How to overcome imposter syndrome

The voice inside your head can wreak havoc over your life. Seriously. Every move you make can be overlooked and ruined by the obnoxiously loud and entirely negative narrative that our brains can instill in us. This is the imposter in our brains, and every human on earth, alive or dead, has been plagued by such a mind villain throughout their life. There will be individuals who have control over their imposters, shielding themselves from their negative outlook with confidence and a positive mental attitude. Others will succumb to working themselves to the extreme to dispel any room for negative thoughts to seep through the cracks of their brains. Impostdrome can cast a grey cloud over our sunniest days. 

Defined by very well mind as the ‘experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be,’ imposter syndrome is not classed as a mental illness and therefore cannot be diagnosed as such. To add to this, it comes with no different mold. Even the most competent and talented will pressure themselves into working themselves into oblivion, driven by the fear that their peers will out them as a fraud and push for perfection in every corner of life and academia. Psychologists have thoroughly ex,plored correlations between anxiety, depression and imposter syndrome, and it is highly likely that those who struggle with such will also deal with traits of IS. 

Events and insecurities will give the imposter fuel to feast on, making them more robust when it comes to making you feel unworthy or undeserving of being in certain places and gaining specific roles throughout your life. Described as an overall feeling of thinking you have ‘fooled others into believing you are someone you aren’t,’ being left to question your overall identity daily is an exhausting process. Striving for perfection is attainable when you allow room for mistakes. An imposter syndrome brain does not recognize this and can make even the most minor tasks detestable and draining. 

It comes as no surprise that those who suffer on a significant scale from imposter syndrome often feel overworked or constantly not enough. If you are overworking yourself to the extreme and relaying a narrative that you do not belong over and over again, you may never attempt to confront these feelings head first. Acknowledging that you have these intrusivethoughts is the first step in taking control of your brain. Use facts to dissolve the unhelpful untruths of your imposter's brain. Are you undeserving of getting that top job despite getting it in the first place, or is the narrative inside your head just making you feel this way? Ensure that you are feeding your brain with reminders of all the achievements and personal successes you have accomplished in your life, preventing yourself from a complete hostiletakeover and keeping your mind and well-being in balance. 

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