How impostor syndrome affects the productivity of youths

In the midst of current global trends, especially the Covid-19 saga, I like to share with you something to discuss that I find prevalent among young people which may be affecting their productivity negatively at the workplace or the society at large.

It’s the Impostor Syndrome!

A term I came across just last month. It’s believed to be suffered by one-third of young people globally and a mental health issue common among millennials. In Nigeria today, we have several cases of young people committing suicide due to failure in examinations or a broken relationship. Young people seem to doubt themselves more than ever, which can be blamed on the overuse of social media or on family background. Seeing other’s achievements online can compound the problem.

It’s an internal dialogue of self-doubt or inadequacy that persists despite evident success. I have termed it the” I must not fail” syndrome. It can also be a constant process of seeing a list of your achievements, disregarding them and disbelieving that you can reach the next. (This isn’t low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence) as it’s also suffered by highly intelligent/successful people.

Young people can overcome impostor Syndrome by:

 Developing a new response/approach to failure: “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently”. Try to do things differently and check out the outcome.

Reward yourself: celebrate small and big wins. If no one validates you. Please do it yourself. Learn to pat yourself on the back.

Make the rules: you have the right to make small mistakes and be corrected. So, ask questions often from people you see as mentors. Don’t be scared to ask for help.

-       Take the risk: take calculated risk and build confidence. A drop of water they say makes an ocean.

Impostors have the tendency to attribute success to luck and not their abilities. They should know that success well-planned looks more real. Hence, they must intentionally visualize success.

The article was written by Akinjise Daniel