I’ve had a hard few weeks. I couldn’t even really tell you why, but Ralph has been non-stop whispering in my ear and I have had to engage all my very best strategies to get him to shut up.
Who is Ralph you may ask? Well, he’s my imposter syndrome. When I started actively started to work on my imposter syndrome I decided it would be helpful to name the mind gremlin that whispers horrible things to me. So I called it Ralph, inspired by the film Wreck it Ralph, as that is what he attempts to do, wreck my enjoyment of things.
He whispers things to me like…
You aren’t good enough
No one will ever take you seriously
You will never make it (still not sure where making it is, however…)
You are a bad person
You will be laughed at
No one who looks like you will succeed.
None of these things are true. Perhaps this might seem familiar to you, maybe you have your very own Ralph talking to you every day. You might think I am strange to name this voice, but psychologically it really helps me. By naming the voice I can say shut up Ralph, what do you know – you aren’t even real!
It’s like having an anti-hero in your head, the exact opposite of Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce alter ego that makes her more confident on stage, by recognising this is Ralph’s voice and not my own I can catch those negative thoughts earlier and stop them spiralling.
It also allows me to be present and challenge my thought, and ask myself the following questions, is it accurate, is it necessary and am I being kind to myself? If the answer is no, I either physically shake my head to disagree or say no out loud. I do get some looks doing this in public!
If you are suffering from any sort of imposter syndrome did you know that we have a free download with strategies to help you manage this? You can find that here.
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