The 5 Characters of Imposter Syndrome (Including the Action-Based Plan to Move Through Them)
April 10th, 2024 — Written by Charlotte Jade Askew for The Artist’s Lens Collection
Rewiring our inner chatter requires compassion, openness, patience, vigor, and, quite often, ingenuity.
In today’s article, we are covering 5 types of Imposter Syndrome—the 5 different characters we play as a result of unhealthy relationships and ways of relating within the world that have impacted how we may think about and relate to the self. And so, we take on characters, personas in our mind that drive the way we communicate with ourselves and with others.
The Character List:
The Perfectionist
The Expert
The Natural Genius
The Soloist
The Superhuman
Our intention, ultimately, is to create a loving relationship with these characters so as to reassign their focus, providing a seat at our inner table in a way that serves the intentions of the true self.
*A Fun Addition: Let us know in the comment section below which character(s) you resonate with.
Article 02 of The Artist’s Lens collection.
What we are covering in this article:
*click below to navigate directly to the section you wish to read, or continue with the story as you were
1. The fear of being found out (the root system of self-doubt)
2. What really happens when we live with emotional rules? (in the company of imposters)
3. What happens when we repeat this pattern? (mustering up conclusions)
4. Imposter Syndrome - the details (9 clever ways our inner chatter can constrict us)
5. The 5 characters of imposter syndrome (the personas we endure)
6. The perfectionist and the expert (the details of our first 2 characters)
7. The natural genius, the soloist, and the superhuman (our next 3 characters)
8. Why is the character here? (where the persona began)
9. Socialized in this way (making ourselves smaller, goodness, and minimization of self)
10. An actionable pathway to resolution (creating context for your why, making new choices, taking new action, listening to the guidance of your body)
11. Developing your relationship with passionate courage (showing yourself that you can do the thing)
12. Fostering self efficacy (the amount of belief you have in yourself)
13. Healthy self-talk (not everything we think is true)
14. The shift required to deliberately strengthen a new neural connection (an example showcasing the journey)
15. Staking your claim (knowing who you are and the worth that you have)
16. Our Bookshop (shop our ever-growing selection of books for creatives)
17. The resources we deliver at Casey Jacque (essays on whole body health, creative career building, creative direction, intentional travel, sustainable living, love and relating, and more)
Written by Charlotte Askew
(click here to read about Charlotte)
“They’re going to find out I’m not good at this.”
“They know I’m winging it.”
“I’m not ready…”
Are those thoughts familiar? Same.
Feeling like a fraud, a fake, a phony. The ultimate imposter. We’ve all been there. It’s an in-your-guts kind of sick. An ever-expanding hollowed-out feeling.
Basically—“I’m not as good as they think I am, I don’t have it together, and I’m going to mess this up.”
It’s self-doubt, but it’s also more nuanced than that. On some level, it whittles down to the fear of being found out. Being observed by others in such a way that finds us wanting. Counterfeit. Imposters.
What really happens when we live with emotional rules?:
in the company of imposters
Here’s an example of the kind of self-talk that can take place when we’re living with the formidable ‘Imposter Syndrome’:
First, we create an emotional rule for ourselves, something that we (or society) decide is true.
Emotional rule: I must achieve my goals perfectly.
Next, we have a thought (or often multiple thoughts) about that rule.
Thoughts: I haven’t achieved my goals perfectly. I’ve messed up a bunch, and I’m not even there yet. There’s something wrong with me. Even though other people seem to think I’m doing great, I can’t get this right.
Then, we draw conclusions about what these thoughts mean about us. We make it mean something about who we are as a person; we let it attack our character.
What happens when we repeat this pattern?:
we muster up conclusions
Conclusions:
-I am a fraud. People have no idea I’m not worth the compliments they try to give me.
-If anyone finds out I said I wanted to achieve this and haven’t done it yet, I’ll be horrified. They’ll think I’m a liar and a fake and I don’t have my sh*t together.
I have to work even harder. I must do better. I can’t let them see me fail.
Are you squirming? Me too. I felt triggered writing that. It’s the exact kind of self-talk I used to let run through my brain whenever I felt I wasn’t good enough or doing enough…which was most of the time. So brutal. Devoid of understanding. Lacking kindness. In desperate need of compassion.
Often, though, that’s the default chatter. (It certainly was for me.) Whenever I felt shamed, embarrassed, or vulnerable, I’d go straight for my own jugular, and it always ended in the conclusion: I needed to be better.
Imposter syndrome—the deets:
clever ways our inner chatter can constrict us
You might already have realized, from that self-talk example, that you also grapple with this type of internal communication, but if it doesn’t resonate for you (I’m so glad if it doesn’t) here’s a list of characteristics you can reflect on to see how it might be showing up in your life in other ways:
You might experience…
Feeling undeserving and/or fraudulent.
Believing that you’re not as competent as others might think you are.
Attributing your accomplishments to external circumstances (e.g., you were only elected captain because people didn’t know who else to vote for).
Perfectionism and feeling like you have to be flawless.
6. Persistent worry about how activities/tasks will turn out, accompanied by a general feeling of pressure, restlessness, or overwhelm.
7. Self-sabotaging behaviours (hello, procrastination!) & pervasive self-doubt.
8. Overachieving (you may be successful, but you also feel burned out and experience continual anxiety).
9. A deep fear of not living up to other people’s expectations.
10. Looking down on yourself & your performance (you struggle to receive compliments and play down your achievements). This one deserves an example because it can be so insidious! Let’s say someone says to you, “I love your hair!” Instead of accepting the kindness intended with the compliment by responding thank you and leaving it at that, you qualify it in some way and add, ‘It’s so hot in summer!” or “It’s so hard to maintain.”
The 5 characters of imposter syndrome:
the personas we endure
There are 5 different flavours (5 types) of Imposter Syndrome—characters we play. I call them characters because Imposter Syndrome isn’t the true self. It is the result of unhealthy relationships and ways of relating within the world that have impacted how we think about and relate to the self. And so, we take on characters, damaging personas in our mind that drive the way we speak to ourselves and others.
The Character List:
The Perfectionist
The Expert
The Natural Genius
The Soloist
The Superhuman
the perfectionist:
This is the character that believes they need to be perfect, and unless they are, they could have and should have done better. When they’re not perfect, they decide it means that they’re not as good, talented, or experienced as other people think they are.
the expert:
This character believes they’re not as capable, intelligent, or knowledgeable as other people in their field. They think this because they don’t know everything there is to know about it and haven’t mastered every element of the process or topic yet.
the natural genius:
The natural genius believes they’re not naturally intelligent, talented, or competent and have to work harder than others. They tend to assume that it takes longer for them to learn than others, and if they don’t get something right the first time, they’re a fraud.
the soloist:
This character is the one who believes they wouldn’t be where they are without the help of others. They question their capabilities because they didn’t do it all by themselves and believe that if they were good enough, they would have been able to do it alone.
the superhuman:
The superhuman is the character who believes they must be the hardest, most productive worker to succeed, and if they don’t succeed, it’s entirely their own fault. They have the tendency to persistently feel like a fake or fraud because they didn’t do better.
Why is the character here?:
where the persona began
We adopt the characters (often more than one or sometimes all) for many different reasons.
If you grew up in a home that prized achievement and/or hard work or with parents whose parenting style was characterized by controlling or overprotective behaviours, you might find you have one of these characters living in your head. If there was a lot of conflict in your home and not much emotional support, if your parents were highly critical or flipped between praise and criticism, you might find you’re struggling with believing in yourself. The same goes for if you had a partner or friend(s) who treated you in any of these ways. Maybe you felt like you had to be perfect to keep the peace or to receive love and connection. Sometimes, the characters show up when we step outside of our comfort zones or go through a transitional period in our lives.
Socialized in this way:
making ourselves smaller, goodness, and the minimization of self
As a woman, I also want to speak briefly to the experience of being socialized to behave in ways that minimize myself and my contributions. Women are often taught not to say too much, not to be too abrasive or opinionated, to avoid standing out. We learn to frame our suggestions as questions and to play down our abilities and expectations. All of which contribute to pervasive experiences of Imposter Syndrome.
What’s most important for our growth is how we choose to move forward.
An actionable pathway to resolution:
making new choices, taking new action, listening to the guidance of your body
I’m going to make three suggestions here, each with some actionable steps to implement, but I want to stress the actionable aspect. We’ve all heard the saying, “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” And perhaps you might be a little burned out on it, but I want us to sit with it here for a second. With what that really means. Doing is what moves the needle. Making new choices, taking new action. Actively implementing the things below will create transformative results in your life…but I can’t implement them for you. You have to take those steps yourself.
creating context
I encourage you to search yourself for the why of these changes. Decide why things need to change. In five years time, do you want to be in the same place in your relationship with yourself as you are now? Why not? Why does it matter to you? Why does it need to change? Write it down somewhere you can look at it every day. Your why will be your guiding force when the current in the river of change tries to rip you away from yourself.
developing your relationship with passionate courage
If you think about it, courage is the opposite of Imposter Syndrome. Courage provides the fuel for confidence. Courage is how we train confidence. But let’s also be very clear: courage is not the absence of Imposter Syndrome. Courage always, initially, involves doing in spite of. Doing in spite of fear. Doing in spite of feeling not good enough. Doing in spite of a lack of self-belief. The very nature of courage implies the necessity to be courageous, and therein lies the beauty. By doing things that require courage, you realize in your brain, body, and soul that you can. You show yourself you can do it because doing something you’re not confident about, grows your confidence.
actions:
Make a list of things that frighten you but that you’d like to do, and tick one off a month (or week if you want to fast-track things!)
Seek out a mentor in your field or a coach in the area in which you want to experience self-growth (say hi in my DMs @inner-chatter if you’d like to work together on self-doubt). This is usually a fear-provoking action and requires courage in itself, but it will also create an incredible experience of learning and connection.
At the end of every day, write in your diary or journal one accomplishment that required courage (even if just a little bit), something you’re proud of yourself for doing that day. This is a process of starting to recognize for yourself where courage is already showing up in your life.
fostering self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is the amount of belief you have in yourself. What’s your bounce-back factor? How often do you persist in the face of setbacks and challenges? Cultivating your self-efficacy will quiet the Imposter Syndrome characters because you will have your own back. Even if those voices pop up, you will be able to rally and believe in your capacity.
Self-efficacy is not a grandiose, inflated sense of yourself. It’s an honest understanding of your strengths and an innate confidence in who you are. A balanced and peaceful, pervasive feeling of self-love and self-trust.
actions:
Make a list of all your achievements over your lifetime. Go back as far as you can remember. If you get stuck, ask your friends and family for their reflections. Gather evidence for your character and competence. What are you good at? What have you learned?
Engage in an exercise of insight. Knowing yourself deeply creates a fundamental understanding of who you are, authentically at your core. It’s a lot easier to believe in yourself and what you’re capable of when you know who you are and what you stand for. Reflect on the following questions:
What are your values?
How do you see yourself? What kind of person do you think you are?
What do you like about yourself?
What would you change?
What do you believe is your purpose for being here? (If you struggle with this question, ask yourself: What would I do if money were no object and I were not afraid?)
healthy self-talk
The way you talk to yourself is vital, and becoming mindful of that voice in your head is perhaps, at least in my opinion, one of the most transformative experiences one can have in a lifetime on Earth. The realization that the voice in my head is not me and that every thought I think is not automatically true, profoundly changed my life.
The truth is, the voice in your head is on auto-pilot most of the time, and you, the real self, are the one listening to that voice. The liberating part of that is that you get to choose and direct what you listen to!
That I could think something and it be a complete fiction—based solely on the unconscious programs running in my brain—both flawed me and saved me years of heartache. Not everything we think is true.
an example showcasing the shift required to deliberately strengthen your new neural connections
Here’s an example: Take the thought, ‘They’re angry at me.’ Unless someone deliberately approaches you and states this, it’s a mere thought that we have. We’re interpreting someone else’s behaviour and making it mean something, and unless they tell us, we have no way of actually knowing whether or not they are angry at us. So, we’ve just assumed and decided that’s what’s happening. It’s not a truth that we could prove in a court of law. Maybe they’re just tired or distracted or busy. Either way, we don’t know, and if we’re comfortable with our behaviour and haven’t harmed anyone…why not assume, at the very least, that they’re just feeling something? Then we can either ask them what that is (if we care about that person and their well-being), or we can proceed with our lives without torturing ourselves with thoughts of what they might be thinking or feeling.
Becoming mindful of the way you speak to yourself shifts the neural pathways in your brain. Every time you have a negative thought about yourself, it strengthens those negative pathways in your brain. Every time you have a positive thought about yourself, it strengthens those neural connections in your brain. It’s time to start deliberately strengthening the things you want to think about yourself.
actions:
Becoming mindful of your self-talk starts with training yourself in mindful practices. (Participate in any of the following to begin exercising this mental muscle: yoga, breathwork, meditation, mindful running, etc.)
Engage with someone you love and trust in regular, weekly check-ins. Create a self-talk date, where you both review the week and reflect on your self-talk, unpacking some of the difficult, challenging, or nasty things you may have said to yourself. Shame cannot survive exposure to love and acceptance. Taking the words out from inside your head and exposing them to the light and love of another will neutralize them.
Moderate your social media use. Set a time limit on your social apps using the screen time function on your phone. Stats suggest the average Australian will spend about 17 years of their life on their phone…that’s 33% of their waking hours. That’s an incredibly sobering figure, especially when we consider how much of that time is likely spent on socials and thus rampant exposure to comparison. I don’t know about you, but some of my nastiest self-talk can come when I’m scrolling and comparing my life to others. Getting conscious about your social media use will help mitigate these effects because sometimes, we can try all we like to improve how we relate to ourselves, but if we’re constantly witnessing the highlight reels of other people’s lives, it can be really difficult to avoid the comparisons. Besides, I’d like to take a few of those 17 years back!
Staking your claim:
There is a lot in this world that will try to sway you from the truth about yourself. The truth that you were born valuable, you’re here for a purpose, and you deserve every inch of happiness. No one gets to take those things away from you, especially you. It’s time to stand up and stake your claim on the person that you are and the worth that you have. And I know sometimes it’s going to feel like a battle, but truly, why not fight for yourself?
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Article Written by Charlotte Jade Askew, In-House Writer at Casey Jacque
Charlotte is a Writer, Play Therapist, and Energetic Psychology Coach living in rural Texas. Born and raised on the rugged West Australian Coastline, she is a holistic practitioner, working with the conscious and subconscious mind to cocreate transformative, mindbody healing. Her affinity for being out-of-doors rather than in, means it’s likely that when she’s not with clients or writing, you’ll find her with her horses or barefoot, sipping organic coffee.
Let’s Connect! Instagram: @inner_chatter
Read More: About the Writer
References
Cuncic, A. (2022). Imposter syndrome and social anxiety disorder. Retrieved from: https://www.verywellmind.com/imposter-syndrome-and-social-anxiety-disorder-4156469
Dixon, G. (2021). Aussies Spend Almost 17 Years in a Lifetime Staring at Their Phones. Retrieved from https://www.reviews.org/au/mobile/aussie-screentime-in-a-lifetime/#:~:text=We%20compared%20this%20to%20general,our%20lives%20on%20our%20phones.
Breeze, M. (2018). Imposter syndrome as a public feeling. Feeling academic in the neoliberal university: Feminist flights, fights and failures, 191-219.
Bravata, D. M., Madhusudhan, D. K., Boroff, M., & Cokley, K. O. (2020). Commentary: Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of imposter syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of Mental Health & Clinical Psychology, 4(3).
Mullangi, S., & Jagsi, R. (2019). Imposter syndrome: treat the cause, not the symptom. Jama, 322(5), 403-404.
