Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities or that constant feeling of self-doubt or dread. It disproportionately affects high- achievers, people like athletes, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments.
I’ll share a few ways athletes can manage feelings of impostor syndrome, but first, what could impostor syndrome look like as an athlete? Here are a few examples:
- You break a record or hit an amazing milestone, then immediately feel a sense of dread, anxiety or pressure
- You don’t like accepting praise, or don’t feel deserving of praise
- You receive an award and when looking back at your athletic career, you feel like a fake that doesn’t deserve the honor
- You work incredibly hard and set impossibly high athletic goals for yourself
- You have an opportunity to compete or perform at the next level, and you find your performance drops a little
- You are a few steps away from a new opportunity that meshes your athletics talents with your unique brand (e.g. NIL deal!) but you make excuses as why you shouldn’t pursue it.
There are so many more examples of athletes feeling like they’re out of their league. But I have good news: you are not alone! This feeling is more normal than you think, and with practice, it can be managed.
Here are a few ways you can address impostor syndrome and how you can prevent it from affecting your athletic performance, NIL earning potential, or future opportunities.
1. Shift your focus. It’s important to focus on your journey, the process, and the work- not just your results. As athletes we tend to focus on the outcome or the performance: winning games, achieving records, stacking up trophies- but too much of this can result in more anxiety and doubt.
Focusing on the process can help build your confidence and acknowledge those feel- good aspects of reaching small milestones each day
2. Give yourself props. If you have a successful career under your belt- give YOURSELF a pat on the back. After putting in the work day after day, month after month, year after year, you cant attribute your success to luck, homecourt advantage, etc. The reality is that you earned your success.
3. Recognize growth. Sometimes feelings of worry, self-doubt, or anxiety are triggered by moments of growth. Trying new things, stepping outside your comfort zone, or growing a professional can be scary. In these moments, try to acknowledge that growth is good and you won’t know everything at first. Instead of worrying about what’s next, focus on finding out the answers
4. Track your ‘wins’. Seeing your wins on paper helps, so take a few moments alone to write down your accomplishments. This list might include listing your PRs, citing championship teams you’ve been a part of, all-league or all-state honors. Listing my accomplishments not only helped me squash impostor syndrome, but the list gives me a boost of confidence every time I read it.
5. Don’t compare. There are going to be times when competitors, teammates or athletes from other sports do better than you. Following their stats, highlights, how many college offers they have, how many NIL deals they have, and more is a slippery slope.
I learned early on the only person I need to compete against is myself. Nobody will outwork me if I focus on my personal expectations of excellence. I apply the same mindset to my life as a professional now.
6. Say ‘yes’. One of the biggest blockers to my success was always saying ‘no’ to a new opportunity. When I was approached with something different like a new job or a meal I’ve never tried, my mind was always framed to think like
new opportunity = something I could mess up = say ‘no’ asap before I fail!
These days, even if I don’t see how an opportunity or change can be right for me, I say ‘I’ll think about it’. This approach gives me time to weigh the pros and cons and not let the impostor voice in my head run wild.
7. Be ok with failure. As a current or former athlete, you will get things wrong. You’ll mess up a play, miss a shot, forget about a meeting, wake up late for work. The list goes on.
When I fail, I use my mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow. I take my failures as opportunities to reset, ask questions, and, if possible, get feedback from people I trust.
8. Talk to somebody. The great thing about being an athlete is that you have a lot of people in your circle. You’re not alone in this. Talking to a parent, a sibling, a coach, a trainer, or a mentor are great ways for you to get those feelings off of your chest.
In the summer of 2022, I was notified that I would be inducted into the New Rochelle
Sports Hall of Fame. My first thoughts were ‘I’m too young!’, ‘I haven’t accomplished enough like other inductees!’ and ‘what will I say in a speech!?’
But thanks to my personal voice of reason (my sister) she squashed all of my negative self-talk and reminded me that I was deserving of the honor. She and my mom also pointed that unlike the other inductees (who were all men) I didn’t have access to the types of programs lr gears that boys did. I quickly shifted my focus to think: “wow, I accomplished all of this, as a girl who played basketball before the WNBA existed. By accepting this honor, hopefully, I will show other girls and young women that they can accomplish anything”