The Imposter Syndrome Toolkit: Pro-Approved Exercises to Reclaim Your Success

It’s likely we’ve all experienced getting negative thoughts about our success, trying to reassure ourselves that it’s only thanks to a lucky coincidence that we’ve got something good. With time, the inner critic’s voice starts sounding louder and louder, impeding us to really value our achievements and personal merits.

In psychology, this process is often referred to as the imposter syndrome, which implies that a person doesn’t see their own effort in their success. With this being a pretty frequent case, psychologists made a list of useful techniques for those suffering from constant thoughts about their alleged uselessness.

Make a List of Your Achievements

Though is might sound like something way too simple to battle the imposter syndrome, it will actually help you see clearly that a list this long just can’t be a lucky coincidence you always thought it to be. As many have already shared, doing so was a surprisingly helpful reality check and a possibility to see their own worth.

Don’t Forget About Human Factor

Now that you know your inner critic is vigilant 24/7, try turning them into a good friend that will remind you of the fact that you’re, well, just a human.

That said, every time when you make a mistake, don’t start punishing yourself with thoughts about your incompetence — instead, remind yourself that things like this happen all the time to you and to other people, so there’s no need to worry so much about it anyway.

Write Down Your Little Daily Achievements

People tend to take only major life and career achievements into consideration, often forgetting that they do something good and valuable every single day.

Psychologists recommend you adopt a habit of writing down at least three little things you did well during the day, even if it’s just a tasty dinner or a job task you did on time. This will help you see that your value is actually bigger than just major achievements.

Give Up Being a Perfectionist

Those suffering from the imposter syndrome likely tend to do everything in the most perfect way or just not to do that at all, yet we still forget that there’s no way anything in this world can be done perfectly.

According to many psychologists’ clients, their life became so much easier when they finally let themselves try a little less harder than usual. As it turned out, the world didn’t collapse and no one saw the difference, while those people got a significant boost of energy for other things to do.

Don’t Be Afraid of Making Your Own Life Better

It’s not a rare thing for people with the imposter syndrome to put others first just so that no one could blame them for being way too selfish. This is a wrong technique from the very start, since it’s you that you should put first no matter what, even if it eventually leads to other people’s misunderstanding.

In this case, psychologists suggest you do everything possible to come over that fear of not being liked by someone, this setting your own boundaries and claiming your worth.