3 Ways to Overcome Creative Imposter Syndrome
What is Imposter Syndrome?
I first learned about imposter syndrome while studying psychology in college. Little did I know how it would kick my ass on the daily after I graduated.
Essentially, imposter syndrome is when you feel like an imposter, fake, phony.
Despite your level of success, imposter syndrome makes you feel unintelligent, like all the success you’ve achieved is from sheer luck, and that you’ve managed to fool everyone regarding your capabilities.
Wild, right?
But I bet you know exactly how imposter syndrome feels.
Imposter syndrome comes for all of us eventually.
3 Tips to Overcome Creative Imposter Syndrome
Now, there’s no rule that we have to put ourselves and our art out in the world. But for most of you here, we’re writers and we want to put our work out into the world. Either for free or as a career. (Neither one is wrong, by the way.)
And because we want to put our work out there for other folks to enjoy, we’ll often feel fear, anxiety, and that bastard…imposter syndrome.
Whether your work reveals a personal part of yourself or not, giving it to others is terrifying.
While there’s no cure or fix for imposter syndrome, there are ways to work around it. After you’ve read through these 6 tips, pick the ones that resonate most with you and try them out.
Everything in life is trial and error.
Ready? Let’s goooooooooo!
1) Log Your Achievements
Say 3 nice things and 1 mean thing to someone, they’re likely only to remember the mean thing. Why? Our brains are just wired for threats, and ‘mean things’ are threats.
So, rejoice, babe! 🎉
You’re not broken for remembering the mean thing Karen/Billy said back in seventh grade. Human brains look for and categorize the negatives much easier, much more efficiently than the positives in life.
What to do: Keep a journal or Notion/Notes page and log every “good” thing you do each day. And I mean e v e r y t h i n g.
What you put on this is totally up to you. Whatever you deem an achievement goes on the list. It could even be something someone said to you about your work or your writing.
For instance, here’s what I would include in my list today:
Progressed first read of May’s developmental edit
Color-coded/prepped a book map
Worked out 💪🏼
A comment from a client: “Your [marginal] comments were the best part!”
Did my full morning skincare routine ☀
Some of those are basic. One is feedback from another. Some are job-related. But do you see what I mean when I say they can be pulled from anywhere and anyone? You just gotta keep an eye out for them.
2) Unfollow People Who Make You Feel Less Than
Have you heard the saying, “You are who you surround yourself with?”
While it might be hard IRL to disconnect from people, it’s much easier to do virtually. If you’re following someone on Instagram or TikTok or anywhere else that makes you feel terrible about yourself (however unintentional it is), unfollow them.
Personal Story Incoming:
I used to follow someone on Instagram—a copywriter—and she kept posting about making $30k/month. We had started our copywriting businesses at the same time and I kept comparing myself to her. I kept looking at her content and always felt bad about myself. Why wasn’t I making that much? Why wasn’t I as successful if we started at the same time? In the end, I unfollowed her, and very shortly after that, I discovered I loved editing more than writing. Haven’t thought about her until right now.
So, if you follow a fellow writer or fellow [fill-in-the-blank] and it doesn’t spark healthy one-sided competition or inspiration or motivation, you know what to do.
3) Recognize The Journey
Whatever your creative skill, it’s best to approach it as a lifelong journey.
Blah, blah, blah…journey is such an overused word. I agree, but hear me out: the destination is only a single moment; the getting there (aka the journey 👀) gets us to the single moment.
And if we’re so tunnel-visioned on the destination, we forget to enjoy the journey.
So, why not enjoy the process of getting there—whatever the “getting there” means for you?
It’s gonna take time to hone your craft. (I’m two years into my editing career and still learning so much—and I’m very aware of the things I still need to learn).
Don’t despair if ‘the thing’ is taking longer than you expected and you feel like a fraud for even trying. You’ll get there when you get there with a pile of unique experiences that make you not only a stronger writer (or editor) but a stronger person.
Read about 3 more ways to overcome creative imposter syndrome on Kourtney’s Substack.