Black Imposter Syndrome (BIS)
Lessons on how to conquer the Black Imposter Syndrome
Racial Oppression & Black Imposter Syndrome
White folks structurally have an advantage because they live in a white body which is a factor that needs to be taken into account when examining an imposter syndrome. This work choose to focus on the imposter syndrome Black bodies feel because Black folks live in a system that is structurally and systemically racist therefore this racial oppression does play a role in their imposter syndrome. They might feel like an imposter because people that look like them have not done or been what they are attempting to do or be. Or in reverse Black folks might feel like imposters because they do not see white folks doing XYZ or being XYZ. We can not make whiteness the aspiration and measure everything against it. White is not the norm or the default it wants us to think it is.This piece is a kind reminder that one must not internalize the oppression but instead find tools for liberation.
Black folks may also have a close relationship with a personalized version of perfectionism that is also a part of white supremacy culture. This investment in perfectionism needs to be divorced to allow liberation to happen and imposter syndrome to disappear.
Lastly, our brother John Lewis left us with these words of wisdom that can encourage Black bodies struggling with the Black Imposter syndrome:
‘… I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.’
-John Lewis
One might add, get yourself out of your own way and answer to the calling, the purpose of your heart in the midst of the oppression, the trauma, one must stand up and believe in themselves.
10 lessons to fight Black Imposter Syndrome
lesson 01: Acknowledge your inner critic with self compassion
Understand why part of you is fearful and have a dialogue with yourself and explain to your fear why you are able be X or accomplish Z so both fear and ambition can co-exist because both serve their purpose. Fear might want to protect you from embarrassment, shame, loosing or failure which will force you to prepare yourself adequately. And ambition will want you to grow and try new things.
lesson 02: Stay Ready
Habits are building blocks to success. What we do on a daily even if just one thing can push you in the right direction of your dreams. The more prepared we are the higher our confidence will be in any situation. Make sure you put in all the work you possible can. Give it you 110%.
lesson 03 : Be consistent
Being consistent with practicing what needs to be practiced will not only help to quiet your fear but it will also help to be ready. Improve your consistency to consistently improve. Even if you don’t feel like doing it… DO IT ANYWAYS. We are what we repeatedly do. Trusting ourselves also comes from the confidence we build while repeatedly doing what we need to do to quiet fear.
lesson 04 : Talk to yourself
With repetition the thoughts we feed our mind daily will eventually come to fruition. Speak to yourself with understanding, positivity, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, calm& patience. Always name what you feel, then realized that feeling of failure, fear, joy, ambition, uncertainty are common human emotions that come and go like waves. Lastly acknowledge these emotions, thoughts and feeling with kindness and self love.
lesson 05 : Take good care of yourself
The best investment you can make is in yourself.
“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development.”
— Jim Rohn
When you look good you feel good and you do good. Or is it when you feel good, you look good and you do good? Whatever your feeling may be, remember that we are more than what we do and what we can produce or create as humans. That’s why it’s important to take good care of our body by working out daily. Getting some natural sunlight and making sleep a priority is important. The little things that we do for ourselves may become the blocks to our success. This pertains to everything from the food we eat to what we watch & the music we listen to. Is the music you are listening to uplifting ? Is it feeding your fear or your ambition? Pick up a book on who you are trying to become or what you are trying to accomplish. Mental toughness/knowledge is the root of confidence. Or read a book on a completely different topic. Do a puzzle maybe? The essential part is that you intentionally create time to do what makes you happy, so your cup may be full and that you may pour into others out of your overflow. Self care is powerful.
lesson 06 : Visualize
Spend time living in the moment building who you want to be in the furture. Once in a while picture yourself as you wish to be. If YOU can’t see the person you want to be people might not see it. See your highest most successful self daily. Write down His/Her greatest attributes and say them out loud daily.
‘You deserve the life that makes all your wildest dreams say : #GOALS’
-Luuvie Ajayi
You deserve the life that is bigger than you !
lesson 07 : Patient Courage to leave comfort zone
Do not allow your potential to remain trapped behind strangers opinions. Being patiently courageous with yourself means to take take daily baby steps of courage. Growth is not comfortable there taking small bites of it can help soothe the process. But like any growth, you can’t be ready for it because it’s going to be new. And new can be scary at first.
But the leap outside of your comfort zone even in the midst of the fear, in the midst of the discomfort and in the midst of the inability to see what’s ahead is important.
lesson 08 : Insulate yourself with a safe collective & community that is with you to challenge you and support you
Be the first to celebrate your friends and close family members, make the time to connect with your crew and as much as possible make sure to be there for them in every seasons, on all occasions the planned ones like the random ones. Be that person that does not let people around them shrink inwards. Normalize winning. Root for your collective. Encourage them! See who they can be ! Speak life into them and into their dreams. In return, do your best to be assertive with your own personal needs and desires that you would like from them. Be trufully transparent and assertive when sharing what is important to you. Allow yourself to be vulnerable with this collective. Don’t be afraid to cry, laugh or unapologetically speak your mind. Dare to be seen by this collective and community. And if you can be brave enough to be seen by this safe collective, you most likely will have enough courage in you to muster the seed of courage to be seen by a bigger crowd because this first crowd that you allowed yourself to be seen by has your back.
lesson 09 : Find your fuel
Pay attention to what lights a fire within. Take notice of the people, places and tasks that not only bring you joy but also inspires you to do and be better. Notice those people with whom you can bounce ideas off their head. Notice people with whom you have conversations that always end in something positive, productive and beautiful. Notice those conversation that fuel you to take a positive action or a positive change in your life. These places, people and tasks that light a fire within are important because they may be contributors or collaborators to your life’s personal legend. Your fuel will help calm your fear and replace it with confidence. Your fuel may also be sparked or ignited by negative experiences. Negative experiences, scary conversations, unpleasant situations, stressful places and rejections are as important if not more important than the positives experiences because they may bring purpose, clarity and precision required to jump outside the comfort zone without looking back.
lesson 10 : Celebrate every victory
Celebrating the small stepping stone during the journey is what makes the journey enjoyable.There is no achievement too big or too small that should not be acknowledged. Every victory is a stepping stone to your ultimate goal. Commemorate as often as you can. When children lose their first baby tooth certain cultures celebrate this by giving the child a gift or money saying the a fantasy figure called the tooth fairy did it. Technically the child hasn’t done anything but we still take the time to celebrate them by giving them extra focused attention. And that’s what celebrating a person or a victory is! It’s giving a person extra focused-attention. Sometimes celebrating someone simply because they tried is also important. Truth is celebrating every victory, every success and yes EVEN failure is important because we do not know how much time we have on earth. We do not know how much time we have on this journey, so might as well make it enjoyable ! Like they say, it’s not about the destination it’s about the journey, it’s about the process, it’s about the character your build during the process.
Bonus: Stay calm and relaxed as you wait for the wave of fulfillment, you’ll catch a break eventually
Make sure to keep your calm and stay relaxed that way your confidence may be felt and seen by others. If by any chance you fail or if you fall, make sure you ‘fall forward’ in the words of Denzel Washington. If you don’t fail you are not even trying. Plus failing is not a person it’s only an event. Try not to be on your death bed with the ghost of the talents, the gifts and the ideas you never acted upon by fear of being an imposter. You have to a take risk. It’s better to take the risk than to live with regets. You have to feel fear but you also still need to do it in the midst of fear. And, you will catch a break eventually.
“My Creed
I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen.
Humbled and dulled by having the
State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
To dream and to build.
To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment
To the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done
All this is what it means
To be an Entrepreneur.”
― Dean Alfange
