Battling Imposter Syndrome

In my opinion, one of the worst things (and trust me, there are more than one) about the prevalence of social media is the inability to escape it. Sure, you could refuse to participate and live blissfully unaware of the opinions of the rest of the world. And sometimes that seems like a truly magnificent option.

However, for those of us who are trying to promote something, whether it be a book (in my case) or some other product or service, social media is an unfortunate but necessary evil. Because it is so prevalent in our society today, people tend to look there for the latest and greatest things.

So, you wind up spending all your time creating content for social media platforms. And these platforms refuse to tell you the rules because then there might be (gasp) a level playing field, and we certainly can’t have that.

But because of the time you spend on these platforms, whether creating content, engaging with readers, networking with other authors/industry professionals, or simply doom-scrolling, it is inevitable that you will begin comparing yourself and your work to the other authors and books out there.

For most of us, this often gives rise to a feeling of inadequacy or imposter syndrome, as it’s sometimes called. Just so we’re all on the same page, here is Merriam Webster’s definition of imposter syndrome: a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of one's ongoing success.

Pay attention to that last bolded bit; it’s important. Because while it is natural to occasionally wish to see how you and your work measure up to others, the difficulty arises when we refuse to believe we have accomplished something worthwhile. That we couldn’t possibly be as good as this other author and our work is definitely not up to par. For many of us, our brains are sometimes our own worst enemy.

And that brings me to one of the best things about social media: community. I have been amazed time and again by how willing people on social media are to support you in your time of need. That might mean rallying behind someone who needs to increase their followers in order to participate in a live session. Or sometimes it’s a pep talk to help battle that insidious imposter syndrome. There are people out there willing to help. You just have to find your tribe. And while that can be difficult (as a card-carrying introvert, I struggle with it daily), it is so important for your mental health to have those people in your corner. So don’t give up. Put yourself out there, just a bit, and let social media be part of the solution to a problem it helps exacerbate. It’s the least it can do.