‘Breaking Through Barriers: Turning Imposter Syndrome into Your Success Catalyst’, with Natalia Cerezo Martin
Following on from her incredible masterclass in collaboration with DeAnna Avis, Natalia Cerezo Martin recently hosted an exclusive community workshop, ‘Breaking through Barriers: Turning Imposter Syndrome into Your Success Catalyst’.
During the workshop, we learnt not just to cope with imposter syndrome but to harness it as a tool for personal growth and reflective learning. Rather than looking to eradicate our so-called ‘dark side,’ coach Natalia guided us to embrace and use it. She believes that by fleeing from imposter syndrome, you overlook invaluable opportunities for deeper self-awareness.
It was a very special 90-minute session where we all opened up to each other and allowed ourselves to be vulnerable. Natalia provided us with some great tools that we can take with us. In this article, we go through the key takeaways from the session.
TL;DR
Understanding imposter syndrome: In short, it means doubting your accomplishments and fearing exposure as a fraud despite evidence of competence. Imposter symptoms include self-doubt, fear of failure, attributing success to luck, and downplaying achievements.
Types of imposters: Natalia identified five personas: The perfectionist, the natural genius, the soloist, the superhuman and the expert. Although you might feel one resonates more with you, it’s normal to have attributes from several of these types of imposters.
Believe in yourself: There is this paradox where others believe in you, but you struggle to believe in yourself. It’s time to start believing in those who have faith in you.
Empowerment: Recognising and celebrating personal successes, embracing vulnerability and creating a supportive environment will help you.
Affirmations: Writing personalised affirmations to combat negative self-talk is a useful exercise.
Spreading the love: Expressing gratitude and acknowledging others' contributions creates a positive environment and makes celebrating our successes easier.
Emotional awareness: Understanding and managing emotions is powerful. Using tools like the ‘feelings wheel’ to identify emotions helps you better understand your feelings.
Taking imposter thoughts to court: Identifying imposter thoughts, gathering evidence for and against them, challenging distorted thinking, arriving at a verdict, and developing coping strategies can help with balanced thinking.
Community support and accountability: The ongoing support and celebration of successes within a community is so important!
Understanding Imposter Syndrome
To set us off, Natalia defined imposter syndrome as a psychological phenomenon in which people doubt their accomplishments and persistently fear being exposed as ‘frauds’ despite evidence of their competence.
She highlighted common symptoms, including feelings of self-doubt, fear of failure, attributing success to luck rather than ability, and the tendency to downplay achievements.
Types of Imposters
Natalia introduced us to the five different types of imposter personas, as outlined by psychologist Dr. Valerie Young:
The Perfectionist: Setting excessively high standards for oneself and feeling like a failure if these standards are not met.
The Natural Genius: Expecting tasks to come easily and feeling shame or inadequacy when they require effort or assistance.
The Soloist: Feeling like you have to accomplish tasks independently and avoiding help from others, fearing it will reveal incompetence.
The Superhuman: Pushing oneself to work harder and harder, often at the expense of personal well-being, in an attempt to prove one's worth.
The Expert: Feeling the need to know everything before taking on a new challenge, fearing being exposed as lacking knowledge or expertise.
Which one resonates most with you? You might have several of these attributes from more than one persona – that’s completely normal!
It’s Time to Believe in Yourself
Natalia shared a quote by Adam Grant, who described imposter syndrome as a paradox where others believe in you, but you struggle to believe in yourself.
“Impostor syndrome is a paradox:
Others believe in you
You don't believe in yourself
Yet you believe yourself instead of them
If you doubt yourself, shouldn't you also doubt your judgment of yourself?”
It raises the question of doubting the judgment we have of ourselves when others have confidence in us.
Empowerment
Natalia emphasised empowerment as a key strategy for managing imposter syndrome. This involves recognising and celebrating personal successes, embracing vulnerability, and creating an environment of recognition and support.
“If we get you to feel empowered, you can support the other people to feel empowered. And it grows and grows and grows and grows, and it's beautiful and super strong.”
Natalia highlighted the power of recognising and celebrating personal achievements, no matter how small. She encouraged us to log our successes and reflect on them regularly to counteract imposter feelings.
Affirmations
Affirmations can help reduce stress and activate reward centres in the brain. Crafting personal affirmations promotes positive thinking and self-empowerment. We learned about the benefits of using affirmations to combat negative self-talk and promote positive thinking.
Natalia provided guidance on crafting personalised affirmations tailored to individual strengths and goals. During the session on May 8th, you’ll be guided through creating your own affirmations.
Spreading the Love
During the workshop, we discussed ways to create a ripple effect of recognition and support, such as expressing gratitude and acknowledging the impact of others' contributions. Natalia discussed the importance of fostering a supportive environment where people feel safe to share their experiences and vulnerabilities.
Sharing practical ways to make it happen, Natalia encouraged us to express gratitude and recognition for others' achievements, promoting a culture of support and empowerment.
Emotional Awareness
Natalia discussed the importance of understanding and managing emotions, particularly concerning imposter syndrome. She explained that emotions are neither good nor bad; they simply are. We can develop a healthier relationship with our emotions by acknowledging and accepting them. Natalia highlighted the importance of naming and observing emotions without judgment.
She introduced tools like the ‘feelings wheel’ to help us identify and understand our emotions more effectively. The wheel consists of a circular diagram divided into sections, each representing a different category of emotions (e.g., joy, sadness, anger, fear). Within each category, further subdivisions represent specific emotions or feelings associated with that category.
“If you can't name it, you can't tame it. And it's really important that we start to build this skill about identifying our emotions.”
By becoming more emotionally aware, we can better manage and respond to imposter feelings constructively.
Taking Imposter Thoughts to Court
During the workshop, we went through a structured exercise to challenge imposter thoughts by collecting evidence for and against them. This process helps evaluate the accuracy of these thoughts and reframe them into more balanced perspectives.
For those looking to attend the workshop in May, you will get more of a detailed guide, but here’s an overview:
1. Identifying Imposter Thoughts
The first step in this process is identifying the thoughts or beliefs associated with imposter syndrome.
2. Gathering Evidence
Once the imposter thoughts are identified, gather evidence supporting or refuting these beliefs.
3. Examining the Evidence
With the evidence collected, we can objectively evaluate the validity of our imposter thoughts.
4. Challenging Distorted Thinking
Many imposter thoughts are based on irrational beliefs. By challenging these beliefs, we can reframe our thinking in a more balanced and realistic way.
5. Reaching a Verdict
After considering the evidence and challenging distorted thinking, we can arrive at a verdict regarding the validity of our imposter thoughts.
6. Developing Coping Strategies
Finally, we can develop coping strategies to manage imposter thoughts when they arise in the future.
By taking imposter syndrome thoughts ‘to court’ in this way, we can gain greater insight into the underlying beliefs driving our feelings of inadequacy and develop more effective strategies for managing and navigating imposter syndrome.
Community Support and Accountability
Towards the end of the workshop, Natalia emphasised the importance of ongoing support and celebration of successes within a community. We were encouraged to continue sharing our achievements and supporting each other in our journeys.
Natalia concluded that our work is not done: "I hope you feel empowered. This is the beginning. This is a labour of love, and I want you to practice hard.”
So, we have to keep working, keep believing in ourselves and keep spreading the love. Thankfully, we have the perfect community for just that.
Members of the Women in CX community get access to in-depth thought leadership before anyone else (not to mention additional learning resources and exclusive events!).
Do you want to join us?
