An inescapable irony occurs during freelancing, as experts use their expertise to complete client projects. It doesn’t matter if that expertise was gained while working as an employee, during projects for other clients, or through study and practice. Every freelancer has something to offer to clients. Yet, many freelancers struggle with the self-doubt of imposter syndrome and would benefit from a reliable way to work around it.

The Self-Doubt of Imposter Syndrome   

Everyone has faced and overcome periods of self-doubt. Yet, these natural and unavoidable human experiences can trigger imposter syndrome among freelancers. When imposter syndrome happens to freelancers, it can cause them to question their experience, ignore potential clients, and avoid pursuing projects. Ultimately, imposter syndrome leads to self-sabotage by making a freelancer’s worries come true.

Imposter syndrome is one of those things that people find hard to understand but simple to recognize. You know you are experiencing it when it happens, even if you don’t know what is causing it. Don’t ignore imposter syndrome, however, because doing so risks creating a self-reinforcing cycle (e.g., present struggles increase future concerns).

Six Types of Imposter Syndrome   

While imposter syndrome—also known as the imposter phenomenon— is real, there is significant disagreement on symptoms, diagnosis, management, etc. One article published by the U.S. National Institutes of Health proposes six commonly reported characteristics or types, as summarized below.

• Imposter Cycle: When faced with a challenge, this person responds by over-preparing, which makes them feel they must work harder, or procrastinating, which makes them feel they must work longer, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.

• Perfectionism: This person holds themselves to self-imposed extreme standards to become the best among colleagues and peers. However, any misses attempting impossible-to-reach outcomes are interpreted as failure.

• Super-Heroism: This person is hyper-competitive and needs to be perceived as superior among colleagues and peers, so they over-prepare to make challenges appear simple. This creates unnecessary work and a sense of martyrdom.

• Denial of Competence and Capability: This person minimizes their intelligence, experience, skills, and talents. They ignore evidence to the contrary, assigning blame for failures to themselves and praise for success to others.

• Fear of Failure: This person reacts to challenges, especially achievement-related ones, by experiencing inappropriate anxiety about being accused of fraud if they fail or perform worse than colleagues and peers.

• Fear of Success: This person avoids recognizing the successes they are responsible for or contribute towards. They are unreasonably concerned any success will lead to higher expectations or increased workloads.

You're not alone if one or more of these imposter syndrome types seem familiar. Many freelancers experience different parts and combinations throughout their careers. Surprisingly, the risk of experiencing imposter syndrome can increase as freelancers begin to master their careers due to rising expectations.

Four Imposter Syndrome Triggers

Every freelancer has something to offer clients, but it takes more than working to get paid to build a freelancing career. Few can master all four skills required to experience freelancing success, as listed below. Struggling with learning and improving one of these freelancing skills can trigger imposter syndrome—imagine struggling with all four at once.

1. Marketing to find clients

2. Selling to find projects

3. Competing to win work

4. Working to get paid

The skills sequence matters because a freelancer can’t get to the fourth step, working to get paid, until the previous three steps are completed. For example, freelancers don’t have to worry about selling to find projects if they can’t figure out how to make marketing to find clients happen. Then there’s the worry of competing to win work against other freelancers, including those who may be equally or better qualified.

Trying to learn and master four very different skill sets is likely why many freelancers experience imposter syndrome.

How to Work Around Imposter Syndrome   

No one has figured out how to ‘fix’ imposter syndrome, so it seems best for freelancers to avoid as many triggers as possible. This involves solving the ‘four skills’ challenge so freelancers can focus on working while marketing, selling, and competing get done.

Subscribe to our free 7-day email course, Conquering Obstacles to Freelancing Success, to learn how to make this happen.