How To Overcome Imposter Syndrome Once and For All
You’ve heard the phrase, “fake it ‘til you make it.” But have you actually tried it?
Think right now of someone who embodies everything you wish you were, without any of your flaws or insecurities. (I’ll wait.)
Close your eyes and imagine that you are that person at their highest performance level. Notice your body. Are you sitting taller? Breathing deeper? You might notice you feel more open or light. NOW, rather than becoming someone who already exists, craft your own alter ego. Someone who embodies all the confidence and personal power that you yearn for without all of your baggage.
If you think it’s weird, think again. The best of the best have used this strategy to overcome self-doubt.
Kobe Bryant created Black Mamba, inspired by an assassin in the Tarantino movie, Kill Bill, after the backlash from his sexual assault case. Bryant told a reporter, "The name [Kobe Bryant] just evokes such a negative emotion...' If I create this alter ego, now when I play...it separates the personal stuff, right?' You're not watching David Banner – you're watching the Hulk."
Turns out the alter ego technique even works for radio sales people. Bell Media General Manager, Hilary Whyte, told me recently about a salesperson on her team who carried a card in her wallet from her training days. On it was a phrase her sports psychologist had given her. It said, “Act as if, and you will become.”
Whyte said, “She used to tell us that when she showed up at the oval to train (speed skating was her sport), she would get out of the car with her skates, and the entire walk to the building, she told herself, I am an Olympian. She walked like one. She said hello to people like one. She laced up her skates like one. She trained to never move off of this mentality, and she made it to compete in Nagano the following year.
When Whyte asked her why she still carried the card, she said it reminded her of the power of the human mind. And that with the right mindset, she knew – she had the proof – you can do anything.
The beauty of alter egos is that if you create them to be a more fearless and confident version of yourself, eventually you may merge with it. Beyonce created her alter ego, the fearless Sasha Fierce, whom she could draw on to overcome her stage fright. She might have been nervous, but Sasha Fierce sure wasn’t. In 2010, Beyonce killed off Sasha Fierce. She had grown into the person Sasha had helped her to become and she no longer needed her.
We all have beliefs about ourselves that create false limits. Have you ever caught yourself saying “Oh I could never do that!” The alter ego gives us a way through those fears to a bigger embodiment of what we’re capable of. Asking “What would [your alter ego] do?” will reduce or eliminate your negative self-talk and cut through into your deepest, truest intuition.
And in the end, like Beyonce did with Sasha Fierce, your alter ego might just become a permanent part of you – the most confident, fearless, honest and iconic part.
Hat tip: Sideways podcast episode 14: Let’s All Be Batman.