Doubt – Be as One

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You may sometimes feel like you’re not as competent as others perceive you to be, or that your success is just a result of luck. These feelings are signs of imposter syndrome, a psychological pattern that can hold you back from achieving your true potential. Overcoming this self-doubt is crucial to stepping into your capabilities fully and confidently. In this article, courtesy of Be As One, we’ll explore some effective strategies to conquer these feelings and unlock your true potential.

Identify the Signs of Imposter Syndrome

Recognizing when you are experiencing imposter syndrome is the first step toward overcoming it. You might feel like a fraud, fear that you will not live up to expectations, or believe that your achievements are due to external factors rather than your own merit. These feelings can surface regardless of your actual success or competence. Acknowledging these thoughts as a common phenomenon can help you begin to dismantle their power over you.

Digitize to Organize

Staying organized can significantly ease the mental load that feeds imposter feelings. One practical step is to digitize important documents. By using an online tool to manage PDFs, you can compile multiple documents into a single file. This not only simplifies your information management by allowing you to add, delete, reorder, and rotate pages as needed but also clears physical and mental clutter, helping you focus more on your achievements and less on the chaos around you. This tool can be extremely helpful; check it out when you’re ready to start organizing.

Open Up About Your Feelings

Sharing your thoughts with trusted friends, mentors, or colleagues can be incredibly therapeutic. Vocalizing your feelings helps demystify them and offers a new perspective that often reveals these doubts as common and unfounded. This exchange not only provides reassurance but also strengthens your support network, reminding you that you are not alone in these experiences.

Document Your Successes

Take time to write down your achievements and the specific skills you employed to accomplish them. This practice helps you internalize your successes and recognize the competencies that enabled them. Reflecting on this list and celebrating your wins during moments of doubt can serve as a powerful reminder of your true abilities and an antidote to feelings of fraudulence.

Focus on Your Own Journey

Comparing yourself to others can intensify the feelings associated with imposter syndrome, diminishing your sense of worth and achievement. It’s crucial to shift your focus to your personal growth and progress instead. Every career path is distinct, and by concentrating on your unique journey, you can better appreciate and recognize your milestones and successes. This approach ensures you value your achievements without the distorting lens of comparison.

Embrace Mistakes as Learning Opportunities

Allow yourself to make mistakes and perceive them as part of the learning process. Each error provides insights into how to improve, which is fundamental for personal and professional growth. Understanding that perfection is unattainable and that errors are natural steps in the journey helps mitigate feelings of being an imposter.

Visualize Your Success

Practicing visualization techniques can bolster your confidence and reduce feelings associated with imposter syndrome. Imagine yourself succeeding in your tasks and roles. This mental rehearsal can prepare you psychologically to perform your best and even enjoy the process.

Seek Professional Help If Needed

If imposter syndrome severely impacts your life, it may be time to consider seeking help from a counselor or therapist. Professional guidance can provide you with tailored strategies and support to effectively overcome these deeply ingrained patterns of self-doubt. Through a structured approach, these experts can help you reclaim your confidence and empower you to face challenges with newfound strength.

Imposter syndrome is a formidable opponent, but with the right strategies, you can overcome it and reach your full potential. By understanding its signs, organizing your tasks, sharing your feelings, and more, you empower yourself to move beyond self-doubt. Remember, each step you take is progress, and every small victory is a triumph over the imposter within.

Be As One offers a variety of resources to help individuals thrive as they navigate life. Have a question for the author? Get in touch today.

Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
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My monthly Catholic Free Press/Catholic mom column.

When I awoke to the news of the massacre in Las Vegas, I felt numb inside. It was all too much. First the hurricanes in Texas and Florida. Then the devastation in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And now this. (And after initially writing this, the fires in Northern California). I had not been directly affected by any of these events and yet a heavy sense of dread lay on my heart as I began to pray for those who had been affected. In reciting words that praised God and spoke of his protection, I felt a thud inside my heart saying, “no, they had not been protected.”

Where is God?

Later in the day I had a short conversation with a good friend on Twitter. She had written, “Las Vegas makes us ask God: where are you? The answer: God is here, asking the same question of us: ‘Where are you?’ Seek and let him find you.” I answered, “Got to admit, this one is shaking my faith a bit. I will never abandon my faith and I will always love God, but it did give me pause.” She answered, “I understand. What God permits is always jarring, but He sees the whole picture. That doesn’t make it any easier to trust Him.”

She thought her reply had not helped but in fact, it did. I felt the burden lift just a bit at the thought of God alone knowing the whole picture. I answered, “Actually, in a way, it does. He’s got this. Thank you; your words brought me comfort.”

He’s got this.

It’s not for me or for any of us to know the entire picture. He sees the world in its entirety from the beginning until the end of time. I don’t know why that comforts me, but it does. It is not within my ability to be omnipotent and therefore, not my responsibility to know it all. I am only asked to know enough to offer prayers and supplication, to lend a hand, to offer some words of comfort.

All I ever have to be …

This all reminds me of a song written by Gary Chapman and sung by Amy Grant,

“And all I ever have to be is what
You’ve made me
Any more or less would be a step out of Your plan
As you daily recreate me help me always keep in mind
That I only have to do what I can find
… all I ever have to be is what You made me.”

One day at a time

It’s the same idea. None of us were made with the capacity to carry the whole world on our shoulders. And that is a comfort to me. Somebody Else is in charge of that. All I have to do each day is to do what I am supposed to do. I can’t physically be in Houston or the Keys or San Juan or Las Vegas. But I can pray. I can carry these people in my thoughts and in my heart. I can choose a favorite charity and donate. I can give blood even though it may not be of help in Las Vegas; it will, however, help someone in my own backyard.

The suffering in our world is overwhelming; it’s impossible for me to wrap my head around it. Thankfully I am not asked to do that. I can leave it to the Lord; He’s got this.

A prayer

“Lord, guide me in your wisdom to those little things I can do to help ease some of the suffering of this world. Chase away my dread and those nagging doubts and show me what I can do in this moment to be of help. And please, keep reminding me that all I ever have to be what is You made me.”