We can easily fall prey to imposter syndrome, but Christ can show us that perfection is more than we think.
Starting a new job, going to a new school, or even returning to daily life after a vacation can make someone feel like an imposter in their own life. Personally, I have never felt more like an imposter than when I started a new editing job that felt too advanced for my skill set. I had worked hard to get this job, but the first day gave me much more anxiety than I had anticipated.
My education as an editor causes me to look for even the smallest errors in written text, and I started to look for even the smallest errors in myself, so every assignment that I was given at this job began to weigh on my shoulders like a thousand pounds. I felt out of place among my peers, like I was trying to be someone I’m not. I started to feel like I was an imposter, someone who had landed the job by mistake.
Imposter syndrome is defined as feeling like a fraud and fearing that you will not measure up despite your success. It can lead to intense self-doubt, anxiety, and perfectionism. This consuming pressure of perfectionism can be overwhelming. Elder Russell M. Nelson addresses this issue in his general conference talk “Perfection Pending.” He teaches, “We need not be dismayed if our earnest efforts toward perfection now seem so arduous and endless. Perfection is pending.”
For me, his use of the word pending was inspired. After recognizing that perfection is a process always in progress, I began to understand that I do not need to be perfect now.
Elder Nelson teaches, “The perfection that the Savior envisions for us is much more than errorless performance.” Christ does not look for a perfect performance; rather, he is looking for progress. As we internalize this truth, we can leave imposter syndrome behind by recognizing that our imperfections in everyday life do not make us inadequate. Instead of focusing on the places where we feel that we are falling short, we can see ourselves as Christ sees us. We’re all imperfect, and we’re supposed to be imperfect, but we can keep improving. Looking to the Savior is the answer to help us accept and find hope in our imperfection.
Learn more about overcoming imposter syndrome and perfectionism by reading the full general conference address by Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending.”
Source: General Conference
—McKenzie VanOrden, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY FEYZA TUĞBA
Find more insights
To learn more about letting go of perfectionism, read the Latter-day Saint Insights article “How to Combat Perfectionism” by Megan McGee.
Read the Latter-day Saint Insights article “Finding Peace in Imperfection” by Morgan Heath to discover more about the peace the Savior brings in imperfection.