Do you think you will be an imposter if you turn your passion into a new career?
One of the main triggers of imposter syndrome is change, and going into something new or even contemplating it, can bring on the symptoms.
In this episode, we’re talking about how Imposter Syndrome shows up in your life before, during and after you have made a career leap. We’ll cover how to recognise it, and will share some strategies you can use to beat it before it beats you into staying stuck, staying small and never driving for that career and life you crave.
So, if you’ve decided to change your career and are on your way to making it happen or have already stepped into your new way of working but are feeling like you are an imposter in your new career world, this episode is for you!
Stop letting your fears hold you back, tap play and learn how to step into your new career with confidence!
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Links mentioned in this episode:
Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes developed the concept, originally termed “imposter phenomenon,” in their 1978 founding study, which focused on high-achieving women. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-26502-001
Valerie Young’s book ‘The secret thoughts of successful women’.
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Thoughts-Successful-Women-Impostor-ebook/dp/B004KPM1N0
https://qz.com/1296783/it-turns-out-men-not-women-suffer-more-from-imposter-syndrome/
Famous Imposters
https://www.phoenixperform.com/single-post/18-famous-imposters
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Let’s start with some background on imposter syndrome. Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes developed the concept, originally termed “imposter phenomenon,” in their 1978 founding study, which focused on high-achieving women. It used to be thought it just happened in driven, ambitious women but now it is considered to affect everyone with maybe a slightly higher prevalence in high achievers. It’s also not true that it just affects women, studies have shown that men can be equally affected by imposter syndrome they just are not as willing to admit to as women have been.
Now not all feelings of self doubt or lack of confidence in a new job or a high position are imposter syndrome. Most people would feel like a fish out of water in their first few months but don’t necessarily see themselves as an imposter. So how do you know the difference?
Well, as an imposter, you think or feel that you don’t deserve to be there. You imagine that you got there by luck or by some mistake or that the person that hired you thought you could do something but you can’t, that you somehow fraudulently got into the role and now you are there, you will be found out.
If you’re feeling like this before a career leap, it's because you think that if you make this big move you’ll be a fraud, that it will just be luck if you are successful and everyone is going to say ‘Hey, who do they think they are? How did they imagine they could do that job or have that business’. So you stay where you are, safe in your well trodden career path where you feel confident and sure in your status and abilities, where you are not an imposter. But in actuality, you have all the skills and experience you need for your new challenge but you will just be using them in a different way.
If you feel like this when you have made your leap and are already in your new career, are working as a freelancer or are running a side hustle or full time business, then it’s likely you’re missing the position and certainty in the role you had pre-leap. Are you still introducing yourself by saying ‘well I used to have a job in x where I was a y but now I am doing z? You are still using your prior position to give you kudos and gravitas. You don’t yet have the same confidence and self belief in your new career as you did in your old one.
There are some other common symptoms you can look out for to know if you have imposter syndrome or if it’s just a normal level of lack of confidence or doubt.
You’re not able to see that you have all the talent and skills you need! - No matter what your knowledge, skills, qualification or experience, you don’t think that it is enough. People tell you that you are perfect for the new job or business you have moved on to, but you think they are mistaken or don’t really realise you are not good enough.
If you have not yet made the decision to change career, you think just because the skills and experience you need for your new potential path is not the same as that you currently have, that you have no chance of making the move and being successful in the new sphere.
You may say it was just luck that got you there. That you don’t really have the skills and experience in your new career that you think you need to have, and people don’t really know that you are just winging it.
You worry what people will say if you don't succeed or live up to expectations - This is the one that most affects people when you are thinking about moving to a new career. Fearing what other people will say and that you will not live up to their expectations really can stop you going for what you want. In order to counteract their potential disapproval, you put your new career direction down maybe saying you are just trying out freelance or contract work out, or that your new side hustle is a hobby, or that you can always go back to your old job as your new career is just a bit of a sabbatical.
You’re protecting yourself from derision but if you’re always saying that, you are mentally sending yourself a message denigrating what you are doing, you’re not showing confidence that this new career is what you will be doing, or are doing for a living now. So it makes you less confident that you can make it. You’re feeling like an imposter, and telling yourself you are, which further undermines your confidence.
You set yourself super hard goals, then hate yourself when you don’t reach them - it’s hard work changing career, whatever path you decide to take and sometimes, in order to stop feeling like you are an imposter, you can set goals for yourself that are impossible to achieve. For example you can say you want to leave your current job by a certain date but have so much you need to do before then that that date is virtually impossible to achieve. Then when you don’t hit the goal you set yourself, you use that as an excuse not to continue.
Do you recognise any of these symptoms in you? Are you holding yourself back?
It’s not one size fits all either, there are a few different types of Imposter Syndrome, which Valerie Young lays out in her book ‘The secret thoughts of successful women’.
The first type is The perfectionist: As you can imagine, as a perfectionist, you’re not satisfied with your work and always feel it could be better. You fixate on your flaws or mistakes rather than any strengths. This leads to pressure and anxiety. When planning a change to a new career specialism or business, this manifests in never actually taking things forward. You have to have everything done perfectly before you will even consider making your change plans public. When in actuality, you will never be fully ready to make that leap, things will never be perfect.
The superhero: As a superhero you always want to be the best, in everything you do. If you don’t you feel inadequate. So you are compelled to push yourself as hard as possible, which can lead to burn out. In a career change, it may very well be that for a while you will not be the super hero as you adjust to the new surroundings and workload. So superheroes prefer not to put themselves in a place where they cannot excel.
The expert: This one is really common, particularly with women. If you feel like you need to study everything, go for more and more qualifications to justify why you are in a job or career you have this type of imposter syndrome. You feel that to change career you need to know everything possible and have all the qualification before you can make the change to a new path. This can hold you up for months or even years when you could have already be living your new life.
There will always be some new learning for a career leap, but don’t let it cripple you from taking action and moving forward.
The natural genius: A lot of potential career leapers give up because they have this type of imposter syndrome. This is where you don’t want to continue because it doesn’t work the first time. If you start a side hustle and it doesn’t work, or you move to a new career but it does not naturally take off straight away, you go back to your old career without giving it a fair chance.
The soloist: As a soloist, you believe you should be able to handle everything solo. If you can’t achieve success independently, you consider yourself unworthy. This is a huge factor in people not being successful in going for their dreams, they try to do it alone. I know what that’s like, I always think I can get things done alone, and most of the time I can but it involves a lot of work and it is not always the best it can be. One thing I have learnt on my career leap journey is that you have to find like minded people to motivate and inspire you and you have to find the right teachers and mentors to get you there.
Do you recognise yourself in one of these types? Or even a few of them. I definitely struggle with perfectionism and needing to be THE expert. Even though I have the qualifications and the experience to do what I’m doing now, I still felt like I needed to learn more. There are for sure things I needed to learn to start my business but a lot that I could have left until later. Because I wanted everything to be perfect, I delayed launching my side business. There was always something else I needed to get right. Which of course was me using my perfectionism as a mask for my feeling that I was not ready for the move, that inside I was feeling like an imposter in the business world. I now recognise what I was doing and tell myself it never will be perfect, you just have to do it! You need to take messy action, but my perfectionist streak does hold me back if I let it. It’s a constant battle!
So once you recognise that you are displaying symptoms of Imposter Syndrome and know what type or types relate to what you are feeling and how it manifests in your life, what can you do?
I’m sorry to tell you that it is not something that you fix and it goes away forever! It’s something that if you have it , it can raise it’s head again at any time, no matter how successful you are. Which is what self confessed imposters like Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg , Ariana Huffington and Tom Hanks can attest to. No matter how senior you are, how successful, how strong and confident, it can sneak its way in. But, once you recognise it, you know it's a trick of your mind on you and it is something that you can address if you have the right weapons in your arsenal!
So what weapons can you use if your imposter syndrome is holding you back from going for that big career change, or that is making you put on the brakes if you have already changed or are on the way to making your career leap happen.
I’m going to share three of the ways I use to make sure imposter syndrome doesn’t hold me back.
First, it’s really important to Claim your new or potential new title or role: You have to own your new role or the role you are moving to. So if you were an accountant but you have changed career to be a landscape designer, than you would say to people ‘I’m a landscape designer’ instead of ‘I used to be an accountant for 20 years and now I am trying out my passion of landscape gardening’. See the difference? You are being clear on who you are now. Or if you have not yet transitioned to your new role, say currently I’m an accountant but I’m working towards leaving soon and becoming a landscape gardener.
If you are clear and confident about what you are doing, others will be too. Show any kind of hesitancy and you will seem like an imposter, even though you are not.
To yourself and others, act like you embody what your new passion filled role is. Use your passion for the new career to tell others why you are doing it. Yes, if your past role is linked to your new one, you can mention it, like if you are now a consultant in a similar specialism, but don't let it be the first thing that you say.
Create new internal dialogue around it - Stop saying if I do this then I will do this. So if I can build this website, then I will be a business owner, or if I can learn everything there is about my new career specialism, then I will be truly worthy of it. If you have changed career from a desk job,to become a chef, then you are a chef, even if you have only worked one day. Or if you have set up your own business, you are a business owner even if you have just one client. You don’t have to have done 10 years in a role to claim that title
Find others taking a similar path - It’s so important to find people that are on a similar path to you, for example that have changed career or in the process of doing so, or who are in the career specialism you want to move to and can advise. Remember, you can’t achieve everything alone. People going through a similar thing or who have already paved the way, will understand exactly how you are feeling and will be able to support, motivate and guide you.
The bottom line is
Moving up into a new job, or climbing the ladder to a more senior position can be daunting but making a full change to make your passion your day job and create a whole new career is on another level and it’s no wonder we can feel like an imposter in our new lives.
If you have planned your move, you have made sure you have gained the knowledge you need and have made a calculated leap to your new career, you’re not an imposter. You’ve done all the work, probably more than most, to get there and you deserve to be there. So don’t let yourself get derailed now, when you are so close.
If you’re just thinking about about changing career don’t let imposter syndrome defeat you before you even take your first steps. Get control of it now and you will be well prepared when you are ready
There will always be naysayers and people that don’t think you have the ability or that you are doing the right thing. Because of the way society is, unless you have a role title or corporate title, or are in a profession or trade of some sort, you are considered not to be in a ‘real job’. Anything that is slightly more ‘out there’ or not a classic path scares and confuses people. They don’t know what box to put you in! Just make sure that it doesn’t scare you. That you believe in yourself and your abilities. Even if others think you're an imposter, you know that you're not so you go out there and show them and yourself you made or are making the right choice.
Remember, everyone deserves to live their passion, so get started this is your time!
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Join me in the next episode and remember, everyone deserves to live their passion, so get started this is your time!
