The feeling of being a con artist despite career and personal success keeps millions of people from reaching their full potential.
The majority of people experience it at some point — more than 80 percent, according to one study.
Impostor syndrome, or scam, is the internal experience of feeling like a fake or that you don’t deserve the success you have achieved in life.
It can lead to constant doubts about your competence, fear of falling short of expectations, over-achievement and self-sabotage.
“People who have cheater feelings tend to downplay or doubt their achievements,” Kevin Cokley, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, told DailyMail.com.
A systematic one judgement found that people who experience a cheating phenomenon often think they are the “only one” who has those feelings. The researchers also found links with feelings of anxiety and depression.
Although the effect is widespread, scams are most common among women and other minority groups.
However, there are simple ways to combat these feelings, experts told DailyMail.com.
The imposter phenomenon was coined by Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes in their 1978 study. Clance had heard mostly female students confess to experiences that made them feel like imposters among their classmates.
The researchers spoke to 150 women who were generally considered “successful” over five years.
The women in the sample were prone to “an internal experience of intellectual inauthenticity.”
They feared that “some important person would discover that they are indeed intellectual impostors.”
“Now it’s taken on a life of its own and it’s something a lot of people can feel,” Carolyn Rubenstein, a licensed psychologist in Florida, told DailyMail.com.
Racial and ethnic minorities are also more likely to experience these feelings. These groups often feel that they are only able to provide diversity and not their actual skills.
Cokley and colleagues conducted a study in the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The study found that discrimination led to feelings of imposter syndrome in university students from ethnic and racial minorities.
“For a majority person, it’s usually just about that person as an individual and that individual sort of internalizing doubts about their own abilities.
But when a person is part of a minority group, a social minority group, their feelings of being scammed are often linked to being a member of that group and the stereotypes associated with being a member of that group,” Cokley said.
Document your successes
Documenting small successes on a weekly or monthly basis can help you focus less on failures and self-doubt
Keeping a short list of small achievements can reinforce the idea that you’re qualified, but don’t focus on the big things, Rubenstein said.
“Not just the awards or other things outside of you, but what internal qualities or internal things have helped you get to where you are today.”
People tend to focus on failures over successes, so it becomes easier to internalize those and forget about everything you’re doing right, Rubenstein said.
“People don’t pay attention to their accomplishments and achievements like they should or they sometimes forget, so if you record them very deliberately, you’re reminded that you are, in fact, very worthy of it,” Cokley said. .
Cokley suggested keeping a journal or list and tracking small accomplishments weekly or monthly.
This can range from completing a task early to giving a presentation at a big meeting.
Speak more
Speaking up in the workplace can be as simple as making a suggestion in a meeting or asking for clarification on an assignment
“If you feel like an impostor, you tend to keep pretty quiet and don’t trust your own opinions or your own beliefs. You don’t trust yourself enough to say anything,” Rubenstein said.
She suggested making a list each week of things you want to say, such as in a meeting or to your boss, that you wouldn’t otherwise say before. This can be a new idea for a project or a reservation about an assignment.
This holds you accountable to speak up more and gives you “concrete evidence that what you’re saying is helpful — you’ll feel more like you belong, that your voice belongs, that you can trust your voice,” Rubenstein said.
Don’t focus on the negative
Rubenstein said it’s normal to pay more attention to criticism than praise. “We can recite anything negative on the tip of our tongue,” she said
Tricksters tend to magnify the negatives in a situation, Rubenstein said.
‘We tend to throw all those positive facts or evidence in the garbage. But we can recite anything negative on the tip of our tongues. You probably won’t get rid of those negative feelings, but try to give at least as much airtime to the positive ones.’
“It’s like using a mental marker to mark it down and make a list for yourself, even if it’s a note just to keep track of the positives,” Rubenstein said. Even the little things count.
Stop apologizing so much
When you hand in a paper, don’t immediately focus on what might be wrong. It “just reinforces for yourself the feeling that you’re doing something wrong,” Rubenstein said
“If someone is in a situation where they feel like they’re a scammer, or don’t know enough, they tend to apologize nonstop,” Rubenstein said. “Apologizing only reinforces the feeling that you are doing something wrong for yourself and for others as well.”
Only focus on apologizing when it’s truly warranted, such as making a mistake or misnaming someone, Rubenstein said. When handing in work, do not immediately apologize for, for example, an incorrect font or paper.
Spending too much time apologizing can also cause superiors or co-workers to cast doubt on your competence as you appear less confident.
Talk to others
Being open about feelings of being cheated on can help you feel less alone. However, Marks advised caution when talking to your boss about it. “It can make people lose faith in your abilities,” she said
“Too often, people with scams suffer in silence,” Cokley said. “They don’t want to share their feelings or reveal their vulnerabilities because if they’re in a highly competitive environment, they don’t want to be seen as unworthy or as some sort of weakness.”
Being open with co-workers and peers can help reduce that anxiety. “If you are honest about your feelings of being cheated on, you will probably find that you are not alone and that many other people struggle with or deal with those feelings as well. It can be very validating to know that you’re not alone in that regard,” Cokley said.
However, there can be downsides to being so open, especially in a work environment.
“That can make people lose faith in your abilities, even though you have the abilities. Like they want someone who can, who can take something and own it and not have to have their back patted all the time to keep going,” Tracey Marks, author of Why Am I So Anxious, told DailyMail.com .
Marks said some bosses are better at managing employees with cheating feelings than others. Ultimately, she said, it’s up to you to make sure everything in a work environment still gets done.
Rubenstein suggested asking for help from people both inside and outside that environment, not just colleagues, but also friends and other peers.
Ask for help
If the scam leads to feelings of depression or anxiety, Cokley recommended seeking help from a licensed mental health professional
“We’re not asking because we’re afraid asking for help will seem like a weakness,” Rubenstein said.
Rubenstein suggested starting small. For example, if something is unclear in an assignment, ask for clarification. “You’ll come to realize that it’s okay not to know everything. And that’s actually more the norm than not,” Rubenstein said.
If scams begin to interfere with your daily life and exacerbate mental health issues, consider seeking professional help. Cokley recommended seeking a licensed therapist, “particularly if you find that your cheating feelings are in any way disturbing, because we know that these feelings can be associated with heightened feelings of depression and anxiety.”