{"id":5042,"date":"2025-10-29T10:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechallengecoach.com\/?p=5042"},"modified":"2025-10-31T10:31:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:31:46","slug":"have-imposter-syndrome-try-acting-as-if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechallengecoach.com\/fr\/have-imposter-syndrome-try-acting-as-if","title":{"rendered":"Vous souffrez du syndrome de l'imposteur ? Essayez de faire comme si !\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cute little actress. Child girl in Princess costume on the background of theatrical scenes and mirrors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dear Clients, Colleagues, Associates, Friends and Family,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s so good to be in touch again. Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletters and for so often responding, reacting, or sharing your reflections. It truly means the world to me and keeps me motivated to continue. I appreciate it more than you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please make sure to check the Special Offers at the bottom. This month, I\u2019m offering a free coaching session around this newsletter\u2019s theme and opening a few pro-bono coaching spots for anyone affected by the current circumstances \u2014 layoffs, the government shutdown, or other unexpected challenges. Feel free to take advantage of this opportunity yourself or share it with someone who might need it. Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now \u2026 let\u2019s dive in, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks ago, I stood in front of a small audience, about to give a talk I\u2019d given many times before. I knew the material inside out. I had rehearsed, updated the slides, and prepared carefully. Still, as I started the workshop, a voice inside whispered: \u201cWho are you to be here?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kicker? It was about \u201crewiring our brains so things can be different\u201d [and now all of you reading this who were in the audience that day are going to know what was really<\/em> going on!].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what psychologists today call imposter syndrome<\/strong> \u2014 the haunting feeling that you don\u2019t deserve your success, that at any moment someone will discover you\u2019re a fraud. And when I say \u201chaunting\u201d, I am not kidding. I literally felt it in my body: I was shaking and felt like I was in a complete brain fog. Again, the irony!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did what I always do when that voice appears. I reminded myself: \u201cIt\u2019s not about you. Nobody cares about you. It\u2019s about them \u2014 the audience. You\u2019re here to serve, to contribute.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though I felt<\/em> shaky, I acted steady. Though I felt<\/em> fraudulent, I acted competent. I even continued through a horrendous foot cramp which I am pretty sure no one noticed even though I had to take off my shoes and continue presenting barefoot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, as so often happens, the feedback afterward was glowing. The discrepancy between how I felt I did and how it actually landed with the audience remains a mystery for me to this day. How could they not have noticed how nervous I was \u2014 even though, of course, all that frantic commentary about how terribly things were going and how much less I knew than everyone in the room was taking place entirely in my own head?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting \u201cAs If\u201d \u2014 An Adlerian Tool for Courage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cFollow your heart but take your brain with you.\u201d<\/p>-Alfred Adler<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Alfred Adler, one of the founders of modern psychology, taught a principle he called \u201cacting as if.\u201d<\/em> In today\u2019s language, we might say \u201cfake it till you make it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adler didn\u2019t mean for people to be inauthentic. He meant that our behavior can lead our emotions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we act as if we are confident, we begin<\/em> to feel confident. If we speak as if we belong, we start<\/em> to believe we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern neuroscience agrees (there\u2019s research!): when we behave in ways that contradict our fear, we engage neural circuits of courage and self-regulation that calm the amygdala \u2014 the brain\u2019s alarm system \u2014 and gradually reshape our internal state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, you can feel <\/em>like an imposter and still do the thing. As writer Ambrose Redmoon reminded us in the Sun Magazine in 1991, \u201cCourage isn\u2019t the absence of fear \u2014 it\u2019s the decision to act in spite of it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Blink<\/em>, Malcolm Gladwell describes how our faces don\u2019t just reflect what we feel \u2014 they help to create it. He recounts how, during the O.J. Simpson trial, a micro-expression on a witness\u2019s face lasted for a fraction of a second before words were spoken, revealing what the conscious answer hid. He connects this with research showing that voluntarily assuming a facial expression (for example, smiling) shifts the body\u2019s physiological state \u2014 in effect, \u201cacting as if\u201d changes the inner state as well as the outer form. So putting on the \u201cmask\u201d of how you want to show up is one powerful way to help you \u201cact as if.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara Bareilles nails the concept of acting as if and in her song \u201cBrave\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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