How To Navigate The Imposter Syndrome

Part of living a Satiated Life is feeling satisfied in your relationship with your body, your food, and also with your career and your relationships.

Since 2011, I have been supporting health coaches and wellness professionals with launching their businesses and a conversation that often comes up is one about their fears around being seen and the feeling of the imposter syndrome.

So what is the imposter syndrome? First, anyone and everyone can experience the imposter syndrome. Paraphrased from Wikipedia (thank you Wikipedia): Imposter Syndrome is when individuals doubt their accomplishments or talents and have a fear of being exposed as a "fraud." Even with external evidence of competence, one remains convinced that they're a fraud, and do not deserve all they have achieved. Individuals experiencing imposter syndrome  attribute their success to luck, or interpret it as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent than they perceive themselves to be.

I want to take away the label from this as a syndrome and instead feeling like an imposter is a way of thinking that we potentially learned at a young age from what we witnessed and what we were told. Believing that we are an imposter is protecting us in some way. Often what can be underneath the experience of feeling like an imposter can be fear, doubt, and anxiety.

So when questions arise around why would anyone pay you for your services or anxiety around not knowing enough to truly be a support to another person, here are ways you can start to respond to the fears arising.

1. Thank the fears for showing up. The feeling of being an imposter is supporting you in some way. We can thank the fears or doubt or anxiety for showing up in trying to help us feel safe as we're stepping into a new role in our life. We can even get excited that these emotions and uncomfortable sensations are showing up as they are revealing to us that we are stepping outside of our comfort zone to grow and evolve.

2. Get curious why the feelings of imposterism are showing up. If your mind is saying you don't know enough, how do you know that? When did you learn and who taught you that you only have something to offer based on how much you know? What other gifts do you have to offer? If your mind tells you that you're just lucky in the success you have received, start to point out where you put in a lot of effort to get to where you are today. Take time to reflect and acknowledge yourself and all the small steps you have committed to that brought you to where you are now. This can support with reshaping a new internal story that feels more satiating to take in.

3. Last, remind yourself that everyone experiences these feelings from time to time. (Even myself!) Normalizing our human experience can decrease the intensity of judgment and can support with feeling not so alone in what we're going through. You get to be so very gentle with yourself in these moments. This is just a story that is showing up and you do not need to give your power away to this story. We are often not in control of the random things that can arise mentally, physically, and emotionally. What can be in our control is how we respond to what is showing up and you get to offer yourself so much compassion. The fact these fears are even showing up is a sign of just how much you care.

If you have experienced feeling like an imposter, what has supported you in navigating the fears and doubts in that moment? I would love to hear from you and your experiences in this. You can email me at support@stephaniemara.com anytime.