Furthermore, do you recognize that you:
Do you recognize all these things? Then, don’t worry at all. You’re most likely affected by imposter syndrome. That perhaps sounds a little heavy and daunting but it isn’t. Rest assured! You are not the only one. The outcome of research varies but one thing is clear and that is that a lot of people are affected by imposter syndrome.
According to research, 70% of US millennials suffer from imposter syndrome to some extent.
We have to go all the way back to the 1970s to find the moment when imposter syndrome was researched for the first time. Though, in this decade, the concept has become more well-known in the workplace and personal life. Why? Mainly because of the increased awareness, rise of self-care and perhaps also the fact that more millennials are affected by the imposter syndrome.
Wikipedia describes imposter syndrome as the experiences of individuals who struggle to recognize the legitimacy of their accomplishments and are afraid that others will discover they are frauds. It is not a definitive causality, but those who are affected by imposter syndrome may have low self-confidence as well. And this, even though they have top-class resumes and have already achieved loads.
But does imposter syndrome to some extent not motivate us? It could be a catalyst to work harder, right? No. The negative effects clearly outweigh the positive ones. Toxic work environments and limited education in terms of self-care are causes of the rise of imposter syndrome in our lives. That is sad. Because we want our highly competent individuals with the greatest ideas to feel free to express them, right? That can lead to great things! And we don’t want imposter syndrome to gag them from uttering these. Imposter syndrome has a negative effect on individuals. But for sure on our society at large as well. It impedes individuals and our society from growing to their potential.
So, why are we the unlucky ones? Why are we the ones who are most affected by this imposter syndrome? Is it true what they say about millennials? Are we the snowflake generation that is fragile and needs a lot of care?
We believe that the millennial generation is the generation with the highest potential. We are able to accomplish great things and have already proven this time after time. Generation X and the baby boomers are benefiting daily from all the inventions made by the millennials. Though, this geniality comes at a cost. Our generation is also the one with the highest emotional sensitivity. We experience everything super intensely. Next to that, we are dealing with a set of difficult challenges unique to the times we live in.
It doesn’t count for everybody, but to some extent, we have our parents to thank for our confidence deficit. We are members of the so-called trophy generation. We were praised for every little thing we did in our youth. Children even got trophies for coming last. Our parents, with the best intentions to be clear, shielded us from any negativity. Resulting in that the transition to grown-up-life is even steeper. This time we won’t get a reward for every deed done. This fuels our uncertainty and frees the way for the imposter syndrome to kick in and suffocate us.
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