Tips For Young Advocates on How to Manage Imposter Syndrome
Legal Mentorship

Tips For Young Advocates on How to Manage Imposter Syndrome

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome involves doubting your abilities and feeling like a pretender. It manifests in high achievers who often question their accomplishments or the stature others have accorded them; and wonder if they are deserving. Imposter syndrome can result from family expectations to always emerge the best, societal pressure to overachieve in order to fit in or can be attributed to someone’s personality of internalizing doubt and failure thereby downplaying their accomplishments.

Characteristics of Imposter Syndrome

To ascertain whether the doubt you are experiencing amounts to having imposter syndrome, here are some characteristics to guide you on what imposter syndrome is:

Types of Imposter Syndromes

Which “imposter” are you?

  • The Perfectionistyou want everything to be done to perfection because you fear losing control.
  • The Super-personyou want to excel in everything that you do and always push yourself to the limit and failing to succeed makes you feel inadequate.
  • The Natural Geniusyou get things done fast with minimal effort and, any critique or request for a do-over makes you feel like a failure.
  • The Individualist you don’t ask for help from others despite the circumstances since you are ashamed of relying on others.
  • The Expertyou don’t explore opportunities until you have the knowledge, experience or expertise. Failing to have certain information makes you feel like a fraud.
  • The Noticeryou pick on very negligible mistakes and are never satisfied with your work, because you fear not belonging.
  • The Discounteryou don’t trust the compliments you are given and always sell yourself short because you feel you are not good enough.

How to Manage Imposter Syndrome

In a profession with numerous practice areas, highly competitive and constantly evolving, it’s very easy for one to have the imposter syndrome. Questioning if you’re an expert when you are tasked with a brief in an area you are perceived as an authority or wondering when everyone will discover you for the fraud you think you are.

Imposter syndrome is not a new phenomenon. Many individuals, some of them famous, suffer from it. Though it is comforting to realize that you are not alone, here are some tips to help you cope, manage or even overcome imposter syndrome.

  • Get Feedback from People You Trust

Starting your career as an advocate can be a daunting experience due to the existing competition and how complex the practice of law can be. To keep yourself from guessing what people think of you or whether you are good enough; ask for feedback on your performance or expertise, from people you trust and who have your interests at heart like your mentors. Asking for feedback from just anyone, may prove harmful as malicious people may say damaging things that might aggravate your imposter syndrome.

  • Keep Failure in Perspective

The legal profession is characterized by wins and losses for most advocates. As such, approach every brief, task or situation having known the best possible outcome and the worst possible outcome. This will help you manage your expectations thereby reducing the possibility of feeling like a failure since you had prepared for such an eventuality. You also develop a culture of learning from your mistakes rather than letting them define your career path or who you are.

  • Be Compassionate to Yourself

Don’t be hard on yourself when imposter syndrome creeps up on you. Acknowledge that you are a human being hence are not perfect. Have positive self-talk, especially in instances where you find yourself self-criticizing. Changing how you talk to yourself teaches your inner voice to think positively thereby reducing instances of self-doubt.

  • Question your Inner Voice by Assessing the Evidence and Getting Out of your Own Head

Question the voices in your head that tell you that you aren’t good enough. Does the evidence around you say you are qualified or unqualified? You can also write down your fears or talk to someone about them. Once they are out there, they become less powerful.

  • Focus on your Bottomline

In a profession where a positive reputation is good for your career, you might find yourself seeking external validation. Nevertheless, don’t measure success by external standards. Establish how success looks like to you and work towards achieving that. Treat the accolades you get as motivation to keep going rather than confirmation that you are good enough. Understanding that you are enough, will keep you grounded and prevent you from placing too much reliance on industry standards as a measure of success.

  • Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

The path to success is not a uniform one. Everyone’s definition of success is different and how they do things vary. Celebrate your uniqueness and focus on your values and goals. Being swayed by other’s definition of success derails you from achieving your goals while doing things the ways others are doing, will discourage you where things don’t turn out the way you had anticipated.

  • View Success as a Journey, not a Destination

Understand that success in the legal profession does not come overnight. You have to make small meaningful steps that will make you learn and grow, in order for you to reach the milestones of what success means to you.

Having imposter syndrome is not the end. Knowing how to cope is a step towards overcoming it. At the back of your mind, remember that:

“It’s not what you think you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you are not.”

Denis Waitley

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