In our roles as communicators, creativity isn't just a skill, but a lifeline. Sometimes, however, this ability can be overshadowed by self-doubt. Whether you're submitting a paper, crafting an article or pitching a proposal, imposter syndrome can haunt us — whispering that we're not good enough or capable enough.

As IABC member Ali Ryan aptly puts it, "Imposter syndrome is the consistent and persistent doubt that just eats away at our core."

In the video below, Ali, founder and marketing strategist behind CULTR., explores the root of this phenomenon. Learn how you can overcome its grip and tackle the four P's — people pleasing, perfectionism, paralysis and procrastination.

Transcript: Read Along With Ali Here

Ali Ryan: Hi, I'm Ali Ryan. I've been in communications for the last 10 years and today I'm going to be teaching you a little bit about imposter syndrome. What does that have to do with communications? Well, simply, it's at the core of what we do. As communicators, we essentially rely on being creative, and in that process, we struggle with a lot of imposter syndrome. And most of the time, this is self-imposed.

Imposter syndrome is the consistent and persistent doubt that just eats away at our core. When we're turning in a paper — if you're a student — or you're submitting an article — as a writer — finishing off your novel, or just in the process of writing it, or putting together a really important proposal — through all these different examples and more, we start to struggle with imposter syndrome. Which is our almost inner voice telling us that we're a fraud, or we shouldn't be doing this, or we're not confident enough to do this or we're not equipped enough to do this. And this can really affect the way we live our lives, the way we do our jobs and just the way we function as people.

The four Ps of imposter syndrome include people pleasing, perfectionism, paralysis and procrastination. While everyone can experience imposter syndrome, it's definitely more common among minorities of all different varieties. So whether that's being a woman, being a person of color, any form of minority can experience this, but this is something that everybody absolutely encounters at least once in their life.

Despite successes and wins and accomplishments of all sorts, you can still feel like you're an imposter, the fear of failure, the sense of perfectionism and needing everything to be absolutely perfect. And honestly, even just this collective pressure that's woven into the way we speak to and communicate with our friends and peers, can all be factors in imposter syndrome. These all significantly fuel it. This contributes to more weight on your shoulders, more pressure in the day to day and, of course, ultimately affects how we do our work, especially as communicators. This absolutely contributes to patterns that we see in burnout, stress and ultimately just really deterioration of how we do our best as communicators.

Signs of imposter syndrome include feelings of guilt, feelings of self-consciousness, undervaluing yourself — whether it's in your personal life or in the workplace — chronic self-doubt, reattribution of success, like the, “Oh, I might have done it, but it couldn't have done it without so-and-so.” So ultimately, the fear of failure.

So how can we stop it? You have to equip yourself with the tools that already exist inside of you and action them.

Actionable steps are the only way to conquer imposter syndrome. This can include changing and rewiring your thoughts — so, instead of saying I can't, saying I can — turning statements of negativity or anxiety into as positive statements as much as possible to get you back in the proper frame of mind and to challenge the notion of perfectionism. It doesn't have to be perfect; it needs to be your best and it needs to be polished.

But truly, there's no such thing as perfect. You need to celebrate your wins. No matter how small they may seem, it's so important to your self-confidence. Express any concerns that you have that you feel are truly, truly legitimate with the people in your space to see how they can help or how you might be able to reframe things in your own mind to help yourself as well. This can also be done through things like journaling, or just writing things out and ultimately be very realistic.

I think, especially as creative types, we can tend to get a little fantastical with our thoughts. Ultimately, you have to bring yourself back down and just really focus on what the reality is and what needs to get accomplished, and what you have the ability to do — and you do have the ability to do it.

Make sure always to reflect on your journey, recognize your growth and embrace your achievement. Look forward to future successes, because they will come without the cloud of imposter syndrome. Bye, it was nice to chat with you.

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