What's your Imposter Syndrome Voice?...and how to outplay it!

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Quiz Questions

1.
What quote or saying do people spout that you don't agree with?
- A.
  "Do one thing every day that scares you."
- B.
  "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." — Dr. Seuss
- C.
  "Life is short and then you die."
- D.
  "Fire in the heart sends smoke into the head." — German Proverb
2.
On a scale of 1 to never, how often do you get frustrated with yourself?
- A.
  1-4 — You can call me a cucumber 'cause I always keep my cool 🥒
- B.
  5-7 — Zen is USUALLY the name of my game.
- C.
  8-10 — I'm a hothead. It doesn't take much to push me over the edge...
3.
You've just been asked at the last minute to give the presentation because the speaker is stuck in traffic. What's your reaction?
- A.
  Run- I'm not ready for this!
- B.
  I'll do it, but my thoughts start spiralling into self-doubt.
- C.
  YES! What an opportunity to show my peers what I'm made of!
4.
Which picture resonates with you the most?
- A.
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  Answer A
- B.
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  Answer B
- C.
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  Answer C
- D.
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  Answer D
- E.
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  Answer E
5.
Take the last 7 days. Did you attempt something new?
- A.
  No, I know my skills and I'll stick with those.
- B.
  Yes, I'm always looking to expand what I know.
6.
You messed up at work. What is your response the next day?
- A.
  I wonder why the outcome was X instead of Y. Let me explore that today...
- B.
  I'm no good at my job. I should start looking elsewhere...
7.
If you had to pick one thing you'd want to improve about yourself, it would be...
- A.
  I wish I was more of a risk taker
- B.
  I wish I was more confident in myself
- C.
  I wish I was more positive about things
- D.
  I wish I was more successful
- E.
  I wish more calm and collected
8.
Stop to smell the roses, yea or nay?
- A.
  Roses, daises, and black-eyes Susans — I'm stopping to smell them all!
- B.
  Maybe... If I check them first for ants.
- C.
  I ain't got time for flowers! I've got wars to wage and worlds to change.
- D.
  I smell them, cut them, and press them between the pages of my fave book!
9.
True or false...Failure will always feel better than regret.
- A.
  True.
- B.
  False.
10.
If you could master any of the following social-emotional skills, which would you choose and why?
- A.
  Appreciating what I'm experiencing in the moment without worrying about it ending.
- B.
  Communicating my dislike for certain people, places, and things without coming off as aggressive.
- C.
  Remembering the good even while I'm living through the bad. It always gets better, right?
- D.
  Accepting myself and not worrying so much about what others think of me.
11.
You've just been offered a job in a new country. What's your response?
- A.
  No, I don't know the language so I'd rather stay here.
- B.
  Yes, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I might not get again.
12.
What's your BIG "why" behind editing your thoughts?
- A.
  Strengthening my relationships with friends and family.
- B.
  Becoming more resilient, so I can handle the tough stuff.
- C.
  Getting my physical health in check. Stress hurts, people!
- D.
  Cultivating my calm and carrying myself with confidence.
13.
At the end of your life, how will you rate it?
- A.
  By how many people I helped
- B.
  By how much wealth I generated
- C.
  By who's standing by my side
- D.
  By how I'm remembered
14.
What's MOST important to you?
- A.
  How I respond to situations
- B.
  My belief in myself
- C.
  How I overcome problems
- D.
  My curiosity to new territory
- E.
  How I define my success

Quiz Outcomes

1.
The Reactor
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Your loudest voice is The Reactor. Even though you experience all 5 voices, this one is your loudest. Each voice is activated by a circumstance and has the ability to shrink or expand ourselves. When you become aware of which voice is the loudest, you have the gift of awareness to change it to expansion, rather than shrinking, in that activated circumstance. Your results:Voice: The Reactor Circumstance: happens in high pressure situations When it shrinks you: turns to worry When it expands you: turns to action This is our most innate evolutionary voice, also known as Fight or Flight. Back in the cave men era, Fight or Flight was our reason for survival. Run, there’s a wooly mammoth! Oh no, we need fire for heat! Shoot, what will I eat today? But today, our Fight or Flight kicks in by non-life-threatening situations like a passive aggressive email or a presentation or on the defense with our partner. You have two options when this voice kicks in. 1- You can allow it to shrink you by turning to worry. a. This is awful! b. I’m not cut out for this! c. I can’t believe they said that! 2- Or, you can let it expand you by turning to action. a. I’m going to resolve this so it doesn’t get out of hand. b. I know I’m prepared for this opportunity, so I’m excited for it. c. I was born to do this. Now that you know The Reactor Voice is the loudest, notice how you talk to yourself in high pressure situations. Can you pause and swap the worry for action?
2.
The Student
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Your loudest voice is The Student. Even though you experience all 5 voices, this one is your loudest. Each voice is activated by a circumstance and has the ability to shrink or expand ourselves. When you become aware of which voice is the loudest, you have the gift of awareness to change it to expansion, rather than shrinking, in that activated circumstance.Your results:Voice: The ImposterCircumstance: happens when we’re in new territoryWhen it shrinks you: you experience analysis paralysis When it expands you: you become a curious studentOne of the biggest characteristics of The Student voice is Imposter Syndrome.Before you jump to a negative opinion about Imposter Syndrome, let me tell you a recent study about Imposter Syndrome at MIT.This study showed that 70% of people experience Imposter Syndrome. However, those who experienced feelings of Imposter Syndrome actually ranked higher at work. Researcher Basima Tewfik, says “My research shows that experiencing this phenomenon (Imposter Syndrome) can make you more adept at relationships, which is a key ingredient in career success.” The study also shows that as a result, you’re also more “other-oriented” focusing on the people around you, learning from them, and being attune to their needs.SO- what does that mean for you?It means you don’t have to overcome Imposter Syndrome, you just need to learn how to manage it to your advantage.When you’re in new territory, you have two options when this voice kicks in:1- You can allow it to shrink you by turning to feelings of inadequacy. a. I’m not qualifiedb. Everyone here is smarter than mec. It’s so embarrassing being a beginner!2- Or, you can let it expand you by turning to feelings of an eager student.a. I’m curious what I can learn from this personb. I’ve never done this before, what a thrilling experience!c. I’m going to watch, learn and give myself grace when I try.Now that you know your Imposter Voice is the loudest, notice how you talk to yourself in new situations. Can you pause and swap the feelings of inadequacy for the passion to learn?
3.
The Lawyer
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Your loudest voice is The Lawyer. Even though you experience all 5 voices, this one is your loudest. Each voice is activated by a circumstance and has the ability to shrink or expand ourselves. When you become aware of which voice is the loudest, you have the gift of awareness to change it to expansion, rather than shrinking, in that activated circumstance. Your results:Voice: The Lawyer Circumstance: happens in conflict or perceptions of failure When it shrinks you: self-identify with the problem When it expands you: get curious about the problem If you’re a human (which, I believe you are), you’re going to experience conflict. It’s a totally natural part of the human experience. I would argue that conflict and mistakes are actually hard evidence that you’re going for it. Congrats! The real key is what we make the conflict mean or how we interpret it inside our brains. Why? Because we can’t always control or prevent conflict, trust me, I’ve tried! We have our life experiences that are uncontrollable events: rain, traffic, dogs barking when we’re on a Zoom call. But then we have our stories that are controllable narratives: what we make all of those experiences mean to us and about ourselves. When you experience conflict or perceptions of failure, you have two options when this voice kicks in. 1- You can allow it to shrink you by self-identifying with the problem. a. I failed, therefore I’m a failure. b. I didn’t do this right, so I guess I shouldn’t do it at all. c. We don’t agree on this, therefore we have tension. 2- Or, you can let it expand you by getting curious about the problem. a. I wonder why this didn’t work and what I can do differently next time? b. I’m going to treat my failures as research for the future. c. Trial and error is a great method to making progress. Now that you know that your Lawyer Voice is the loudest, notice how you talk to yourself in moments of conflict. Can you pause and get curious about the problem instead of self-identifying with it?
4.
The Dreamer
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Your loudest voice is The Dreamer. Even though you experience all 5 voices, this one is your loudest. Each voice is activated by a circumstance and has the ability to shrink or expand ourselves. When you become aware of which voice is the loudest, you have the gift of awareness to change it to expansion, rather than shrinking, in that activated circumstance. Your results:Voice: The Dreamer Circumstance: happens on the edge of opportunity When it shrinks you: turns to anxiety of what could go wrong When it expands you: turns to optimism of what could go right Have you ever read a fictional book and when you were halfway through it, you created your own ending of what you thought was going to happen? Imagination about the future can be fun when we’re reading, but it can be absolutely debilitating when we do it in our own lives. The thing is, both optimism and anxiety require us to think about something that hasn’t happened yet. So if you have the ability to worry about the future, it also means you have that same ability to imagine a better one. I wrote an entire book on this called Chasing the Bright Side Your Dreamer Voice activates when you’re at the edge of opportunity and your mind starts to fill in the blank of what will happen next. When you experience this voice, you can choose which direction it goes in: 1- You can allow it to shrink you by thinking of what could go wrong (anxiety): a. I failed, therefore I’m a failure. b. I didn’t do this right, so I guess I shouldn’t do it at all. c. We don’t agree on this, therefore we have tension. 2- Or, you can let it expand you by thinking of what could go right (optimism): a. I wonder why this didn’t work and what I can do differently next time? b. I’m going to treat my failures as research for the future. c. Trial and error is a great method to making progress. Or, option 3, just admit that you have no idea what’s about to happen, positive or negative, you’re just totally neutral about the situation. Why? Because we never know what’s going to happen next, so sometimes our Dreamer Voice can waste energy trying to write the story when we just need to live it. Now that you know that The Dreamer Voice is the loudest, notice how you talk to yourself in moments of opportunity. Can you pause and notice how you’re filling in the blanks?
5.
The Evaluator
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Your loudest voice is The Evaluator. Even though you experience all 5 voices, this one is your loudest. Each voice is activated by a circumstance and has the ability to shrink or expand ourselves. When you become aware of which voice is the loudest, you have the gift of awareness to change it to expansion, rather than shrinking, in that activated circumstance. Your results:Voice: The Evaluator Circumstance: happens when we evaluate our life and our progress When it shrinks you: we focus on our achievements (our appearance of winning) When it expands you: we focus on our legacy (our feelings of success) In school, you were graded by a teacher on how well you were doing. Then, you got the green light to advance to the next grade. You did it! Now as an adult, who’s telling you you’re doing a good job? Who’s giving you the green light to advance to the next level? I’ll tell you who. This person is reading this as we speak… The only one evaluating our progress and whether we’re “doing enough” is ourselves. And that metric is 100% relative to our own individuality and what’s important to us. One person’s success might be owning a skyscraper in Manhattan with their name on it. Another person’s success might be being able to fish on a dock every evening. Achievements are how we measure our milestones: money, fame, awards. Success is how we feel our legacy: purpose, fulfillment, alignment. If you can quantify it or measure it, it’s not success, it’s an achievement. Achievements aren’t bad! They’re just not our final destination. When you’re looking in the mirror, or scrolling on social media and experience the thought of: am I good enough? You have two options when this voice kicks in. 1- You can allow it to shrink you by counting or chasing your achievements. a. I’m not making/doing/achieving enough. b. I should be further along at this stage of my life. c. I want to achieve this thing so I can show that I did it. 2- Or, you can let it expand you by defining your success. a. I know this thing I’m doing helps a lot of people, so I enjoy it. b. I’m pursuing my own dreams, so it’s impossible for me to be “behind.” c. If no one knew I achieved this thing, I’d still do it because it matters to me. Now that you know that The Evaluator is the loudest, notice how you talk to yourself in moments of reflection. Can you pause and define your success instead of chasing your achievements?