Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: 8 Strategies From Experts

Do you feel like a fraud at work, despite your accomplishments? Imposter syndrome is a form of self-doubt that makes you feel undeserving of your success, as if you’ll be exposed as a fake at any moment. This affects countless professionals—especially women—who struggle to recognize their own competence and worth.

Overcoming imposter syndrome is essential for building confidence and advancing your career. We’ve put together strategies from several books to help you silence your inner critic and claim the success you’ve earned.

Editor’s note: This article is part of Shortform’s guides to success and career development. If you like what you read here, there’s plenty more to check out in those guides!

What Is Imposter Syndrome?
How to Defeat Imposter Syndrome
Learn More About Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
FAQ

What Is Imposter Syndrome?

According to Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, people who have imposter syndrome feel like they’ll be revealed as frauds at any moment. When praised, they feel undeserving and guilty, like a mistake has been made.

Despite her qualifications, even Sandberg has needed to overcome imposter syndrome. She arrived at Harvard unprepared for its academic rigor and soon felt lost, not as smart as everyone else—a fraud. Through hard work, she excelled, but she could never shake this nagging self-doubt.

In Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie Ajayi Jones gives the example of being asked to give a TED talk (something she’d always wanted to do), but then sabotaging herself repeatedly because imposter syndrome made her afraid she didn’t belong on the TED stage. She did everything from declining the initial invitation to not spending sufficient time on the first draft of her talk. Finally, she buckled down, rewrote her talk, and presented it from memory, despite her fears. She received a standing ovation, and millions of people have since watched the talk.

Sandberg says that women are more likely than men to be affected and limited by imposter syndrome, often judging their performance as worse than it really is. In contrast, men tend to judge their performance as better than it is.

Contributing to imposter syndrome, women feel more lacking in intrinsic ability compared to men.

While men see their success as a result of talents and skills, women are more likely to cite hard work, luck, and the support of others.
When a man fails, he is more likely to point to outside factors, like, “I didn’t study enough,” while a woman is more likely to attribute an inherent lack of ability.
When a man receives negative feedback, he is less likely to internalize it—accept it as his personal truth.
In Sandberg’s experience, men bang down her door to be considered for new opportunities, whereas women are reticent and more cautious about changing roles and being challenged.

A woman is more likely to internalize negative feedback, letting it lower her self-confidence. Women are tough on themselves, but society mirrors this attitude. For example, Sandberg was the subject of an article that called her “lucky,” citing mentors and opportunities as reasons for her success. No one would ascribe a man’s success to these factors.

Although women are more likely to experience imposter syndrome, men can also be affected by it in the workplace.

Is Confidence Gendered?

Luvvie Ajayi Jones’s discussion of humility and imposter syndrome in Professional Troublemaker highlights the possibility that confidence may differ by gender. Research shows that women tend to underestimate their abilities and performance while men tend to overestimate theirs—a phenomenon some have called the confidence gap. Studies also show that women are much less likely than men to report self-confidence about their careers and job performance.

Experts say the confidence gap results from a combination of factors, ranging from brain chemistry to upbringing. Male and female brains are more alike than different, but studies suggest differences such as hormones or how easily the amygdala (that part of the brain that regulates emotions) is activated might cause women to be more conflict-averse and men to be more likely to take risks. In addition, the way boys and girls are disciplined in childhood can lead to different levels of confidence. Girls are more often praised for good behavior, which can lead to them taking fewer risks because they come to crave that feedback. Discipline for boys more often focuses on their misbehavior. They then learn to take this criticism in stride, which makes them more resilient, able to shrug off failure, and willing to take risks.

The confidence gap matters because studies show that confidence is just as important as competence when it comes to success and how others perceive you. Believing in yourself fuels action; low self-confidence often results in inaction—And many experts contend that the antidote to the confidence gap, for women, is action. As Jones indicates, believing that you’re not good enough or that you shouldn’t do anything unless you can do it perfectly can get in the way of your success. But, if you forge ahead (even if you’re afraid and lack confidence), you increase your chances of success—which will, in turn, increase your confidence.

How to Defeat Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome can be detrimental to your life and career. Without self-confidence, it’s harder to overcome obstacles that can stop you from succeeding. Here are ways to prove to yourself that you’ve earned your accomplishments.

Strategy #1: Be Afraid and Do It Anyway

Imposter syndrome can stop you from acting because you believe you’re going to fail. To learn how to get over imposter syndrome, Jemma Roedel (author of She Thinks Like a Boss) suggests that you start doing things even when you’re afraid. If you succeed, it could be a huge boost to your self-confidence and serve as evidence that you deserve to be where you are. If you don’t succeed, you’ll still know that you were brave enough to try, which can improve your confidence as well.

(Shortform note: One way to motivate yourself to do things outside your comfort zone is to get an accountability partner. An accountability partner should be someone you trust who can encourage you to stay on track with your goals. They can help you celebrate your successes while also pushing you to challenge yourself more when necessary.)

Strategy #2: Start Advocating for Yourself in Small Ways

When you struggle with self-confidence (as many women do), you might find it difficult to advocate for yourself at work. To build up your confidence to self-advocate, Roedel advises that you begin requesting small things. This helps you practice recognizing what you need and expressing that to people who can help you fulfill those needs. Every time you advocate for yourself, your confidence grows. Eventually, you’ll have more confidence to ask for bigger things.

For example, say you’d like to work from home because you focus better that way, but you feel you’ll be an imposition if you ask. You could build your confidence by asking to work from home two days a week to start.

(Shortform note: Beyond asking for things at work, you can incorporate small moments of self-advocacy into your everyday routine to build your confidence. These could happen any time you have a chance to share an opinion, make a decision, or communicate your needs. For instance, when your spouse asks what you want for dinner, instead of saying that you’re open to anything, you might say that you want to order pizza.)

Strategy #3: Collect Evidence of Your Success

According to Roedel, another way to improve your confidence is by collecting notes of appreciation and other positive feedback from others in one physical place. This could be a folder, a notebook, or anywhere else you could keep the notes safe. When you’re not feeling confident, this collection can serve as evidence of your ability to succeed. The items are reminders of your good qualities and the things other people appreciate about you.

(Shortform note: Some experts suggest writing down successes and positive things people have said about you every day. Daily practice helps to get rid of the common habit of only remembering the negative things that happen to you. In addition to collecting these positive experiences in a folder or notebook, you might record them on a calendar. Then, you can look back at specific days or see that something good happened every single day.)

Strategy #4: Keep Your Hand Up

Making matters worse, no one is noticing and trying to make up for women’s reticence. For example, after giving a lecture on gender issues, Sheryl Sandberg took questions and then announced “two more questions only.” After two were answered, the women put down their hands, but men kept their hands up; she continued to answer their questions.

Later, a woman said the biggest thing she took from the talk was to “keep her hand up.” Even someone as cognizant of the issues as Sandberg had been blind to a gender issue during a gender equality talk.

A world with greater equality requires two things:

Women need to make a conscious decision to sit at the table and keep their hands up.
Institutions and individuals need to notice and correct for women’s reticent behavior, while encouraging and championing women.

Strategy #5: Build Shame Resilience

People who feel like imposters tend to shame themselves for failing to meet their own unrealistic expectations. Shame prevents worthiness from growing because it tells you that you’ll never be good enough. It encourages you to reject and hide the parts of yourself that you think other people will dislike. It also convinces you that if you do reveal your flaws and struggles, they’ll come to define you. People will focus on your bad parts and ignore everything good about you.

To stop shame from damaging your sense of worth, you need to develop shame resilience. This involves identifying shame as it occurs and moving past it in a way that leaves your worthiness intact. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown has five steps to developing shame resilience and fighting imposter syndrome at work:

Step 1: Learn how shame manifests for you so that you can quickly identify and address it. For example, does your shame trigger any physical symptoms, such as a dry mouth? Does it trigger negative thought patterns such as “I’m not good enough”?

Step 2: Identify and evaluate the root cause of your shame. Does it come from not meeting expectations at work—for example, self-shame triggered by failing to meet a deadline? Does it come from not meeting expectations placed on you by your co-workers or yourself? Are these expectations fair, and should you really feel shame for not meeting them?

Step 3: Reject the idea that if you make mistakes or have flaws, this automatically makes you “not enough.” Making mistakes or failing to meet expectations shouldn’t be a source of shame. Nobody is perfect all of the time.

Step 4: Tell someone trustworthy about how you’re feeling. Discussing shame gets it out of your mind and into the world, where you and others can address it and combat it.

Step 5: Avoid unhealthy reactions to shame. Some people react to shame by distancing themselves from loved ones, obsessively people-pleasing, or lashing out and shaming others. If you’re tempted by these unhealthy behaviors, stop and think before you act. Consider whether such a response will really reduce your shame or make you feel better.

Strategy #6: Don’t Let Failure Define You

It’s hard to shake self-doubt, but knowing this feeling is a distortion of reality is a step toward conquering it. Sheryl Sandberg advises you to make an emotional and intellectual adjustment when interpreting successes and failures. For example, when feeling headed for failure, Sandberg learned to remind herself of past successes, thus challenging her natural instinct and undistorting the distortion.

Lack of confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy and it’s important to fight it. One tactic is to fake it. Research backs up the “fake it til you make it” strategy. Even a change in posture can boost testosterone and lower stress hormones, making you feel more in charge.

The most important opportunities are seized, not offered, and being confident (or faking it) allows you to go for it. Confidence allows you to create opportunities for yourself.

Strategy #7: Break Free From Limiting Beliefs

Limiting beliefs can become self-fulfilling prophecies, as they inform your decisions, which dictate your actions, which shape your future. For example, your limiting belief about your potential as an entrepreneur could prevent you from trying again to launch your startup, which means you’ll never realize your dream of owning your own business.

To break your limiting beliefs and pursue your goals despite your past failures, Tony Robbins’s Awaken the Giant Within says to rely more heavily on references of imagination rather than experience. In other words, instead of basing your beliefs on experience-based references that provide evidence of you failing, focus on imagination-based references and vividly envision yourself accomplishing your goal.

Strategy #8: Fight Perfectionism

Perfectionism is dangerous because it’s founded on completely unrealistic expectations. No matter how hard you try, you’re never going to be perfect. We all make missteps and struggle at times. Consequently, cultivating an image of perfection is impossible. None of us can hide our mistakes and imperfections all of the time. Likewise, you’re never going to be able to fully avoid shame, blame, or judgment. We all experience these emotions at some point.

However, the perfectionist mindset won’t concede that it sets unrealistic standards. Instead, it makes you believe that you didn’t manage to project perfection because you weren’t good enough. You didn’t work hard enough, please people enough, or hide your flaws well enough.

This attitude causes you to blame, shame, and judge yourself. You end up experiencing the painful thoughts and emotions that you thought perfectionism would repel; thoughts and emotions that are going to do real harm to your sense of worth.

It’s clear that to truly overcome imposter syndrome at work, you need to be able to fight perfectionism. To do this, you need to take the two steps Brené Brown suggests:

Step 1: Accept that you, like everyone else in the world, will always be vulnerable to shame, judgment, and blame. Accepting that these emotions are universal and unavoidable takes away perfectionism’s power. After all, perfectionism is rooted in the idea that you can avoid these emotions. Once you realize that you can’t, it becomes pointless.

Step 2: Practice self-compassion. Being kinder to yourself can help you embrace your imperfections, rather than punish yourself for them or work desperately to hide them. When you think or talk about your flaws, mistakes, or struggles, try to do so without a tone of shame or criticism. For example, try to avoid such thought patterns such as “making this mistake makes me a bad person” or “if I didn’t have this flaw, I’d be worthy.”

Learn More About Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

To understand how to defeat imposter syndrome even more, check out Shortform’s guides to the books where these ideas come from:

FAQ

1. What is imposter syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is the feeling that you’re a fraud who doesn’t deserve your success, even when you’ve earned it.

2. Why do so many women experience imposter syndrome?
Women often underestimate their abilities, internalize criticism, and attribute success to luck or help rather than skill.

3. How does confidence relate to imposter syndrome?
A lack of confidence fuels self-doubt, while taking action—even when afraid—helps build confidence over time.

4. What’s one simple way to start overcoming imposter syndrome?
You can defeat imposter syndrome by doing things even when you’re afraid. Action creates evidence that you’re capable.

5. How can advocating for yourself help?
Asking for small things builds confidence, making it easier to ask for bigger opportunities later.

6. Why should I collect positive feedback?
Keeping praise in one place gives you proof of your strengths when self-doubt shows up.

7. How does shame play a role in imposter syndrome?
Shame convinces you that mistakes mean you’re not enough, so building shame resilience helps protect your self-worth.

8. Why is fighting perfectionism important?
Perfectionism sets impossible standards that feed self-doubt, while self-compassion helps you accept your imperfections.