What’s the difference between self-doubt and doubting yourself?
Many people confuse the two, especially when talking about imposter syndrome.
In reality, they are worlds apart.
Doubting Yourself
Doubting yourself often means reflecting on your words and actions and reconsidering.
Was that the right decision? Could I have phrased that a better way? Is there a better plan?
This kind of analysis is a positive and necessary part of good leadership.
When you assess your past performance, you can learn from it and improve.
Self-doubt
Self-doubt, on the other hand, is a behaviour pattern found in imposter syndrome.
It’s the feeling or thought that you’re not (quite) good enough, despite plenty of success.
It is doubting your worth as a human being, doubting who you are and what you ‘deserve’ as a result.
This self-doubt erodes your confidence and creates a sense of isolation and a worry about being ‘found out’.
It can drag you down and hold you back, as it does for the 70% of high-achievers.
What you do vs who you are
The difference is questioning what you do vs questioning who you are.
Imposter syndrome is secretly feeling like a fraud, when you’re not.
It is driven by the belief that your worth depends on what you do. That is, self-doubt and questioning who you are.
Separate the two, and you can comfortably evaluate your performance without creating the anxiety, exhaustion, frustration and overwhelm of imposter syndrome.
And when you see that imposter syndrome is not a personality trait – it’s not who you are – then you simply have a problem to solve.