How To Get Rid of Imposter Syndrome?

I misrepresented myself and stole other people's ideas, and made them my own. I surrounded myself with an aura of confidence while hiding shame inside me; I knew deep down that I didn't deserve the recognition and success I received, and to be honest, I'm not what you think, but is there someone who is really honest? Or  are we all imposters, doing our best to show up as we should be?

Note: This article is based on the work of businessman Dave Nemetz, in which he tells us how to get rid of imposter syndrome.

Suppose you're the founder of a company, content creator, or any human being. In that case, you're probably familiar with Imposter Syndrome. It's estimated that 70% of people have Imposter Syndrome at some point in their lives. Symptoms include an inability to recognize success and potential, fear of being discovered, and painful self-doubt.

Many well-known personalities have reported feeling like frauds even after reaching the top in their field. As Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Maya Angelou said of her self-doubt, “I've written 11 books, but every time I think: I've fooled everyone, and they'll find out about me”.

Legendary novelist John Steinbeck shared similar concerns, saying, “I'm not a writer, and I've fooled myself and others. ” If top performers can't avoid impostor syndrome, what will others say? These  feelings either eliminate our thoughts and limit our potential or realize that we are all experiencing them.

My experience with impostor syndrome

My sense of being an imposter has never disappeared, but I've learned and developed strategies to counter it. Yet my inner doubts return when I take to the stage to speak at a conference, raise my voice to make a point at an executive meeting, or read critiques of my work online.

Impostor syndrome began appearing in me at the beginning of my work in establishing companies; I founded Bleacher Report when I was 22 in  2005, and Facebook was still a curiosity, and the young founder craze hadn't quite started.

In those days, I learned to take advantage of the situation that I am a fraud as an advantage. Early on, I set a goal to build relationships with famous sports media companies, and at my age and experience level, I felt that I was a stranger everywhere. I quickly realized that this could be in my interest, as my young age and lack of experience reduced expectations, so I only had to exceed these simple expectations to be able to achieve success.

I remember attending a private meeting with senior executives at CBS Sports on one side of the table. The company's employees sat in their uniforms, they seemed to me like real adults who knew everything, and on the other, I sat with my shaggy hair and clothes that weren't right, and I was there to explain to them about a sports startup.

I did my best to support myself, believing deep down that they also knew I didn't belong here. Still, I asked for the meeting, and they came to it, so whether they took me seriously or not, I focused on doing business, and I left the meeting with a deal to distribute my company's content on their popular site.

At the time, it was a giant move to prove our brand's eligibility, and two years later, one of those executives, Rich Calacci, joined my company and was the first chief revenue officer. Was he involved in the hoax? At that point in his career, he probably knew no one was familiar with everything.

We all made things up constantly, and he preferred to join some novice activists who were discovering things in a new way. Within a few years, our company had achieved great success, and after years of experience, it reached the peak of the startup's success when we sold everything we had to Turner Sports.

what happened to the feelings of imposter syndrome when I actually had success?

Did it all disappear because I achieved the goal all founders aspire to? No, The imposter syndrome has become even more severe. When I entered a room, the people on the other side of the table no longer saw a young founder of a small business; Instead, they saw Dave Nemetz, the seasoned founder of Bleacher Report, a digital media success story.

In the past, I could only progress by exceeding minimum expectations. Still, now I felt that everyone expected me to be an expert in everything, and expectations became more excellent, leaving more room for self-doubt. I became aware of what others thought of me and worried about whether I presented myself as a successful founder or not.

As feelings of insecurity increased, I returned to self-deprecation, and I always adopted my sense of humor to overcome embarrassing situations, which was no different. I thought I could throw two birds with one stone; through my self-esteem, I could lower the expectations, and by showing humility, I would prove that I did not let success control me.

But this approach didn't work because I thought I could fight the impostor syndrome by lowering the standards expected of me and giving in to them. Because of humor and humility, I denied my success; I was hoping to convince others and then myself that I wasn't brilliant, so I wouldn't see myself as a poser.

This mindset left me confused for years after I founded my second company. It was better to keep expectations low; I knew I could achieve them rather than make them too high and fail. I even resisted writing publicly because of the doubts I felt; I would say to myself, “Nobody wants to hear what I have to say, and I don't want to be one of those guys who do everything they can and then fail in the end, and I'd rather back off and avoid potential setbacks”.

Since I started writing recently, the shortcomings of this thinking have clearly emerged. I have received tremendous support and appreciation from peers, people I respect, and, most importantly, founders and creators who have faced similar situations. Certainly, some of them have disagreed with the things I have written, but this has sparked healthy discussion and new ways of thinking, and I am sure that some people hate me, but I do not have time to occupy my thinking with them; life is very short.

Overcoming imposter syndrome

So what 's changed? And how did you overcome imposter syndrome? And how did I give up the cover of humor and humility to reveal my true self? How have I accepted and taken responsibility for my successes while comfortably treating the problems I face? The  sale of my second company, Inverse, played a significant role in this. For years after my first company, I had a load on my shoulder to prove that I wasn't successful because of luck, and my second company was my chance to show that I could replicate success, this time alone. I am very proud of Inverse in many ways, even though it did not achieve the commercial success achieved by Bleacher Report.

So  what happened after my second weak startup? And  has the imposter that I've always been doing been uncovered?  Was my personal and professional life based on lies?  Investors continued to struggle to express their support and interest in supporting future efforts, founders and colleagues still came to me for advice, and  life goes on.

The best way to fight the impostor syndrome

I have found that the best way to fight the impostor syndrome is to be myself.

I don't have to worry about the level of other people's expectations of me, I stop thinking about what other people think of me, and I take responsibility for my success or failure. The truth is that everyone else is too busy with their own level of expectations and has no time to think about mine.