Have you ever created something, or been asked to give a presentation, or gotten an opportunity at work and felt like you weren't good enough for it? Have you ever thought to yourself, "I'm not as capable as they think I am," and had a deep fear that you were going to be outed as a fraud (despite the fact that you do actually have at least some level of skill and competence)?
Chances are, you have. This wave of self-doubt and fear is called "imposter syndrome," and it's quite common. Not only that, but as much as the feeling sucks, it's actually not a bad thing, according to Harvard behavioral social scientist Arthur C. Brooks.
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Why having imposter syndrome is a good sign
As a specialist in happiness and author of The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life, Brooks says he works a lot with "strivers" in his research, people who are ambitious and want to do great things with their lives.
"What all strivers I've ever met have in common is that the higher they climb, and the more success that they have, the more insecure they feel in their own success because they're not quite sure that they've earned it or deserve it," Brooks shares. "That's called impostor syndrome. It's completely natural."
In fact, Brooks says, there's only one group of people that imposter syndrome doesn't really affect, and that's the people who actually are imposters.
"It's one of the great ironies I've found is that people who deserve success through hard work and merit and personal responsibility are not quite sure they deserve it. And the people who don't deserve it are often the people who actually are most sure that they do."
Imposter syndrome is very common. Photo credit: Canva
People who don't experience imposter syndrome trigger Brooks' "spider sense," putting him on alert, because it is often a sign of what's known as the "dark triad."
Dark triads, in business or in personal life, are people who are above average in three characteristics: Narcissism (It's all about me). Machiavellianism (I'm willing to do what it takes, including hurting you to get my way.) And psychopathy (to be psychopathic, which is to say, I'm going to hurt you and feel no remorse.) You might think that that's super rare. It's not. One in 14 people in the population is above average on those three characteristics. Dark triads are 7% of the population. You know them. They've broken your heart. They've been disloyal to you. They've taken credit for your work. They've made life miserable, and you try to avoid them."
Brooks says that "good, normal, healthy" people will almost assuredly experience imposter syndrome from time to time, wondering if they have really earned and deserve their success and if they're really up to the task.
Self-doubt is normal. Photo credit: Canva
"What you're doing here, as a healthy person, is that you know what you're good at, and you know what you're not good at," he says. But other people only see what you're good at. You see your full internal landscape, and you can see what you're still trying to get better at. But that's not what the world sees.
"They're looking at the ways that you're creating value," Brooks says. "You're looking at the ways that you can't create value yet. And you tend to focus, because of what psychologists call negativity bias, on what you don't have as opposed to what you have. When you focus as a striving, hard-working, ambitious, and upwardly mobile person on what you don't have, you're going to feel like an imposter. That's just the way it is, unless you're a dark triad."
No one wants to be a dark triad, so having imposter syndrome is actually a positive sign. But that doesn't make it easier to deal with.
How to make imposter syndrome work in your favor
Brooks says understanding your impostor syndrome and trying to get better at the things you see you're not good at yet is the key to using it as an opportunity for growth.
"If you feel imposter syndrome, that's great," he says. "That means all kinds of good things about you. But don't miss the opportunity. Don't miss the opportunity to focus on the ways that you actually can get better and keep striving more for it. Lean into the imposter syndrome without giving in to it. Lean in without giving in. When you're an accomplished professional, and you're upwardly mobile, and you're being successful, what that means is that people are focusing more on your strengths than your weaknesses. And it also says you have more manifest strengths than you do weaknesses."
That's a helpful reminder. If things are going in the opposite direction, your weaknesses may be taking center stage, but Brooks also reminds us that we're not all weaknesses and not all strengths.
Use imposter syndrome to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Photo credit: Canva
"Here's the problem: If you're a well-adjusted person with a modicum of humility, you're going to feel like a loser when everybody else sees you as a winner, " he says. "But rest assured that when things are going well for you, that means that people are more focused on your strengths than they are on your weaknesses. Don't focus more on your weaknesses than your strengths, but recognize them, because that's your opportunity for growth and change and improvement."
Self-doubt is evidence of a healthy sense of humility, which is good. If we can reframe imposter syndrome, seeing it as a positive sign and an opportunity to determine which areas we can focus on to improve, perhaps it will feel less scary and more like a catalyst for growth.
You can see more from Dr. Brooks at https://arthurbrooks.com/.
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Gabourey Sidibe
Gabourey Sidibe