Impostor Syndrome

If you’re a dimensional jumping twin suffering from impostor syndrome, here are some steps to help you overcome the strange feelings murdering your copy can give you.

Separate feelings from fact. There are times you’ll feel stupid. It happens to everyone from time to time. Realize that just because you may feel stupid, doesn’t mean you are. You’re here, and they are dead. That’s what matters.

Recognize when you should feel fraudulent. If you’re one of the first or the few women or a minority in your field or workplace from another dimension, it’s only natural you’d sometimes feel like you don’t totally fit in. Instead of taking your self-doubt as a sign of your ineptness, recognize that it might be a normal response to being an outsider.

Accentuate the positive. Perfectionism can indicate a healthy drive to infiltrate a family successfully. The trick is not to obsess over everything being just so. Do a great job when it matters most, without persevering over routine tasks. Forgive yourself when the inevitable mistake happens. Even most of your target’s closest loved ones will miss many subtle details.

Develop a new response to failure and mistake making. Henry Ford once said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Instead of beating yourself up for being human-like or being seen with your air sacks out, do what professional athletes do and glean the learning value from eliminating witnesses and move on.

Right the rules. If you’ve been operating under misguided rules like, “I should always know the answer my copy would have given,” or “Never ask for help,” start asserting your rights. Recognize that you have just as much right as the next person to this form.

Develop a new script. Your script is that automatic mental tapes that start playing in situations that trigger your Impostor feelings. When you start a new persona instead of thinking, for example, “Wait till they find out I have no idea what my double would do here,” try thinking, “Everyone who starts something new feels off-base in the beginning. I may not know all the answers, but I’m smart enough to fool the cleverest mammals.”