So You Have Imposter Syndrome? Wonderful!

I love to work on Imposter Syndrome with people for a number of reasons.

First of all, it’s helpful to remember it’s not really a syndrome– I mean, it’s not really a thing, it’s just a thought…or one thought that turns into a collection of thoughts that we think a lot and then we label them and call it a “syndrome”. We assign some kind of meaning to these thoughts, and we tell ourselves we have an affliction, a condition. But it’s just thinking. Like all thinking, we can shift our attention away from it if we want, we can release it, or we can leave it alone. We can also look at it more closely, with curiosity, and see what it might be telling us (more on that in a minute).

Secondly – and we’ll just keep calling it a syndrome for the purposes of this blog -- I think most performers have Imposter Syndrome to some degree, if not most humans! I’ve talked about it with people who are new to singing and performing and with people who have been singing and performing for decades, and with people somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. What I’ve found is it doesn’t matter how “pro” or experienced you are— anyone can have these thoughts and feelings at any time. I remember when I first learned that Meryl Streep has acknowledged openly that she has struggled with Imposter Syndrome. Let’s let that sink in for a second. If Meryl Streep, arguably one of the greatest actors of our time, wonders if she’s the “real deal”, then this is really good news for the rest of us. We are all off the hook. Right? This reminds us that just because we think a thing, just because a thought or a question occurs to us, does not mean it is true. It is simply human to have these thoughts.

We are the ones assigning “truth” to them because these thoughts have a charge. Because they relate to something we care deeply about, or desire greatly, or feel vulnerability around. We automatically give more weight, more possible truth, to those thoughts or feelings.

Lastly, in my experience Imposter Syndrome is not a bad thing. The thoughts that feel like doubt, that cause us to question if we are good enough, are not anything to be afraid of. They aren’t anything we need to give power to, unless we want to flip the script and let those thoughts empower us. We are capable of framing this thinking differently for ourselves. We don’t actually need to try to get rid of it. What if it’s a sign that we are moving in the direction of something great? Or a sign we have achieved something great?

The high performance coach Rich Litvin says he loves it when his clients express feeling Imposter Syndrome because it means they are “playing a high level game”. He said he wants them to feel like an imposter. Maybe you’ve up-leveled your game significantly and wonder if you’re in over your head. Could you see this as a welcome thing that simply comes with the territory?

Here’s a scenario I’ve encountered again and again: A person has been working hard and suddenly their career takes off. Some kind of amazing big break happens. They sign a deal or book a big tour or something goes viral or they get invited to perform at a very high-profile event. All good stuff, right? The stuff that person has worked for, hoped for, planned for, dreamed of. But they suddenly find themselves filled with fear that it’s a fluke, that they don’t belong in that high-level game they are now playing.

Here’s another scenario: A person is newer to singing & performing, maybe they’re stepping into a desire they’ve felt for years but they don’t have the experiences, things they can point to, that help them feel confident they can do it. So there is doubt, there is fear that they can’t really do it, that they don’t have what it takes. Again, that fear and doubt is simply part of moving into a next-level “thing”.

And still another: the pro performer who has had a decades-long career but took some time off or the pro performer who wants to try something new, sing something different, create something unique. The thoughts might say “you don’t know how to do this anymore, or maybe you never did know how, never did belong”. The thoughts might say “you can do this one thing okay but don’t try to do this other thing, you might embarrass yourself”.

I’ve watched that fear and doubt show up in my clients, time after time, like clockwork. And I’ve experienced it myself– both as a coach and a performer. I still experience it at times and I hope I always will, because it means I’m growing, I am expanding and pushing myself into higher levels of the things I love to do in my professional life: singing and coaching singers.

What if we can feel excited when we feel Imposter Syndrome?

What if we can welcome it?

What if we can smile when we notice those thoughts, and pat ourselves on the back and be proud of the steps we are taking to go beyond our comfort zones? When imposter syndrome-type thinking shows up, it means we are being courageous in some way, or we are contemplating taking courageous action.

So congratulations if you have Imposter Syndrome! I’m happy for you. And just for fun, take a few minutes today to Google “famous people with imposter syndrome” and read about some of them. You’ll find you’re in very good company.