How to Beat Imposter Syndrome: Tips for Sole Practitioners

You are experienced, good at what you do and yet, you sometimes feel you need validation as to your value as an accountant – especially if you are a sole practitioner, running your own practice.

Perhaps, like so many others, you resort to over-preparing, over-working, seeking perfection, and comparing your reality with a flawed perception of what’s really going on elsewhere.

This common attitude is often  due to a nagging feeling of inadequacy despite your qualifications and experience. You may even know it’s not rational to feel this way, but you do. And it doesn’t help being told that it’s quite common.

In this article you’ll learn about how you can get trapped by, what’s become known as, imposter syndrome, what you can do about it and the three things I did to overcome that same feeling.

Yes, I had imposter syndrome for years – despite my outward confident style, enthusiastic presentations and successful career in practice.

The Isolation Trap

Instead of feeling proud and enjoying success, loads of accountants feel stressed, isolated, and confused, fearing they’ll be “found out.”

Ever felt like that? Do you take on more work to cope with these feelings, adding to your stress, feeling that you can’t tell anyone how you feel.

Keeping these feelings secret is common with imposter syndrome. You worry that if anyone found out, they’d think you’re a fraud.

This is the isolation trap.

You don’t tell anyone because you think only you feel this way. You start to believe you don’t deserve to be running a successful practice.

I’m no longer surprised to hear members of my Sole Practice Club admit that talking with other members has helped them overcome imposter syndrome like feelings. Hearing others share their experiences and approach becomes empowering and helps all members achieve a greater sense of self-belief, self-confidence, and self-worth.

The Invalid Comparison

We compare how others seem to be doing on the outside with how we feel on the inside. This is an invalid comparison. If others keep their imposter syndrome secret, you won’t see it.

It’s something that often comes up in my initial conversations with accountants. And I love pointing out that, by contacting me, they have taken the first step towards overcoming their ‘imposter syndrome’.

Many hold back from contacting me, apparently because they feel that I wouldn’t want to work with them. They put me on a pedestal or assume I only work with more successful accountants.

I know this is what holds some back, as clients often tell me that they had thought about contacting me months or even years earlier – but had put it off for one of those reasons.

It’s the same with members of my Sole Practice Club. Everyone joins for their own reasons, when it feels right. And many then say they only wish they hadn’t kept putting it off.

One member remembers how he had previously assumed that he wasn’t big enough, profitable enough or successful enough to work with me. Then he came along and realised that everyone else was just like him. He has been a loyal member and advocate ever since.

So, that’s my first tip to overcoming imposter syndrome, especially if you can’t get the validation you need from partners or colleagues. Join a supportive and collaborative group that will give you want you need.

Beyond that, what else can you do?

Keep a Positive Mindset

Start acknowledging your achievements by regularly reflecting on and reminding yourself of your strengths. My mentoring clients often tell me how much better they feel about themselves at the end of our calls as I have helped them to recognise their achievements and successes.

Celebrate Your Wins

We often get so focused on the outcomes that we forget to honour ourselves. Celebrating your achievements is a simple and fun way to combat imposter syndrome. Give yourself a pat on the back; you deserve it.  Keep a growing list of your wins and reasons to celebrate how good you are.  Again, this can be a common element of my mentoring calls.

Unfollow unhelpful connections online

Unfollow people who bring you down. They may only be sharing their successes rather than a rounded view of their real life. They may even be making stuff up!

If seeing their posts brings you down or makes you feel inadequate, stop following them.

Instead, focus on content that genuinely inspires and educates you. Follow accounts that remind you to be grateful for what you have, that remind you of how much you know and how good you are at what you do.

You need a cheerleader

One of the reasons why I focus my mentoring support on sole practitioners is because they have no one else to support, encourage and listen to them. So do seek help from a supportive coach or mentor who will enable you to feel more in control, less frustrated and less overwhelmed.

My Journey with Imposter Syndrome

I used to suffer from imposter syndrome. I didn’t feel I deserved my promotions, that I was being over paid, that I had somehow ‘tricked’ interviewers into offering me a job, that I shouldn’t be appraising or managing people who I felt were better than me, that new clients I had won would be quickly disappointed, that anyone who didn’t offer me a job was right to be cautious, that I deserved to experience redundancy and so on.

Years later I learned how common it was to feel this way and I started to celebrate my well deserved career achievements.

Looking back I think there were three specific reasons I was able to change how I viewed my career:

1. Outplacement Counselling

At the start of the century, I had outplacement counselling as part of the firm’s partner redundancy package.

This was the first time I admitted and, apparently repeatedly insisted, that I wasn’t as good as people thought.

I benefitted from a powerful but simple technique to help me overcome this feeling. And this has had an everlasting impact on my self-confidence. But it took a few years to bed in the new thought process – which I have since shared with a number of my own clients.

2. Changing My Language

I stopped using unhelpful language.

For MANY years, whenever I did something quickly or found shortcuts, I believed and would insist on telling colleagues and friends that I had cheated or fooled people.

A business coach helped me to recognise what I was doing here. He helped me to stop it.

Instead I leaned to accept that I was simply applying my knowledge, skills and wisdom to do things more efficiently. That’s not cheating; It’s what comes with experience.

3. Accepting Praise

For much of my professional life, if someone congratulated me, I used to diminish my achievement by saying I got lucky or anyone could’ve done it.  Modesty is fine, to a fault.

Many is the time I was told that I was being unduly modest and too self-deprecating.

Again,  it was a business coach who helped me understand that my attitude and approach to compliments were classic indicators of imposter syndrome.

So I learned to stop deflecting praise. Now, I am much more likely to accept positive feedback and comments graciously. And that helps me to feel better about myself too.

The Path to Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

I was fortunate to have that counselling all those years ago. It set me on the path to overcoming imposter syndrome. Age, experience, and wisdom have also helped!

I still have high standards and think they are important. But I no longer feel the need to be flawless and perfect in everything I do.

I do my best. I have enormous levels of experience and accumulated knowledge, which I willingly share. But I’m not perfect. I don’t know everything, and I don’t pretend to. And that’s okay.

You’re not perfect, and you don’t need to be.  If you think it might help, take the first step and book a call so we can have a conversation that might help you more than you could imagine.

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This post first appeared on my blog at: www.bookmarklee.co.uk/blog