Imposter Syndrome - It exists

Imposter Syndrome - it exists.

Disclaimer: this is going to be more vulnerable than what you may be used to from me. In university/college you are prepared for the industry you chose. You have been educated on time management, industry-specific terms and tasks, and overall general work ethic. No one ever prepared us for how entering the industry was going to feel mentally. The feeling of being overwhelmingly new. The feeling that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are doing or how on earth you got hired. This is just some of the feelings you get when experiencing imposter syndrome.

What is imposter syndrome? As described by VeryWellMind, “Impostor syndrome (IS) refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.” I am here to tell you that I have been, and still am, experiencing impost syndrome and I went in with some experience. I haven’t figured out a way to “cure” this feeling yet, but I just want to discuss some ways I have tried to combat it and frankly, just start a discussion around it.

Since starting my role as a social media manager I have experienced some major self doubt. Which is wild. I know I have an educational background supporting me, I had a couple years experience, and I was hired with the intention to grow into my role. Yet, I still feel like I don’t belong. I feel as if I lack the skills to complete tasks, even if it is a task I have completed a million times. It is a constant battle with “I know what I am doing. Don’t worry, you’ve got this” and “What the heck even is that”. It has been a challenging three months navigating through these feelings, and it was by no means simple. Although, the extremity of the feeling does start to go away once you begin straying away from such negative thoughts.

Methods that have helped me: Write down your accomplishments Making sure that you remember all of the things you have accomplished and how far you have come can help ease the mind of any uncertainty. Vent with a friend (or colleague) Sometimes you just need to let it all out. I often will text a good friend, who is also experiencing this syndrome, and get it all out there. Consider it your “5 minutes of rambling” before jumping back into routine. Take a break from social media Someone recently said that LinkedIn updates are the new “we’re engaged” updates that float around Facebook. No one really shares “vulnerable” things on LinkedIn - only good life updates or things that look good to the outside world. Same goes for the majority of social media platforms. Everyone shares fun and impressive things, and less “real” things online. It begins to take its toll on someone who is experiencing self doubt, so take a break! Go on a drive somewhere new and just take it all in - don’t worry about your phone (but still take it in case of an emergency obviously). Keep going Remember that you have landed a job in your industry! That is such an accomplishment and you should be proud! We can all get caught up in the feelings, but it is important to remember that and keep going forward. You’ve got this - even if it feels like you don’t right now. Basically, I just want you to know that I feel this way, and so do many others - regardless of the industry. Everyone at some point feels like they don’t know what they are doing and eventually the feeling will go away. Keep killing it and remember that I am right there with you. Crying but thriving.