Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #155| Signs Imposter Syndrome is Wrecking Your Productivity, and How to Overcome It For Increased Confidence and Less Overwhelm
Transcript
- 0:01Michelle Gauthier: You're working hard and doing all the right things and checking all the right boxes, but yet you still feel behind and anxious and you're constantly second guessing yourself.
- 0:11Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:23Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former overwhelmed working woman and current life coach.
- 0:28Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences and in each episode you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease and relaxation to your life.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend, today we're going to be talking about imposter syndrome, and I think sometimes, when we just call it imposter syndrome, we think about ourselves having the thought like how did I get this job?
- 0:55Michelle Gauthier: I'm not qualified for this, or something obvious like that.
- 0:59Michelle Gauthier: But today I'm going to talk about three sort of secret ways that imposter syndrome might be showing up in your life in a way that maybe you didn't realize.
- 1:07Michelle Gauthier: And if that's the case, what to do about it?
- 1:10Michelle Gauthier: Sign number one is that you downplay your accomplishments and chalk them up to luck instead.
- 1:16Michelle Gauthier: Let's say, you get invited to speak on a panel and, instead of celebrating, your first thought is well, they probably just couldn't find anybody else, and I can't tell you how many times I've had conversations like this with my one-on-one clients, because I'll be talking to a woman who has this amazing job with tons of responsibility, and she's great at it, and she'll get asked to lead something or do something new and the first question is am I even qualified for this?
- 1:42Michelle Gauthier: Could they just not find anybody else?
- 1:43Michelle Gauthier: So if you notice this in yourself, you might have imposter syndrome.
- 1:48Michelle Gauthier: A great thing to do to combat something like this is to look back and actually remind yourself of all of the things that you have done and all of the hard work that you have put in, and also give credit to the luck you've had.
- 2:01Michelle Gauthier: There's always luck.
- 2:02Michelle Gauthier: Maybe someone has a connection who gets your foot in the door at some point.
- 2:06Michelle Gauthier: Or you got lucky, like me, to come from a family where my parents were able to send me to college and I had that privilege.
- 2:13Michelle Gauthier: So you definitely get some lucky breaks along the way, but lucky breaks aren't enough to get you far in your career.
- 2:21Michelle Gauthier: Sneaky sign number two that you might have some imposter syndrome going on is you over prepare, over work, because you don't feel qualified enough.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: So you're asked to give like a 15 minute update at work.
- 2:33Michelle Gauthier: This used to happen at my old job all the time, where you would get invited to a meeting that you're not normally part of and putting my hand up in the air because the meeting was higher than you were and you're asked to give a 15 minute presentation or an update on something and it's supposed to be simple, but you end up staying up past midnight for days tweaking all the slides and rehearsing and being stressed out about it, because deep down you're afraid that someone will realize oh, she doesn't belong here, she doesn't know what she's talking about.
- 3:02Michelle Gauthier: And this matters because you waste so much time and energy on worrying about that, when really you probably got invited to the meeting because you're the person who knows the most about it.
- 3:14Michelle Gauthier: Sign number three that you might have imposter syndrome is you hesitate to go for the next thing.
- 3:21Michelle Gauthier: So you see a job posting or a promotion, a new challenge.
- 3:25Michelle Gauthier: You have a or a promotion, a new challenge.
- 3:26Michelle Gauthier: You have a secret desire to start a new business, but you automatically think I'm not ready and instead of saying yes, you stall.
- 3:33Michelle Gauthier: And this matters because when imposter syndrome is running the show, it's blocking your momentum and you end up stuck in your current role or your current relationship, even if you're totally capable of more.
- 3:47Michelle Gauthier: I read this somewhere and I can't remember where or I would credit the source, but I read something that said when open job positions are posted and it will say, you know, seven to 10 years of experience required, or whatever it is that when women apply, they have like 10 to 12 years, they're overqualified for the position.
- 4:04Michelle Gauthier: And when men apply, they have like three to five years of experience, but they have the belief that they can do it.
- 4:10Michelle Gauthier: Why is that?
- 4:12Michelle Gauthier: That's because imposter syndrome is telling us that we can't do it and they don't have that in this particular example.
- 4:18Michelle Gauthier: I'm not saying no, men have it and all women have it, but in this particular example I was like that makes a lot of sense.
- 4:24Michelle Gauthier: Women feel like we have to be way overqualified and men are like let's give it a whirl.
- 4:29Michelle Gauthier: So I don't say this very often, but let's try to be like men in this situation.
- 4:33Michelle Gauthier: If you feel like there's something you want to go for and you've been thinking about it and you're hearing me say this right now, this is your sign, even if you think I'm not ready.
- 4:41Michelle Gauthier: Go for it.
- 4:42Michelle Gauthier: So those are three signs that imposter syndrome might be playing a role in your life and, if so, I gave you some tips for how to let go of that imposter syndrome and start believing that you are ready and that you earned where you are right now.
- 4:59Michelle Gauthier: I mentioned this on Monday, but I want to mention again that there's a.
- 5:02Michelle Gauthier: I'm going to put a link in the show notes to a quiz that is on my website that helps you get to the bottom of why you feel overwhelmed.
- 5:10Michelle Gauthier: Imposter syndrome could be the answer.
- 5:12Michelle Gauthier: Other answers could be people pleasing boundaries, not managing your time or planning well, not being super focused on your productivity.
- 5:22Michelle Gauthier: There are many reasons why you could be overwhelmed, and if you take this quiz, it will tell you which one is causing the most problems for you and what to do about it.
- 5:31Michelle Gauthier: So check it out.
- 5:33Michelle Gauthier: I hope you have a fantastic rest of the week and I will see you next week.
- 5:37Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 5:46Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegauthier.
- 5:50Michelle Gauthier: com.
- 5:52Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.