Who do you think you are?: The Effects of Impostor Syndrome

Y’all. It’s been a minute. 

Creativity comes and goes for me, rather like the wind. Sometimes I feel overly creative - I have ideas for podcasts, blogs, and website launches. And other times, I’m hit with a full-on, creative-style writer’s block. 

That’s where I’ve been the past six months. Working through PhD coursework, navigating a career change, and all the other small details that everyday life has to offer. Because of that balancing act, I haven’t had the capacity to slip back into the space that Brené Brown so eloquently described as being “down in the hole, or in the current, or navigating the abyss.”

Occasionally, when I’m unable to go “above and beyond” in terms of just being creative or in creating new things, impostor syndrome creeps in. In an article on verywellmind.com, Arlin Cuncic describes impostor syndrome as “an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.” Simply put, impostor syndrome makes you feel like a fraud. 

Impostor syndrome does not discriminate. Its effects can be felt by just about anybody at just about any time - in the context of academia, athletics, social settings, etc. Whatever the setting, you name it, impostor syndrome has been there. 

I was reminded of the far reaching effects of impostor syndrome recently as I watched the Naomi Osaka docuseries on Netflix. At a dinner celebration for her 22nd birthday, Osaka asks her mother, “Did you think that by the time I was 22 I would have done more? Or is this, like, acceptable?” She goes on to say, “I know there’s not supposed to be a timeline on this stuff, but, like, I wonder if I’m late.” 

Naomi Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion, an Olympian, and one of, if not THE, highest-paid female athletes of our time. As I watched her ask her mother if she had accomplished enough for a 22-year old, I smirked to myself and thought, “wait until you’re 30.”

And then the narrative in my head quickly switched to: “Wait a minute… have I done enough for a 30-year old?! What might I be late for?” 

As I thought more about that question, I realized there is no one answer to it. For some, doing “enough” by 30 means consistent achievement, and for others it could simply mean being alive. I’ve often heard the saying “comparison is the thief of joy,” and I think that rings true when it comes to impostor syndrome as well. 

So how can we adjust our mindsets when those fraudulent thoughts creep in? 

Adam Grant explained on a recent episode of Don’t Keep Your Day Job that impostor syndrome can actually be used to fuel achievement. The host, Cathy Heller, asks Grant how to get people to get away from the idea that they are not worthy enough for certain things or scenarios. Grant responds by saying that research has shown that impostor-like feelings are just as common amongst people who are successful. He also explains that when we label anything as a “syndrome,” it can become debilitating.

Grant goes on to pose this pivotal question: What if impostor syndrome, at least in its normal form, is not a barrier to achievement but is actually a part of the fuel for achievement? 

In her research on impostor syndrome, Basima Tewfik, studied impostor-like thoughts in medical and investment professionals. What she found was that those feelings of being a phony improved the judgement of investors and led to more compassion in medical professionals because they felt a need to prove themselves. Tewfik posits that if people “feel that their competence is lower than others think, they may be spurred to prove themselves on an interpersonal level.”

Grant’s earlier point in saying that impostor syndrome could be a part of the fuel for achievement resonates well with Tewfik’s work. Rather than thinking of feelings of fraud as “impostor syndrome,” perhaps we need to spend more time pinpointing what drives these feelings. Is what we feel internally or externally driven? How can we begin to view ourselves the way others positively view us? 

In Osaka’s docuseries episode, it was clear that both her mother and father were exceptionally proud of her and all that she has accomplished so far, despite her own impostor-like feelings. In her father’s birthday toast to her, he says, “I’m just happy that you’re learning and that you’re becoming a whole new you every day, and a better you comes out all the time.” 

That statement is what we should all strive for - learning in a way that enables us to bloom into a better version of ourselves each and every day. 

Keep blooming, y’all.