Imposter syndrome is a feeling of not being good enough, despite evidence that you are. It’s the sense that everyone else around you is better than you are. It is also the fear that everyone will eventually find out how inept you are at performing your job. It can be paralyzing for startup founders and employees alike. But there are ways to overcome imposter syndrome.
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
You might already know that imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which people cannot internalize their accomplishments. It’s common among high-achieving professionals and entrepreneurs, and it can be overcome by learning to accept failure as part of the process of success.
But what if you don’t realize that your feelings of being an imposter aren’t justified? Even worse, what if those feelings keep you from reaching your full potential in business?
Create a Vision to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Create a vision for your business and write down the steps it will take to get there.
A vision is a mental picture of what you want your life and business to look like. It’s about more than just revenue, though that’s part of it. Your vision should include the kind of work you’d like to be doing and who you’d like to be serving.
It can be helpful to think about where you want your business to be in three, five, or even 10 years if that feels more appropriate for your situation.
Once you’ve created this picture in your mind, write down how it looks in detail—the type of work you do; the people who support and help out with the day-to-day operations, what kinds of clients come through the door regularly; and so on.
Once this is done, share your written vision with others who have similar values and those who have different values but also believe in what needs changing within society, the industry, etc.
Diversify your business; expand into different businesses that complement each other.
Understand Your Value
Remember, you don’t have to be an expert in every area to be successful as a business owner. It’s not uncommon for business owners, especially small business owners, to do everything in the beginning, but many tasks are delegated as the business grows. Preferably, you’d like to delegate tasks and duties to team members who will do a much better job at completing them!
We had a client who suffered from imposter syndrome because she struggled with business knowledge in accounting, human resources, and operations. However, she had a $2M per year business! She was extremely knowledgeable in product development, sales funnels, and team building, which ultimately led to her business’s success.
Nevertheless, that business owner brought so much to her company. She just needed to focus on her value, rather than focus on her lack of knowledge in other areas.
Hot tip: Hire team members to take on tasks and departments that you’re not that great at completing, so you can focus on the things that you are great at!
Imposter Syndrome Can Creep In–Be Patient
The first step to overcoming impostor syndrome is to give your business time to grow. This means being patient with yourself and the business you’re building. If you’ve been working on your business for a while, it may feel like it’s not moving forward fast enough, like there aren’t any visible results for all the effort you put into marketing or developing new products or services. You might wonder if anyone will sign up for your email list or buy from you when they see how inexperienced or unimportant you are as an entrepreneur.
But remember, every successful person started somewhere, and every successful entrepreneur has gone through at least some measure of failure along the way. Regardless of the industry, hard work was required! Not to mention, opportunities arising at just the right time are helpful too!
Progress is Inevitable
Progress is inevitable — even if you fail to accomplish what you set out to do, you will still achieve something.
You can’t succeed if you don’t try. If you’re afraid to fail, then your fear of failure will prevent you from trying at all. To overcome the imposter syndrome and live a more fulfilling life, you have to be willing to take risks and make mistakes.
Success is inevitable. Even if you fail to accomplish what you set out to do, as long as your intentions are sincere and honest, something positive comes of it. Success may be as simple as learning about how not to do something in the future!
When starting a new business, the feeling of being an imposter can be overwhelming. It can be hard to believe that you have what it takes to succeed, and fear of failure is natural. But if you take the time to plan, build camaraderie in your community, and stay persistent with your vision for success, then there’s no reason why anyone should ever feel like they don’t belong or aren’t good enough to achieve their goals!