How to Combat Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is easier to address than most people realize. For the past 5 years I’ve been working with students at Make School to silence their inner-critics. Here are the top three solutions we found most impactful.

Imagine owning a sleek Porsche GT3, but every night, a pesky squirrel sneaks in, wreaking havoc. This is what imposter syndrome feels like — an insidious voice that gnaws at your confidence, making you feel like a fraud, no matter how skilled you are. For many of my students, this unwelcome intruder disrupts their ability to work effectively.

So, how do you tackle imposter syndrome?

Here are three effective practices to combat imposter syndrome:

First, guide students to accurately assess their skill level. When they say, “I’m not good at this” or “I feel like a fake,” dig deeper. In an academic setting, competency-based rubrics are ideal for this. These rubrics let students evaluate themselves across specific skills (rows in the image below), giving them a concrete score instead of a vague sense of inadequacy. This honest assessment helps ground their perception.

In the workplace, encourage colleagues to be precise in their language. Ask them, “What exactly do you want to do that you feel you can’t?” “What is your current ability?” “What additional skills do you need?” This exercise in clarity helps them shift from vague feelings of inadequacy to a practical, forward-looking plan.

Second, help students focus on constant improvement. Their count of self-deprecating thoughts outweighs those that are positive. Students need to build a mental practice of noticing their improvements. To do this, I present the idea of keeping a “learning journal.” Here’s a short recording of this speech I gave at orientation on the concept:

The journal prompts students to log their daily accomplishments and learnings. Over time, students can look back and notice how far they’ve progressed. They can always turn to the journal for proof of growth.

Third, ask students powerful questions. A powerful question creates a perspective-altering shock to a student’s current way of thinking. It grinds and cracks their mental gears as it cuts into their current paradigm and opens up a new one. Here are a few powerful questions, taken from Dan Beverly, I ask students that are particularly helpful in combating imposter syndrome:

• Which of your successes are you not taking ownership of? This question guides students to see that they’ve accomplished more than they actively recognize: finished projects, took notes, worked hard, etc.
• Which of your beliefs about success are holding you back? This question helps students to recognize limiting beliefs such as perfectionism, that they need a job now, that they aren’t as talented as their peers. A strong follow-up question is “What’s a more useful belief you could adopt?”
• Which of your strengths are you overlooking? This question refocuses attention on their good qualities. Help them recognize how those strengths have supported their growth and success. Strengths could include: persistence, kindness, professionalism, motivation, hard work, etc. A strong followup question is “How will these strengths serve you throughout your career?”
• When you beat imposter syndrome, what will you be losing? There is always a secondary benefit and purpose to a habit of imposter syndrome. For most people these include, according to Beverly, “hard and diligent working (but which then became workaholism); determination and focus (which became anxiety and stress); quality preparation (which became over-preparation and procrastination); quality output (which became perfectionism).” We can then ask ourselves “what is a more productive mode of thinking I can adopt instead of the one hidden behind imposter syndrome.

These tactics have helped me and many others become friends with our squirrels. Together, we can drive through the warm sunset along the highway of tender growth.

Big thank you to Adam Braus and Megan Dias for your support in developing these concepts.