How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Many high achievers from underrepresented backgrounds experience imposter syndrome, a feeling of inadequacy or self-doubt despite external evidence of success. Women and people of color may especially feel they don’t belong or that they’re not welcome. This syndrome can be mentally and emotionally crippling, drain motivation and energy, and prevent you from achieving your full potential. To overcome it, you need moxie, which refers to strength of will, self-discipline, and the ability to persist despite challenges. If you’re a woman or person of color, you’ll likely face obstacles and failures, and when you do, you have a choice: you can let them feed imposter syndrome, or you can use moxie to persist and achieve success.

What is Moxie?

Moxie reflects an intensity of motivation and is related to, but distinct from, traits such as grit, self-control, and the ability to overcome procrastination. The term was first popularized in the 1920s as the name of a soft drink advertised to give its drinkers vigor, nerve, and pep. Moxie is a response to childhood experiences of racism, sexism, microaggression, and other difficulties, and can be a major contributor to successfully overcoming obstacles and achieving goals.

Making Moxie Your Superpower

Based on research, here are four tactics that can help you cultivate moxie:

1. Utilize the strengths you’ve built through hardship.

Enduring adversity tends to afford people of color and women unique advantages and approaches. So identify a challenging situation from your past that you ultimately overcame. Reflect on how you resolved the situation and how you got through it. Formulate these principles as the strengths you gained; this helps you turn your hardships into a source of moxie.

2. Give yourself permission to play.

Allow yourself time and space for development by experimenting with new identities and behaviors. You won’t perform as well, but it’s about authentic growth and building confidence in new roles. Break down the role or situation into small learning experiences with deliberate action planning, experimentation, and performance data gathering. Repeat the cycle.

3. Tune out the naysayers.

If you are working hard to achieve much in your professional life, you may encounter people who are more than eager to point out the ways you don’t measure up. These people might nibble away at your confidence, promoting imposter syndrome. Reframe criticism as a hypothesis, develop methods to test it, and gain actionable feedback to help you succeed.

4. Recognize when to walk away.

Imposter syndrome can mask systemic bias and racism in the workplace, so moxie won’t succeed in every situation. Assess your competencies, energy, and passion and weigh them against potential obstacles before investing your resources in a given situation. If you need knowledge or skills you don’t have that cannot be realistically developed or don’t have the proper support networks, it may be wiser to walk away. Deliberate evaluation will either equip you with the knowledge needed to overcome the obstacles, or suggest reallocating your abilities in more suitable environments.

Embracing moxie requires you to reexamine your assumptions, values, and beliefs; risk new behaviors; and commit more to your growth than you may ever have before, setting you on a path of transformative learning. Remember that growth comes from discomfort and embracing moxie can be delightful.