Imposter Syndrome is a bad habit

Is there a gap between you knowing you're good enough and you believing you're good enough?

• You get offered the job/project/gig

• You've been doing what you do for a while (you have qualifications in it and might even have won awards for it) and you've built up quite the reputation

• Your clients are always commenting on how good you are

• They are delighted by what you do for (with) them

• They want to work with you again

The evidence is overwhelming. You even say it out loud occasionally, "I know I am really good at this... "

Yet you still shy away from the praise – a little false modesty perhaps. Or a voice inside that whispers "They're just being polite".

In a brave moment you confess to yourself "It's my imposter syndrome again".

Imposter Syndrome is a bad habit

A gap has been created – A gap between what you know to be true and what you believe to be true.

This gap that has been created by habitual thinking – repetitive thoughts that your brain now accepts as being true (modal thinking). In this instance, the habitual thinking is fuelling your Imposter Syndrome. And Imposter Syndrome is a bad habit. It's now easier to keep believing you're not good enough because that's what you've been telling yourself for years...

Habits are the actions we default to because they are what our brain has become most familiar (comfortable) with. By extension then, building better habits is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but not impossible...

Habits are the end of the seesaw that's on the ground. All the weight (if they're bad habits, we might call them baggage) is on that side.

What if we carefully, deliberately, appropriately shifted some of that weight across into better habits and balance your seesaw?

Building new (better) habits

When you catch yourself leaning into a 'not good enough' response, take a breath:

• Count to ten

• Reflect on the evidence (above)

• Challenge that initial response – is it true? Is it helpful?

• If you chose to ignore it and, instead, accepted the compliment or gave your ego permission to feel a little bit proud, how would that make you feel?

My hope is that it makes you feel good. Hold onto that feeling. And next time you need to count to ten, ask yourself "what response would make me feel quite good this time?"

Then do that.