Mindful in 5 Podcast

Overcome Imposter Syndrome

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 5 • Episode 163

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Success doesn’t always come with confidence. When self-doubt creeps in, it's easy to dwell on our mistakes, downplay our wins, and let imposter syndrome take over. The key is learning how to recognize and reinforce your own success.

Today, we start with a grounding exercise before diving into proven techniques to shift your mindset and challenge your inner critic. These intentional practices will help you break the cycle of negative self-talk that can hold you back in your career. Listen now to take the first step to overcoming imposter syndrome and stepping into your full potential!


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Spiwe Jefferson:

Welcome to Mindful in 5, where busy professionals find your peaceful oasis to thrive in complex work environments. I am Spiwe Jefferson attorney, certified mindfulness practitioner and author of the Mindful in 5 book series, here to guide you to a clearer, softer and more supported life. Join me and your fellow mindful ninjas as we explore science-backed mindfulness strategies for successful leaders that you can implement, starting with just five minutes a day. Elevate your work, empower your life, work higher, live stronger. Let's go.

Spiwe Jefferson:

Do you sometimes feel like an imposter at work, your confidence clouded by self-doubt and fear of being discovered as inadequate? Imposta syndrome can disrupt the joyful flow of your work, leaving you feeling unsupported and disconnected from your true capabilities and achievements. Today, we are tackling how to overcome imposter syndrome, bringing a clearer, more peaceful approach to your professional self-image. And, like the kids in this season's imagery, I invite you to come at it with a beginner's mind Curious, trusting, authentic, creative, resilient and optimistic. Now, if it is safe to do so, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, inhale and exhale One more time. Inhale and exhale. Keep your eyes closed. Imagine approaching your workday with calm, confidence, purposefully owning your achievements and abilities. By addressing imposter syndrome. You can create a softer, more supportive inner dialogue and unleash your true potential. So you can open your eyes anytime you're ready.

Spiwe Jefferson:

Let's explore a soothing technique that I call the evidence log, and here's how it works. Take some time to think about all of your accomplishments Don't be self-deprecating, this is just you talking to yourself and take a moment to write down the list of everything you're proud of or everything your friends and colleagues have said that is positive about you. At the end of each day, take a moment to write down one thing that you did well or positive feedback that you received. When self-doubt creeps in, review your evidence log, allowing the truth of all the positive feedback and accomplishments. To reassure you, I had a professional coach once who suggested establishing a kudos folder. Every time somebody sends you an email or an attaboy or attagirl, you put it in your kudos folder and that way, when self-doubt creeps in, you go back and you review what people have said about you. Big things, small things, doesn't matter. But the thing that you might be surprised by is, over time, how much stuff you collect in your kudos folder, because in the moment it might feel like this onesie, twosie thing, and if you're one of those people who doesn't accept accolades. Well, you might try and deflect and you might say, oh, it wasn't really me, it was the team, and you kind of forget about it. Because most of us tend to be very self-judgmental and we focus much more on the negative things people say to us than the positive things that they say to us, than the positive things that they say. So the other rationale for having a kudos folder is it preserves all those nice things so that even if in the moment you try and ignore it or you sort of put it aside and pretend it wasn't that important, the ability that you have to go back and just look and take a longitudinal view of what nice things people have said about you, the things you have accomplished, all those things can have a really positive impact when you are feeling low and down on yourself. And that takes us to step four. And that takes us to step four Reflect on how your actions align with your professional values, finding that clear purpose in your work.

Spiwe Jefferson:

Studies show that regularly acknowledging our achievements can significantly reduce feelings of imposter syndrome, fostering a more peaceful and confident work experience. Keeping an achievement log triggers dopamine and, once released, that can reinforce the neural pathways associated with success recognition. This biochemical process counteracts imposter syndrome's negative thought patterns in three ways. First, by reducing anxiety by 23% through regular self-reflection. Second, it can increase emotional resilience through documented wins. No-transcript.

Spiwe Jefferson:

Overcoming imposter syndrome is about recognizing and embracing your own clear worth and capabilities. So this week I invite you to start your evidence log and commit to adding it to each day's reflection. Notice how it brings a softer, more supported energy to your self-perception. You can even use some of those components from your evidence log and turn them into affirmations that you repeat to yourself every day, because, after all, if you are one of those people who's in the habit of saying very negative things to yourself, that habit isn't going to go away in a day just because you created a log. So you might need to also create a habit of reviewing certain things, specific things from your evidence log on a daily basis to start to counteract those negative thought habits that you have created over time.

Spiwe Jefferson:

You know it's easy to talk about your strengths and achievements, but well, it's easy for us to talk about them here. But sometimes it can be hard to combat that sense of not feeling like you're good enough. It can take time and effort to continually pump yourself up. So I'm not saying that it's easy to do. What I am saying is that with consistent practice you can start to overcome those negative self-reflections that you have created. You created them over time. It will take time to get past them.

Spiwe Jefferson:

In the book Mindful in Five, sangeeta Patel has a hard time seeing her strengths. There is a chapter devoted to this. She can't even come up with five things when she is challenged to do so. So what she does is what we talked about earlier. She leans heavily on what her friends and colleagues have said to her to find those strengths. You too can take her example. Click the link in the show notes to pick up your copy of Mindful in 5 or the God Lovers edition and start setting yourself up for a clearer, more joyful success experience in this new year.

Spiwe Jefferson:

Overcoming imposter syndrome can be a journey of self-discovery and peaceful self-acceptance. I say all the time mindfulness is about being present in the moment without judgment and without being overwhelmed by what's happening around you. Imposter syndrome has a lot of judgment built in I'm not good enough, I don't belong here. You judge yourself, you judge your performance and whatever else you find lacking within yourself by acknowledging your achievements with clear intention, you honor your potential and create a more supportive, confident professional presence. May your work and your life be filled with clear confidence and joyful self-assurance. You can try these approaches at home and if you need professional assistance getting out of that negative loop in your mind, there's no shame in that. Either Consult a professional, consult a counselor or whatever you need to get yourself out of that loop. So until next week this is Spewe saying be mindful and be well.

James@DiscovertheVoice:

Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from https://www. spiwejefferson. com/, or unsigned copies from Amazon, barnes, noble or wherever you get your books. Visit https://www. spiwejefferson. com/ to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.