The fall from being a high achiever to imposter syndrome

I myself felt a fall from being a high achiever, to experiencing imposter syndrome. Here, I'll explore how this changed my life, and how you could apply this to your life too!

As a high achiever, I am always driven to get the best grades, win competitions and climb the ladder to the highest point. Whilst I feel there are many pros about being a high achiever like:

• you will have something to be proud of 
• you take pride in your work
• you have abundant resources to make your life what you want it to be
• you are focused in getting things done
• everything you do in life is driven by goals 

... there are also cons to being a high achiever too:

• you could hold yourself to perfectionist standards
• you might be afraid of failing
• you believe you're only as good as your last accomplishment
• you may tend to overcomplicate things
• you don't take alway time to appreciate your successes
• you're sometimes prone to burnout
• you’re sometimes prone to imposter syndrome 

How to identify imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome is defined as "the psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud."

There are three personality types of imposter syndrome:

1. the perfectionist 
2. the pleaser
3. the pusher

Perfectionists canset really high goals for themselves and are afraid of failing and if they do it brings feelings of self-doubt and worry. They may love to be in control and feel if they want something done in life, feel it's more effective to do it themselves. 

Pleasers. People pleasers often find it hard to place to say “no” and to implement healthier boundaries of a fear of not being liked. They might prioritise the needs of others above their own and stretch themselves so thin that they become irritated.

Pushers might wait until they have been set a task and they make sure that the task is completed, even if this means missing basic tasks such as toilet breaks, mealtimes, and even sleep - as stopping for a break is often a rule breaker to this personality type.

A coaching exercise to rationalise feelings of imposter syndrome

Coaching offered me a great support network where I could talk openly about my feelings and challenges with someone non-judgmental. I was introduced to models and techniques that could help me to build rock-solid beliefs, identify my resourcefulness and implement behavioural changes. 

One of my favourite coaching models is the Anthony Robbins Beliefs table exercise. It is a fun and simple tool to turn a goal into a belief using effective language. 

Our brain will look for those evidential pieces of information to hold that belief in place. For example:

• My goal is “I want a promotion”
• My belief is “I can get a promotion”.
• Evidence to support this:
  • I have passed previous interviews before.
  • I have won a business award in 2021
  • I have great appraisals.
  • I have all the skills required to succeed. 

Through the power of coaching, you may be able to learn to work through imposter syndrome and discover your own resourcefulness, to assist you in moving forward to reach your goals.