5 Tips For Dealing with Imposter Syndrome as a Nutrition Professional
“I don’t know enough to help someone!”
“Maybe I should take another nutrition program first…”
“I’ll never be as successful as X over there”
It’s natural to question yourself as an entrepreneur, especially as a new nutrition business owner.
These thoughts might cross your mind once in a while, but if you find yourself constantly questioning yourself, you might be experiencing Imposter Syndrome!
What is Imposter Syndrome?
The official definition of Imposter Syndrome is the internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.
You may feel like a fraud or an imposter, and it takes a lot of work to convince yourself otherwise.
Imposter Syndrome is extremely common, especially in the nutrition and wellness industry!
Characteristics of Imposter Syndrome include:
Fear of failing expectations
Overachieving and/or people-pleasing
Believing that you got this far purely on luck or external factors vs. your hard work
The inability to assess your competence and skills realistically
Being too hard on yourself
Self-sabotage
Self-doubt
Am I good enough?
Do I know enough?
Who am I to have a business?
Can I be successful?
Even though Imposter Syndrome can sometimes be used positively as motivation, those who often experience it create a cycle of anxiety when they can’t meet the extremely high expectations they’ve placed upon themselves.
Other consequences might look like overworking yourself to avoid looking like a fraud—resulting in burnout. You might also struggle with not being able to internalize your own success, which makes celebrating your wins difficult!
How Can Imposter Syndrome Show Up in a Nutrition Business?
When I first started my nutrition business, a common thought that kept popping up for me was, “do I know enough right now to help someone?”
I constantly wondered if I was actually knowledgeable enough to help someone achieve their health goals, and wondered if one day I’d be found out as a fraud.
These thoughts did subside over time as I helped more and more clients, but I can still find it rearing its head if I let it get out of control and don’t check in with myself often.
Every entrepreneur goes through ups and downs, and there’s no real way to avoid them.
However, my advice is to lean into your support system (hey business bff!) whenever you feel Imposter Syndrome popping up.
During the startup phase of your business, Imposter Syndrome might feel like you don’t know enough, you’ll never be ready to open your doors to clients, or you won’t be able to stand out from other successful nutritionists.
It can also make you believe that you’re not worthy of owning your own business, let alone be a successful entrepreneur.
A lot of new nutritionists and dietitians can start to feel anxious when it’s time to start working with clients.
If you’ve experienced your own health journey, you may feel insecure drawing from your own personal experiences because you’re not sure if the same process or recommendations will work for others. This is simply not true!
A lot of nutrition clients appreciate knowing that you went through your own health journey and can relate to what they’re going through.
My 5 Tips For Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Luckily, Imposter Syndrome doesn’t have to take the front seat all of the time! There are many things you can do to support yourself when you find it taking over.
Here are 5 tips to help you overcome Imposter Syndrome when you see it popping up:
1. Recognize Imposter Syndrome is there
Start paying attention to when the feelings of Imposter Syndrome arise. Are there certain situations, events, or even clients that trigger these emotions?
It’s helpful to start with organizing and labelling your thoughts around Imposter Syndrome. Unless there’s proof to back up how you’re feeling, you can organize these thoughts as intrusive thoughts.
Even giving these thoughts a name and treating them as a character can help organize your feelings and remind you that your Imposter Syndrome is separate from you.
2. Re-write the script
Once you’ve recognized how Imposter Syndrome shows up for you, it’s time to rewrite your internal script. You should position these thoughts or questions of self-doubt from a different perspective.
Is there anything you can do to feel more confident as a practitioner? Using positive affirmations regularly, either internally or writing them out on paper, is a great way to do this!
3. Share your feelings
Remember when I said lean into your support system? This is so crucial as an entrepreneur because we can tend to feel lonely and isolated a lot of the time and this can make dealing with Imposter Syndrome so much harder.
Connect with other business owners, friends and family to share how you’re feeling. You want to surround yourself with people who are going to listen to you and remind you that you’re not alone in these feelings.
4. Have self-compassion for your experience
Now we know that Imposter Syndrome occurs when we’re too hard on ourselves, which means it’s extremely important to work on self-compassion.
Release the negative self-talk, and replace it with loving self-talk. Self-care is a great way to balance out these feelings, so make sure you have some self-care things ready to go when needed.
Do what you need to do to protect your mental health—if that looks like blocking certain accounts or taking a break from your business, do it!
When you focus on why you started this journey, you can more easily get out of your own way. The same compassion you show to your nutrition clients should be shown to yourself as a business owner. Give yourself some grace, my friend.
5. Celebrate every win
Working through Imposter Syndrome doesn’t have to be boring—I encourage you to make it anything but! The more fun you’re having, the more sustainable the healing process will be.
No matter how big or small, every win should be celebrated. Every milestone should be a chance to reflect on how far you’ve come!
If you want to ensure you have a supply of positive reinforcement, set up systems in your business that allow for client feedback.
This way you can create a database of reminders that state how much your clients appreciate and trust you, that you can access whenever you’re feeling down.
At the end of the day when it comes to Imposter Syndrome, remember:
You are 100% worthy of success
You are not an imposter and no one is thinking you’re a fraud
You’re already making all the difference, just by being you!
