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It should come as no surprise that anxiety and depression disorders have increased in the U.S. since 2020. Everything from out-of-control inflation to threats of nuclear war with Russia is enough to make the average person a bit anxious. Another persistent cause of anxiety unrelated to inflation and nuclear war stress is the imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is when you feel you are not worthy of your seat at the table. If it is when you do not believe yourself to be the equal of those with whom you work.
I must stress that I am not a doctor, and if you are experiencing severe anxiety and depression, you should seek professionals who can diagnose and treat you.
From a non-medical perspective, I, like most people, have experienced imposter syndrome. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a fortune 500 or the partner at a boutique public affairs firm; imposter syndrome can creep into your life.
I recently joined Virginia Conservative Women's Coalition for a Facebook live to share my tips on combatting imposter syndrome. You can watch the entire conversation here.
My advice for combating is to 1) Know your value, 2) Find your tribe 3) Run your race.
Know Your Value:
My value comes from the way the Lord sees me. In his word, he says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. If the master of the universe believes that I am wonderfully made, who am I to disagree with him?
Find Your Tribe:
Develop relationships with a core group that will support and cheer for you. So often, we want our tribe to be the coolest kids in the room, the influencers with picture-perfect Instagram pages and tens of thousands of followers. But more times than not, the best tribe is a motley crew of people who are loyal to you and want to support you regardless of influencer status. The most important thing to remember about your tribe is that they are the people who get front-row seats because they are cheering for you. You should return the favor.
Run Your Race:
We begin to feel insecure and ill-equipped when we look at the success that others are achieving. It’s important to remember in social media, most people only show you the tidy rooms in the house they want you to see. Noone shows the rooms of despair filled with dirty laundry. You should not be distracted by what others are doing. It takes discipline, but when you learn to focus on your life, you have less anxiety because you are not tracking yourself by the success or failure of others.
Finally, my most significant piece of advice is to acknowledge that you are having self-doubt or anxiety. If it becomes too big for you to manage, there are professionals who would love to help you through it.
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