10 Feedback, Criticism, and Impostor Syndrome
Feedback—and its harsher cousin, criticism—can be very difficult to hear, even if you don’t struggle with anxiety. But anxious people tend to be especially fearful of being judged, and when factors like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and overfunctioning come into play, failing to live up to some ideal can trigger deep feelings of fear and shame. And when impostor syndrome is involved, even gentle criticism and helpful feedback can seem like public confirmation of what we suspected all along—we’re phonies who don’t deserve our success.
Lots of anxious achievers fear criticism and feedback, mostly because we fear shame. It doesn’t matter how “helpful” the feedback is or how gently it’s delivered—I ...
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