Author: Alina Aronova, Founder of Almax Executive Advisory and “Go to Executive Coach for High Achievers”
Did you know that there are 5 different types of imposter syndrome? As a recovering overachiever myself, I always choose to tackle directly any obstacle that I face on my professional path. I tell myself that I am not a quitter and I have what it takes to face a new challenge. It will not beat me!!!
I am sure some readers are smiling recognizing themselves. I know that I am not unique in my pep talk to myself.
So, as I face my new enemy, the imposter syndrome, I start, like I always do, by researching the topic, so I can come up with a strategy to defeat it!!! Let's review and learn together.
Type 1: The Superhero
Your push yourself harder than anyone else but you never feel satisfied with yourself and happy with your results. You never ease off and give yourself a break. You expect of yourself more than of anyone else because that is the only measure of success for you.
Type 2: The Soloist
You prefer to work alone, never ask for any help, never involve anyone else. In your mind, any demonstration of needing assistance is a sign of weakness and incompetency. You think that if you were truly smart you would be able to figure everything out on your own.
Type 3: The Expert
You do not forgive yourself for not knowing everything there is to know on any subject. You never stop learning researching, gathering facts and data because there is always more to learn. You think to yourself that if you were truly smart you would be able to learn everything there is to learn in this universe.
Type 4: The Natural Genius
You knowingly defy logic by setting humanly impossible goals and objectives for yourself and then you beat yourself up for not being able to achieve even the slightest portion of them. You are an "all or nothing" type of person. Making significant progress is still a version of a failure to you because you were not able to complete your task or accomplish your objective fully.
Type 5: The Perfectionist
Any imperfection, no matter how tiny and insignificant it is, makes you physically uncomfortable. The only acceptable margin of error that is acceptable to you is 0%. You constantly fixate on the flaws in your work rather than appreciate its overall quality.
So why is it important to understand all types and figure out which type is yours? In order to make any changes we should, first and foremost, develop self-awareness of who we are and who we want to evolve to. It is also important to know that you are not alone. It is pretty much a proven fact that every human being experiences one form of imposter syndrome or another. And we just need to find a solution that works for each person.
By the way, which type are you? I happen to be the Natural Genius with the big helping of the Perfectionist. I have dedicated years of minimizing the negative effects of my perfectionist tendencies with some success and I have just recently started to tap into the dark side of the natural genius.
If you found this article interesting, I hope you will join me in exploring powerful techniques of concurring each type of imposter syndrome Click here.
Alina Aronova, Founder of Almax Executive Advisory and “ The Go-to Executive Coach for High Achievers”
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