Why It Pays Off to Focus on Your Strengths — Even When It’s Hard
At a recent family gathering, I found myself in a conversation with my siblings and cousins about our careers. A theme started to surface and I was surprised to hear that even though we all worked in very different industries and roles, we were all experiencing “imposter syndrome” to varying degrees.
Imposter syndrome is that sneaky feeling or voice in the back of your head that tells you you’re not as qualified as you should be, and that at any moment your weaknesses might be found out. A report in the International Journal of Behavioral Science estimates that up to 70% of people have experienced impostor syndrome. According to the report, “Anyone can view themselves as an impostor if they fail to internalize their success.”
What Imposter Syndrome Looks Like
I see imposter syndrome show up for many of the people I work with as a therapist — especially in high performing individuals who regularly seek feedback. While seeking out feedback is generally a good thing, as it helps us evaluate our work, it can be difficult to take feedback and actually use it to improve. Often, people focus too much on the negative feedback over the positive. When this happens, they can lose confidence and start to feel like an “imposter” despite being hired for the experience and accolades they earned to get their role in the first place.
The tendency to focus on what needs to be improved can make it difficult for people to identify their strengths, even when asked about them directly. When asked, someone with imposter syndrome will likely frame their strengths by focusing on how others see them versus how they see themselves, like this:
“People think I’m a good listener.”
When people are able to overcome their imposter syndrome, they’ll state their strengths based on their own skill or their values, like this:
Skill-based statement:
“I’m a good listener.”
Value-based statement:
“It’s important to me to be a good listener.”
People are often very familiar with their weaknesses. This is common not only in the workplace but also in therapy. Many people come in with the goal of “fixing” something about themselves — which used to be one of the top focuses of therapy. But over the past 20 years or so, Positive Psychology has become a major movement in the emotional and mental health community.
According to the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania:
Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves and to enhance their experiences of love, work and play. Instead of focusing on symptoms, diagnoses and what’s not working, the focus is on what the individual does well. The goal is to increase what’s working and help people use their strengths to overcome challenges.
I have found that positive psychology is also a useful way to counteract impostor syndrome.
When people are forced to not only identify, but actually emphasize their strengths at work, they can stop thinking about failure and focus on what’s important to them, what excites them about their job and how they can set and achieve their goals.
Making positive psychology work for you:
Here are three ways you can utilize positive psychology to help overcome impostor syndrome and feel better about your standing at work:
1. Identify and tune into your core strengths. If you don’t know why you were hired, think back to your interview and try to remember how you identified your strengths. Are you putting those strengths to good use? Research cited in International Coaching Psychology Review indicates that one of the best ways to boost your long-term happiness is to use your strengths in new ways and situations.
2. Get training. If you find yourself focusing on a particular weakness or area where you feel “in over your head,” ask for help! Seek out training in that area to increase your competency and develop new strengths.
3. Practice gratitude. To overcome persistent negative thoughts when it comes to work, instituting a daily gratitude practice can help orient you to what you like about your work (skills you use) and why your work is important (values you have).
Now when I talk to others about work, I make sure to ask what they like or even love about the work they are doing. It is important to take stock of these feelings to help us validate why we do the work we do. Over time this focus on our strengths and values makes work (or therapy!) more enjoyable, and may even improve overall happiness.
Ryan Engelstad is licensed therapist who provides services through Ginger.io — a provider of around-the-clock access to emotional support and guidance from a team of coaches, therapists and psychiatrists — all through a mobile app. Ryan is based in Princeton, NJ and writes about mental health and behavior change. Follow him on Medium here.
