may make assumptions about you and, more importantly, challenge the assumptions you make about yourself. It might be hard, but I propose focusing on affirming your work and efforts and reminding yourself of the work you put into something. There is a positive effect if you tell yourself something often enough; using that can often combat those feelings of unworthiness and inability.
Perhaps a more unorthodox suggestion, but I also challenge you to embrace (to an extent) the feeling that you are lesser than other people in the room. Obviously, a balance is needed to where it no longer becomes debilitating, but once that goes away, embrace the fact that you aren’t the best in the room. As a performer, my philosophy has always been that I can’t get better if the people around me aren’t more talented than me. To be successful as an actor requires a good amount of talent and much more hard work. A humble performer is a hardworking performer.
Don’t doubt yourself or your place; do push yourself. A humble person of any kind is a hardworking person. Stop seeing yourself as an imposter, and try to see yourself as a hard worker. What are you there to do then? You are no longer faking or tricking people, now you are learning from them.