Do you feel like a fake? Are you on-edge thinking you are going to be caught out as a fraud? Well, today I’m talking about overcoming imposter syndrome and I’m sharing my top 3 tips to help ambitious women overcome the imposter syndrome.

I love helping women to achieve more success in their life, but the truth is, it can be more difficult supporting women than men, and that is due to the way women’s brains work.

Now if you haven’t come across the phase Imposter Syndrome before it is basically where an individual has a fear of being exposed as a “fraud” or “fake”. This is partially due to the fact they can’t appreciate their own achievements, skills and talents.

It affects women at all levels and I remember being shocked when reading Lean In to hear Sheryl Sandberg who is COO of Facebook suffered from imposter syndrome. (Read how Lean In changed my life here).

So if you are now thinking – “yes I suffer from  Imposter Syndrome”, firstly, let me reassure you now that you are not alone. Sadly, the world is full of women who feel like you. However, if you are not able to overcome those feeling it can have a drastic impact on the level of success you can achieve, which is why I am sharing three tips to help you overcome imposter syndrome.

 

Tip 1

Firstly, you need to OWN YOUR SUCCESS. As part of this you need to eradicate the word ‘luck’ from your vocabulary. In the future, you will never say “I was lucky” or “It was luck’” when really it was something you worked hard for.

This is something I have definitely done in the past. I remember when I became a Marketing Manager aged 24 and I told everyone I was lucky because of the interview panel. I mean yes interviewers are subjective and there probably is a slight degree of luck around who interviews you, but I had been working virtually day and night for 3 years. I had been spending every spare moment brushing up on my industry, my specialism and networking until I literally dropped. I had been saying for years I wanted to be a Marketing Manager by 25. It wasn’t luck. I had a clear goal and had been working super hard to achieve it, but still the moment I got it I could appreciate that I had made it happen.

Now I know at first it may make you cringe, but you need to own everything you achieve. So the next time someone says “Great job, Sarah”. Say “Thank you”. You don’t have to make it any more fancy than that. You just need to accept the compliment and realise that you made that happen.

 

Tip 2

Secondly, focus on the value you are bringing. Imposter Syndrome runs wild when women don’t believe their skills are good enough. So a great way to keep it at bay is keeping a running log of all the value you are providing. You can keep a journal or even an email folder so when you receive great feedback from others you can file it away. The point is to have one place where you can quickly read all of this positive feedback when you are having a wobbly moment. Having proof of the value you provide and skills you have should help you to remember that you are absolutely capable and no one is about to find you out.

Tip 3

And finally, you need to act before you are ready. The reason why Imposter Syndrome is so damaging to women’s professional success is because it makes their progression slower. There is a scary statistic that says “Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them”.

In short, this means that women wait to be 100% ready before applying for a new role and you can argue the same rule applies for starting a business too. Can you see how damaging that is? To achieve more professionally you need to be constantly stretched and this means putting yourself outside of your comfort zone and current skill set a bit. You need to have the opportunity to grow into a new role and gain new skills. That is why life is about continual learning and development.

So next time you feel yourself holding yourself back, because you are not ready, take a moment to ask yourself “Am I holding myself back unnecessarily?” If in doubt, go for it. In most cases it is better to fail fast and move on. Then stay in the same place forever.

That is my top 3 tips for overcoming imposter syndrome.  I hope you have found those tips helpful. I would love to know in the comments below how your overcome imposter syndrome or whether now you can see how imposter syndrome has been holding you back.