imposter syndrome Archives - The Future Mindset

Within today’s article, 6 ways a mentor can help you with imposter syndrome. We will discuss how you as a mentor can help anyone overcome their imposter syndrome. In a time where imposter syndrome is becoming more well know and prevalent within society. It is your duty as a mentor to help guide people to regain control of reality and their mind.

How To Help Someone With Imposter Syndrome

At some point, we all face imposter syndrome whether that’s you getting a promotion into a management position and you don’t feel deserving of the role or you get asked to write a book and you don’t feel your message is worth anyone hearing.

From a mentors point of view spotting this in people is an important part of coaching and leading people. It can be hard for people to see their own fault and what holds them back. Looking from the outside in. You can place yourself in a unique position to help comfort and guide people away from imposter syndrome.

Here are some of the ways you can do this.

6 Ways A Mentor Can Help You With Imposter Syndrome

1. Let Them Know They Are Not Alone

Once you have spotted imposter syndrome in someone. Let them know they’re not the only person going through this. By letting them know that you go through it, all the people around you and the successful people you watch on TV, all go through it too.

When we get caught with imposter syndrome we have a tendency to make ourselves feel it’s just us and us alone are going through this. Comforting your mentees to let them know they’re not alone can help a lot in overcoming imposter syndrome. Telling them your own stories and showing them real-life stories can uplift their spirits that it’s not just them.

2. Look Out For Negative Self-Talk

A quick way to spot if someone is experiencing imposter syndrome is by listening to what they say about themselves. For example, saying I’m not good enough to do this or I’m too stupid to do this.

As a mentor, you should calmly and immediately move them away from this negative self-talk. You can do this by presenting them with facts as to why these statements are completely false. Showing them when they have succeeded and what everyone else thinks of them. Slowly absorb and throw out any negative self-talk they have.

From there help them by teaching techniques like how to create a victory list of their achievements and help them remember their successes. This will give them the power to correct themselves when you’re not there.

3. Let Them Know What You Think Of Them

Affirming on a regular basis the positivity you see in the people you mentor. Can stop imposter syndrome from forming in the first place. There is something good in everyone, you just have to look.

By being honest with your assessments it will them overcome self-doubt and help them believe they are worthy of the position or task they’re doing. Make a mental note or write down at least one thing to the person you’re mentoring and let them know.

Watch or listen to how they feel and perform as a consequence of your affirmation towards them. A mentor who doesn’t let their mentee know what they are doing well at. Will allow imposter syndrome to flourish at some point.

4. Eradicate Sexism, Racism And Social Hierarchy

You wouldn’t think these 3 words would affect imposter syndrome but it surely does. Imposter syndrome was first researched with women where women felt their efforts and place in the workplace was at cost of being female. Also, minorities in an organisation have a feeling they don’t belong because they don’t fit in with the majority. This brings out the self-doubt, imposter syndrome feeds off.

That is why you as a mentor or leader have to create an environment where everyone matters and that everyone regardless, of gender, race or social standing that you are deserving of being here.

The old way of thinking of being a man, being white or being from a well off family means of deserving more has to disappear. We know now categorically that women are just as smart as men, that we’re are human with the same mental capacity and just because you are born into a certain family means nothing to what you can achieve. Understanding this you will create an environment that anyone would love to work in.

5. Create A Safe Space For Mental Health

I think now with all the knowledge we know about mental health. Having a safe space where people can talk about their problems and concerns should be of importance.

This is one way you can help someone prevent and overcome imposter syndrome.

I would recommend that you study and seek expert advice when dealing with anyone’s mental health and depending on the size of your organisation. Having a fully trained professional is a great option to have which most sports teams and the biggest companies have now. To simply listen and find solutions together can really help the mindset change from imposter syndrome.

6. Help Them To Self Manage Imposter Syndrome

It’s amazing if you can help someone overcome imposter syndrome but it can be even more empowering to teach them to overcome it themselves. Self-management leads to long term happiness and the power to be in charge of imposter syndrome when it creeps up. Check out 8 ways to overcome imposter syndrome for developing this on an individual basis.

Over To You

I hope you learned from today’s article 6 Ways A Mentor Can Help You With Imposter Syndrome.

It can be a difficult job being someone’s mentor but it’s also a privilege too. It’s our duty to provide the best mentoring possible and helping them overcome imposter syndrome can be one of them.

Are there any other strategies that you know of to combat imposter syndrome as a mentor? Please write it in the comments below.

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Hi, I’m Adam

I’ve spent over 10 years coaching and mentoring people within sport and business. I have many life skills that I have developed and I want to pass these skills on so people can find their best self. I believe it all starts in the mind and I write about valuable tools and strategies to help people grow in this area.

What To Expect

Within today’s article, what’s imposter syndrome and 8 ways to overcome it. We will discuss everything about imposter syndrome what it is and how to overcome it within your daily life.

My own experience with imposter syndrome has held me back in certain areas of my life. I find that most people are struck by imposter syndrome and it affects us all in different ways. Remember if you’re dealing with this you are not alone and there is a way out. Let’s overcome this together.

What Is Imposter Syndrome

What's Imposter Syndrome and 8 Ways To Overcome it

Imposter syndrome is a psychological condition where your mind makes you doubt your ability’s, accomplishments and overall self-worth. It’s not based on facts but a feeling we make our mind feel when we compare the lives of others around us.

This can lead to a host of mental health issues like depression, anxiety and a lack of self-worth. It mostly occurs when having a lack of confidence which opens the door to self-doubt and our own perceived incompetence or fraudulent appearance, which are all fabricated in our own mind. Whereas in reality you could be perceived as being successful and amazing and deserving at what you do.

There is a way to prevent and overcome imposter syndrome. Below is a detailed list of 8 ways to overcome imposter syndrome within your daily life. I hope it helps!

8 Ways To Overcome Imposter Syndrome

8 ways to overcome it — Photo by Michael Rosner-Hyman on Unsplash

1. The Victory List

I first heard about a victory list when I read Jack Canfield book, The Success Principles. When people are suffering from imposter syndrome they forget about all their past success to only have a narrow view of focussing on their circumstances now.

What really helps to prevent and overcome imposter syndrome is creating your own victory list of all your accomplishment in your life and I mean everything you can think of.

The reason why it’s important to do this. Is because when you won a cross country event or achieved top marks in an exam you can always look back and say I did it before why can’t I do it again.

I do this by separating my accomplishments into decades and then subheadings of years. I look at it every day and when I’m feeling a lack of self-doubt, I whip out my Evernote and reassure myself I am worth it.

It creates belief in what I have to do.

2. Separate Feelings From Fact

Imposter syndrome is always from the negative way we feel. This is always subjective and can provide us with a reality that’s not true.

My own experience of seeing students who have done well in education their whole life. To then be resorted to imposter syndrome where they believe that they’re not going to pass their exams or they’re not smart enough. To then get top marks they were expected in their exams. I witnessed this at school and university and was always surprised they felt that way.

As powerful and useful feelings are. When it comes to preventing imposter syndrome it’s important to recognise the facts.

For instance, the student should look at past results, how much effort has gone into studying and what’s their expected grade. This should provide them with the confidence to know they can and will achieve their intended target. This will diminish stress and anxiety in the lead up to their results.

You can do this strategy with anything by looking for what’s real and what’s not. By looking for the facts you can help keep imposter syndrome in the dark.

3. Remember We Are All Human

Always reminding yourself that you’re human like everyone else, helps to keep you from doubting yourself of your ability and status.

By realising you have the same potential as everyone else to succeed and that everyone else around is going through the same mental challenges each day. Helps you feel you’re not alone in what whatever you’re going through.

Also listening to and reading stories of people you admire who doubt themselves will also help you to overcome imposter syndrome. Especially when it’s from people you perceive to be untouchable when it comes to imposter syndrome.

Most famously you have the best tennis player the women’s game has ever seen in Serena Williams and Arianna Huffington who created The Huffington Post which is valued at around a billion dollars.

This just goes to show that no matter how successful the outside world deems you to be. On the inside, you are just as fragile and human as the rest of us.

4. Find Ways To Be positive

By setting out your day with the intention to be positive can go along way to preventing imposter syndrome.

What imposter syndrome thrives off is the negativity of all kinds to create a negative world around you.

But with a purpose to try your best to see the good in everything without being naïve can show you that life can be a lot easier and fulfilling with a positive mindset than a negative one.

It will not come naturally, It has to be acted upon every day for the rest of your life.

When it becomes a habit it will run seamlessly throughout your life.

5. Develop A Healthy Response To Failure And Mistake Making

Understanding that failure and mistakes are a normal and good thing in life. Will go a long way to preventing imposter syndrome from taking over your life.

It’s a normal human reaction to be disappointed by failure and when we make a mistake it never feels great.

But we can change the way we think about failure and mistake-making as a good thing when it comes to progressing.

When you look back at childhood, what we learn from learning to walk, ride a bike and swimming. We learned this through failure and mistakes. They are part of the process for developing skills we take the granted every day.

If we have that same mentality as a child to adulthood nothing will ever stop us from trying and pursuing new skills to learn.

6. When Comparing Understand Their Journey

What creates imposter syndrome is when we compare ourselves to others to where they are now.

How many time do we look at sports stars, actor and actresses and only see their life now when they’re successful. They have the income we want, the house we want, the car we want. When we compare ourselves to this, it only brings misery.

Any kind of comparison where someone is living the life we wished for will always make us feel bad.

Instead, we should not compare our own life to there’s but we should look at their journey of how they got there.

Here you will see the hard work, the setbacks and the mindset they had to get there. This is where you can learn and relate to and feel good knowing we are the same but you just took action or dealt with setbacks better.

Understanding this can help prevent you from feeling imposter syndrome making you feel worthless.

7. Develop A New Script

What contributes to imposter syndrome is a negative and mostly false narrative we tell ourselves. The best remedy to this is when you notice any self-doubt forming create a new script to how you want it to work out.

For example, when you say you’re not good enough to succeed in life, change it to I am going to succeed in life.

Another example is if you say I’m not a good enough writer to be a journalist, blogger or to write a book, Instead say I’m going to learn to be the best writer I can be to become a journalist or author.

This change in narrative is vital for stopping imposter syndrome from taking form and it also creates the pathway to success and you will be happier for it.

8. Visualize Success

Visualising your future self is a great way to prevent imposter syndrome from forming. By picturing yourself in a positive light you can show your mind and yourself that you are worth everything you want to do and be.

Similar to creating a new narrative from your speech. Visualising is a pre-emptive measure that constructs a reality that benefits you. Rather than you unknowingly constructing negative outcomes for yourself.

Once you control what you want your life to be, only then can go into any situation knowing you are meant to do anything you desire and be the person you want to be.

Over To You

I hope you gained great insight in today’s article what’s imposter syndrome and 8 ways to overcome it.

By strengthening and taking control of your mind. It will allow you to prevent and overcome imposter syndrome.

If you have any other strategies please share in the comments below!

IF YOU LOVED THE ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE BELOW!

Hi, I’m Adam