How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome: 13 Tips From a Therapist

What Is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is used to describe a mindset in which individuals hold a strong belief that they are defrauding others despite their real-life accomplishments. People who battle this syndrome tend to be conflicted between others’ perception that they are valuable and their own opinion that they are inadequate. As such, self-perceived imposters are likely to credit any personal success to external variants like coincidence or luck rather than to their own merits.

Those with imposter syndrome are virtually incapable of embracing their achievements and persistently worry that they won’t be able to reproduce prior accomplishments, breeding a negative cycle of anxiety, guilt, and feelings worthless.^1,2,3,4,5 This dysfunctional thinking pattern can impact anyone, regardless of gender, age, social status, work history, skill level, or degree of expertise.

Signs of imposter syndrome may include:

• Feeling deceitful or fraudulent
• Anxiety associated with being exposed as an imposter
• Inability to accurately assess personal competencies
• Disregard or underestimation of abilities and accomplishments
• Guilt and shame regarding success
• Self-sabotaging behaviors that limit personal, professional, or academic growth
• Fear of failure and fear of success
• Deep sense of unworthiness and ongoing self-doubt
• Persistent belief that others overestimate one’s abilities and knowledge
• Perfectionistic traits that trigger overworking and work burnout
• Extremely self-critical and tendency to overemphasize personal mistakes

Effects of Imposter Syndrome

While most people can temporarily experience imposter feelings, especially when entering a new role or situation, imposter syndrome is characterized by effects detrimental to one’s mental, physical, and professional well-being. Imposter syndrome is linked to conditions such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, physical or emotional exhaustion, chronic stress, and a weakened immune system. What’s worse, individuals experiencing this tend to hide emotions associated with imposter syndrome from others and struggle quietly, because they fear being “found out.”^2,4

In Academics & Professional Settings

Imposter patterns are most evident in academic and professional realms, affecting many capable and bright individuals. In such instances, self-perceived imposters typically struggle with low self-confidence, performance anxiety, high expectations, and extreme fear of failure. This can set the stage for the development of self-defeating habits, such as procrastination, difficulty asking for help, problems making decisions, ceasing to voice opinions, and overworking. As a result, many individuals with imposter syndrome are likely to experience chronic stress, burnout, emotional exhaustion, and job dissatisfaction. Ultimately, imposter syndrome can impede professional growth and one’s ability to reach full career potential.^1,4

In Relationships

In addition, imposter syndrome can also hinder interpersonal and intimate relationships. Imposters tend to feel insecure and unworthy of affection, and avoid getting too close in relationships due to the fear they’ll be rejected once their perceived inadequacies are discovered. In turn, those with imposter syndrome may sabotage relationships, making it difficult to maintain stable and genuine connections.⁷ Lastly, the poor work-life boundaries associated with imposters may drain the emotional energy necessary to tend to family and relationship demands, thus creating a conflicting home environment.⁸

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome: 13 Tips

If you or a loved one is struggling with imposter syndrome, there are effective tools that can help lessen its impact on your mental health, work performance, and quality of life. Although imposter syndrome can be difficult to overcome, a plan to conquer it usually includes increasing self-awareness, developing a healthy mindset, reframing negative self-thinking, reaching out to support systems, and cultivating self-compassion.

The following are 13 tips for how to overcome imposter syndrome:

1. Develop Self-Awareness

Imposter feelings are often the result of irrational negative thoughts. Thus, acknowledging that you feel like an imposter is the first step in combating it. Start by grounding yourself in the present moment and making a conscientious, mindful effort to observe your thoughts without judgment. This process can position you in a clearer frame of mind that can allow you to detect, interrupt, and ultimately overcome the limiting beliefs that feed into your feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy.⁹

2. Consider the Evidence

If you experience moments of intense self-doubt triggered by impostorism, try to put your feelings aside and focus strictly on the evidence. Gather all the relevant information and examine every single aspect that supports and discredits your beliefs. By simply separating feelings from facts and looking at the concrete and relevant data, you can be better equipped to determine if there is accuracy to your thoughts or if these are unfounded. This can help you figure out what the best solution is.⁴

3. Reframe How You View Failure

While there may be past events that validate your fear of failure, they don’t have to paralyze you. Reframing your ideas about failure can really boost your sense of autonomy. For instance, you can view a setback as something catastrophic or as a great opportunity to learn and grow from moving forward. Drawing from this mindset can help you access past lessons to find creative ways to improve, master your skills, and persevere.^10,11

4. Use Positive Self-Affirmations

Thoughts have the power to impact your feelings and behaviors. As such, it’s important that you try to gain control of your thinking and choose your thoughts carefully. After you gain the self-awareness to notice your negative thoughts emerging, try switching your imposter-like mindset by giving positive self-affirmations. Consider saying a constructive self-affirming statement in your head, out loud, writing it down, or recording it on your smartphone–whichever method you feel would allow you to process the message best. Regardless of the method you use, positive self-affirmations will likely help pivot those unhelpful thoughts to empowering ones, which in turn will increase your self-confidence.

5. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Social comparison can often increase feelings of insecurity because it can help you focus on the things or qualities you think you lack, such as a work opportunity or nicer house. Next time you catch yourself measuring yourself against others, try instead looking at others for inspiration, or simply comparing yourself to your ideal self. Not only can this help you stop feeling insecure, but it also turns your attention inward, which may enable you to discover your own natural talents and improve how you feel about yourself.^11,12

6. Know Your Strengths

One of the best ways to manage and defeat imposter syndrome is to reflect on past successes and milestones. Look at how your own qualities and strengths shaped you into the person you are today. Another way to look at this would be to ask yourself: how would you view your situation if you were a close friend? Objectively recalling these key moments can assist you to appreciate unnoticed virtues, draw from past experiences, and realize that you can use these personal assets to overcome potential challenges in future endeavors.^4,11

7. Embrace Your Successes

Resist the temptation to minimize or dismiss your own accomplishments, and try to make a conscious effort to acknowledge and celebrate each one. No matter how trivial you think they are, allow yourself and those around you to recognize your milestones. Remember that every step forward reflects your skills, hard work, efforts, and preparation. Let these moments of victory—big or small—resonate with you mentally and emotionally. Over time, this practice can help you manage or get rid of your imposter syndrome by reframing the way you think about yourself and your accomplishments.

8. Create Balance

If you struggle with imposter syndrome, you may notice that you dedicate disproportionate amounts of time and energy to one specific aspect of your life, and feel unnecessary and harmful stress when that area is threatened. For example, if you feel this way about losing your job, missing out on a job or a promotion can feel like the end of your career. Thus, it’s vital for your overall well-being to balance your efforts among all the different pieces that make up your life, such as family, work, friends, self-care, health, stress management, and hobbies. Diversifying your focus can protect you from the harmful effects brought on by imposter syndrome and prevent mental and physical burnout.

9. Keep Things in Perspective

At times, you may be so overwhelmingly consumed with ruminating thoughts of inadequacy that small hurdles can feel much bigger than what they really are. When this occurs, try to take a step back and assess how important the situation at hand is in a broader context. Ask yourself whether this will matter in a week, month, or year, and remember that keeping things in perspective can spare you from spiraling and help you focus on the causes that really matter.^11,12

10. Set Realistic Expectations

While aspiring to do better is healthy, placing demanding standards on yourself can leave you feeling defeated and destroy your self-confidence if you fall short.  Instead try to optimize your strengths while also finding realistic ways to improve your competence in relation to your goal or task. Take baby steps towards a reasonable objective and focus on your progress versus the things you have yet to achieve. This can help you stay on track, whereas placing the bar too high can backfire and sabotage your success.^9,11

11. Cultivate Self-Compassion

Developing self-compassion can offset the emotions associated with imposterism like self-doubt, poor self-worth, guilt, and shame, and liberate you from self-imposed pressures. When automatic, self-destructive thoughts or behaviors emerge, try to approach them with understanding, and replace them with compassionate and forgiving ones. Remind yourself that making mistakes is part of life and your personal growth. A nurturing and less critical mentality can bring about self-acceptance and encourage you to appreciate the person you are right now.^2,13

12. Seek Support & Talk About It

The belief that you’re not as competent and that you’re a fraud can make you feel anxious and lower your self-esteem. But you don’t need to deal with your imposter induced stress alone. Consider seeking support in reassuring people like close friends, mentors, teachers, and co-workers, who can validate you and provide you with encouragement, guidance, and objective feedback. Even more, you may discover that others have experienced these feelings too, which can help to normalize what you’re feeling and ease your imposter related emotions.^2,4

13. Use it to Your Advantage

A recent study revealed that there may be an upside to imposter syndrome, indicating that imposters have an other-focused approach which makes them more likable and interpersonally effective. This study also revealed that the imposter thoughts didn’t affect performance; instead, it helped individuals with the syndrome strive in their professions.¹⁴ Instead of being ashamed of your imposter syndrome, you can find parts of your fear that may be rooted in real, tangible concerns, and address them accordingly. Doubts and insecurities don’t have to interfere with your success, and in fact, imposter feelings can be used as a motivating force to learn, grow, and do better in your career, personal life, or anything you put your mind to.

How Therapy Can Help

If you are struggling with imposter syndrome and other related issues, therapy can help you identify concrete, tailored ways to implement some of the strategies mentioned above. With the support of a licensed professional, you can get to the root cause of your imposter patterns and work through the mental and emotional hurdles that may be holding you back.

Counseling can also provide you with the necessary tools to break the cycle of imposter-like thinking and help you manage distressing emotions brought on by imposter syndrome. If you are ready to take this step, you can start finding a therapist through an online directory where you can filter your preferences and needs that will be most suitable for you.