Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where individuals doubt their abilities despite clear success, often leading to burnout, procrastination, or overwork. It is linked to traits like perfectionism and low self-efficacy, which can hinder personal and professional growth. By recognizing these patterns and adopting coping strategies, such as embracing failure, counting successes, and balancing efforts, people can overcome self-doubt. Ultimately, understanding that occasional imposter feelings are normal can help individuals build confidence and resilience.
Key Takeaways
- Around 70% of people experience imposter syndrome, which leads to self-doubt despite evident success
- Perfectionism, low self-efficacy, procrastination, and overwork are key factors that contribute to imposter syndrome.
- Embracing failure as a learning tool and recognizing personal achievements can help counteract feelings of fraudulence.
- Techniques like listing successes, modeling balanced professionals, and setting realistic expectations can build confidence.
- Everyone experiences imposter moments at times, but accepting them as part of growth helps reduce their negative impact.
Danielle graduated with flying colors from massage school, but thought her first paying client was going to ask for her money back. Roberto, a massage therapist of five years, forgot the name of a muscle in front of a client and felt like a phony the rest of the day.
Both Danielle and Roberto were experiencing a phenomenon called imposter syndrome. It’s likely you have felt or will feel like an imposter at some point in your life. Impostor syndrome can lead to physical and emotional burnout, abandoned goals and strained relationships.
The good news is, there are coping strategies to combat imposter syndrome. More about that in a minute, as we explore how to overcome imposter syndrome—but first let’s examine imposter syndrome in more detail.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is not a diagnosis. It is a psychological phenomenon where people believe “they aren’t as competent or intelligent as others might think—and that soon enough, people will discover the truth about them.”
Anyone can experience imposter syndrome. In fact, one study showed that approximately 70% of people experience imposter syndrome in their lives. In addition, 25 to 30% of high achievers suffer from imposter syndrome.
There are three personality traits associated with imposter syndrome—perfectionism, low self-efficacy and neuroticism. To pick an effective coping strategy for imposter syndrome, you must understand which personality traits pertain to you.
The Imposter Who Is Perfect
At work do you have to perform at 100% all the time? If so, situations where you can’t be “perfect” will make you feel anxious and potentially incompetent, which could hinder your growth as a massage therapist.
For example, LaTonya, a seasoned massage therapist, often gives clients more time because she insists on doing a thorough job with each massage. Her perfectionism means she is often behind with clients. However, the stress of making clients wait is less painful than feeling like she didn’t do the best job possible.
Recently, she learned a new massage technique that would work great with her massage style, but she hasn’t tried it out on a paying customer. Why? She knows integrating the new technique into her normal massage routine means adding on time because she can’t cut anything out from her normal massage routine.
LaTonya could help herself out by challenging her view on perfectionism. Jessamy Hibberd, PsyD, clinical psychologist and author of “The Imposter Cure: Escape the Mind-Trap of Imposter Syndrome,” argues that perfectionists fear failure, but failure is not a bad thing. In fact, mistakes and failures are necessary for learning.
To remind himself that failure is normal, Frederik Anseel, senior deputy dean at UNSW Sydney Business School, has a wall dedicated to his shortcomings, which includes rejection letters and questionable ideas, according to Hibberd. If a wall of failure is too in-your-face for you, don’t worry—just recalling Anseel’s story might serve as a good reminder to not let the fear of failure get in your way.
People experiencing imposter syndrome may also doubt their self-efficacy—“belief in their capacity to execute behaviors and attain a particular level of performance.”
Challenging Low Self-Efficacy
Anna aced the massage licensing exam, was hired by the best spa in town and within six months was the busiest therapist in the spa. From all outward signs, Anna was crushing it—but when Anna was asked to be lead massage therapist, she declined, explaining she was too busy.
The reality was Anna was not too busy; she was scared she couldn’t live up to expectations. How could that be, when to any objective observer Anna was a successful massage therapist?
In Anna’s mind, she aced the massage exam because she was randomly assigned the easiest test version. The spa owner hired her because she was desperate for therapists. Her schedule book was full because the spa just happened to get busy after she came on board.
Do you explain all your successes away, like Anna does? If so, try this recommendation from Hibberd: Update your beliefs.
First, “write down all your successes by going through everything you have ever done no matter how big or small,” Hibberd suggests. This may take a few days or a week. Once done, read your list of achievements. Now imagine someone else had done all these things. What would you think of that person? You would probably be impressed, right?
But don’t stop there, says Hibberd. Compare your list of achievements with the picture you have of yourself in your head. Spoiler alert: The two will be different. Reread your list of achievements to reform your idea of who you are and what you are capable of doing.
Get Professional Help
Imposter syndrome has been associated with neuroticism—a disposition to experience negative effects, including anger, anxiety, self‐consciousness, irritability, emotional instability and depression. It is best to seek professional help if you suspect neuroticism is a personality trait that may be connected to your feeling of being an imposter.
So far, we talked about personality traits associated with imposter syndrome. Now let’s zero in on two behaviors that are connected with imposter syndrome—procrastination and overwork.
Stop Procrastinating
Terrell loves working with clients in pain and is very good at helping them. He gets a lot of referrals from chiropractors, PTs and medical doctors. Terrell is prompt to answer his clients’ questions. However, when a client requests SOAP notes for insurance, Terrell drags his feet until the last possible minute. Then he works frantically to get the notes to the insurance company in the nick of time.
For the next week, Terrell worries he will get an email from the insurance company saying the notes are a joke and must be redone. Should this happen, Terrell’s procrastination has given him a built-in excuse: “If I had more time, I could have done a better job.”
The reality is, Terrell never has to use this excuse because his notes always pass muster. Nevertheless, Terrell feels like a fraud and chalks up the acceptance of his notes as luck even though it took a very competent person to pull off this task at the last minute.
To tackle procrastination head-on, Hibberd suggests this: Imagine how good you will feel after the task is completed. Also, break goals down into minor tasks to make them manageable. Finally, forgive yourself for procrastination. According to Hibberd, research shows compassion is more effective for implementing a coping mechanism than self-criticism.
The flipside of procrastination is to overwork—the last behavior associated with imposter syndrome.
Work Smarter
Layla believes she got everything she did in life by working twice as hard as everyone else. Massage school, building her own massage practice, and becoming a CE teacher were no different. Now she wants to build a massage business with employees, but based off her past experiences, she thinks it would require an unsustainable amount of work effort. But will it?
Layla his hooked on the idea that she has to overwork because she thinks it brings her success, an idea described by Hibberd. However, a study in Frontiers in Psychology says otherwise.
Researchers “found that IP (imposter syndrome) was correlated with a decrease in striving, career planning, and leadership interest among students and working professionals.” If Layla just worked hard but didn’t overwork, she probably could find the time to build her business.
To counteract overworking, Alice Boyles, author of “The Healthy Mind Toolkit,” suggests finding role models, “inside and outside your professional niche,” who inspire you because they are successful without overworking. These models should not be celebrities or people you do not know. Study them and copy their behaviors.
Hibberd suggests trying this simple but powerful exercise for overwork: Pretend you are at the end of your life. What are the things you would regret? If you see you spent most of your time overworking, you might start re-evaluating what you want from life and how you want to spend your time.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Are you ready to stop feeling like a phony? There is evidence to suggest if you wait long enough, imposter syndrome lessens over time. But if you want to make changes sooner rather than later, identify the personality traits and behaviors that connect you to imposter syndrome. Then pick coping strategies that match your needs.
For perfectionists, remember that failure is important for learning. If you have low self-efficacy, count your successes. Model the behavior of successful, hard workers who have balance in their lives if you overwork.
Following this advice, Danielle, the rookie massage therapist who thought her first customer was going to want her money back, could recall the five-star reviews she received during clinic time to stop feeling like a phony. Roberto, the pain-relief massage therapist who forgot the name of a muscle, could give himself permission to be human to restore his confidence for the day.
Last, feeling like a fake is not always a bad thing. Hibberd explains we are all imposters sometimes because we can’t know everything—and there are situations where pretending to know gets us acceptance or demonstrates competence.
Confident people know they have to be imposters at times. People who are not confident don’t accept imposterism as part of the human condition. They refuse to bluff at key times and potentially miss out on unforeseen opportunities. At the end of the day, you have to decide when to fake it and when to prove to yourself that you are not a fraud.
About the Author
Mark Liskey, LMT, CNMT, is a massage therapist, business owner, teacher and blogger. You can access his free, massage-business crash course on his business page, makethemostofmassage.com/free-courses.
