This Is How To Overcome Impostor Syndrome: 4 Secrets From Research - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

If you're nodding your head, you're not alone. 70% of people have felt it at one time or another - with some experiencing it chronically. And some very big names have been afflicted with it:

Albert Einstein:

...the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.

Maya Angelou:

I can only dream that I will one day reach their level of astounding fraudulence. Jeez, look how inferior my fraudulence is to theirs. I'm a fraud at being a fraud... Seriously, there's a lesson here: these two make it abundantly clear that no amount of achievement is going to convince you . That approach won't work.

And much of the advice we get isn't helpful either. Merely "telling yourself you're good enough" has all the scientific rigor of a Hallmark Card. Self-affirmations are as likely to cure this as they'd cure baldness. We need real answers, not platitudes.

Funny thing is there's a whole pile of scientific research that addresses this issue. It's called "self-efficacy." The concept was coined by Albert Bandura. He's widely considered the most influential living psychologist and one of the most cited of all time. If there was a Mount Rushmore for psychology, his face would be up there. Bandura's book is Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control .

Now I hate when people use phrases like "learning your own value" because while it sounds really nice, nobody explains how to actually do it .

Time to roll up your sleeves, bubba. We're gonna fix that.

Let's get to it...

It's " perceived ability to succeed at a given task ." It's a belief, not an objective measure of ability. But it's a thermonuclear powered belief and has an eye-popping effect on your life, whether you know what it is or not.

Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments... People's beliefs in their efficacy affect almost everything they do: how they think, motivate themselves, feel, and behave.

Now I hate when people use phrases like "learning your own value" because while it sounds really nice, nobody explains how to actually do it .

Time to roll up your sleeves, bubba. We're gonna fix that.

Let's get to it...

It's " perceived ability to succeed at a given task ." It's a belief, not an objective measure of ability. But it's a thermonuclear powered belief and has an eye-popping effect on your life, whether you know what it is or not.

It can even be more important than skill. No doubt, actual skills are critical. If you have self-efficacy but no real driving ability, I'm not getting in your Uber. But that said, if you don't believe you can accomplish something, you probably won't try. And even if you do try, when you meet resistance, you'll give up.

And the effects of self-efficacy beliefs have been found in a staggering number of diverse arenas: academic grades, weight management, social behavior, health habits, occupational performance, etc.

Where performance determines outcome, efficacy beliefs account for most of the variance in expected outcomes. When differences in efficacy beliefs are controlled, the outcomes expected for given performances make little or no independent contribution to prediction of behavior.