{"id":24782,"date":"2020-10-06T16:50:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T15:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=24782"},"modified":"2021-05-12T13:56:26","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T12:56:26","slug":"overcoming-impostor-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/overcoming-impostor-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming impostor syndrome \u2013\u00a0tips for dealing with self-doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our work lives are riddled with anxieties. Many of them are natural and fleeting, and we deal with them.<\/p>\n

One that can haunt people, however, is impostor syndrome. The belief that we are a fraud, doubting our accomplishments and talents.<\/p>\n

“If you’re anxious about your abilities a lot of the time anyway, you’re 1,000x more so when performance review period comes around”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Each year (twice a year in my case), that feeling is amplified considerably by the dreaded performance review. If you’re anxious about your abilities a lot of the time anyway, you’re 1,000x more so when performance review period comes around. Over the course of this year, I’ve experimented with applying principles from the world of cognitive behavioral therapy<\/a> (CBT) to get a better handle on things. It’s been challenging, but it has also helped a great deal.<\/p>\n

Adopting a therapeutic response<\/h2>\n

So, what’s CBT? Here’s what Mind, a mental health charity<\/a>, has to say about it:<\/p>\n

“Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of talking treatment which focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes affect your feelings and behavior, and teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems. It combines cognitive therapy (examining the things you think) and behavior therapy (examining the things you do).”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, when thinking about my abilities\/performance, what are some of the negative thoughts I had (have?) and what behaviors did they create?<\/p>\n

“Understanding this negative thought, the one that follows me around, was a difficult process but incredibly empowering”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You might boil my negative thoughts down to something like, “I’m not a good Product Manager and one day I’ll be found out.” I arrived at this by spending time looking at specific examples of feeling anxious or bad about something, and really digging into why I felt that way. It was hard, but an important first step. Understanding this negative thought, the one that follows me around, was a difficult process but incredibly empowering.<\/p>\n

Confronting negative thoughts<\/h2>\n

This belief lead to all kinds of emotions and behaviors:<\/p>\n