People Who Are A Lot Smarter Than They Think They Are Often Say 6 Phrases In Casual Conversation
shurkin_son | shutterstock You may think you know who is smart and who is average, but in any given room, it's impossible to tell who was valedictorian and who might have been the bottom of their high school class. Intelligence is complex and nuanced.
Sometimes we wonder about our own intelligence, too. Around 62% of people have imposter syndrome, believing everything they have experienced has been sheer luck. Too often, these people are smarter than they realize and are stuck in a mental and emotional trap.
People who are smarter than they think often 6 self-defeating phrases in casual conversation:
1. 'I don't think I'm smart enough for that'
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This may come out as a joke, but it's still pretty self-defeating. A person who says something like this may have imposter syndrome, which makes someone believe that they don't deserve what they've earned. In this case, they don't think they're as smart as others are giving them credit for being.
The concept of imposter syndrome was first discussed by researchers Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Ament Imes in 1978. Clance and Imes claimed that despite any successes in their fields or praises from colleagues, the women that they were observing who had earned PhDs continued to believe they weren't smart.
2. 'I don't think anyone wants to hear my opinion on this'
Because people with imposter syndrome believe that they're not smart, they also believe that the ideas they might have aren't worth sharing. Who would want to listen to the ramblings of some idiot, right?
The Child Health Research Institute states that, "In professional settings, imposter syndrome can manifest in the form of reluctance to share your opinions ... " Because this person believes themselves to not be smart, they are undervaluing their own possible contributions and work.
The reality is, people are generally interested in others' opinions and ideas. You don't have to be a know-it-all or PhD-level expert to weigh in on something. People who are smarter than they think deserve to speak their peace, too!
3. 'I don't feel like I belong'
Being able to feel like a person belongs in certain settings is incredibly important to feeling comfortable to speak up and contribute. If someone does not feel like they belong, they will shy away from speaking up and get comfortable in their imposter syndrome.
Brandon Ito, MP, MPH, a psychiatrist with UCLA Health said that the feelings of imposter syndrome are most commonly found among successful people in marginalized groups. As previously mentioned, the term was coined by two women, studying women that had just earned their PhDs in the late 70s. Though universities had allowed women to study for a number of years at that point, women in academia, especially higher academia, were still rare.
As you can imagine, they may have felt like they didn't belong, and that certainly informed their research and writing on imposter syndrome.
4. 'I just got lucky'
Despite being as smart as they are, people who feel less intelligent than they are often still attribute their achievements to sheer luck. You'd think they'd be smart enough to not believe in luck or chance or any of that kind of stuff, and they probably don't, they just don't believe enough in themselves.
According to research, people with imposter syndrome rather attribute their achievements to chance or luck because they do not internalize their achievements. Research on high-achieving women found that these women were afraid that their peers would find them incompetent despite their accolades clearly stating otherwise. And that's truly tragic.
5. 'I'm feeling really anxious about my role here'
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Always feeling like you're an imposter takes a toll on your mental health. The anxiety of believing that, despite the amount of work that a person has put in to get where they are, they don't deserve to be where they are, can be debilitating.
Studies found that high levels of imposter-ism was strongly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Feelings of being an imposter and wanting to prove that one isn't an imposter all the time, again, is debilitating. The anxiety of trying to prove that this isn't true is exhausting.
6. 'Anything I do has to be perfect to measure up'
People with imposter syndrome often show signs of perfectionism. This is because, as previously mentioned, they are trying so hard to prove to everyone around them, and themselves, that they aren't an imposter.
By putting 110% into everything that a person with imposter syndrome does, they ensure that even if they don't believe themselves that they deserve to be somewhere, the people that put them there won't kick them out. Does it work? No, not really. Yes, they're doing great work, but in order to not be obsessive over being perfect (which often harms progress in the process), they need to build confidence from within, not just by being seen as perfect.
Lyss Micalizzi is a writer with a master’s in Literature and Culture, a bachelor’s in English Literary and Textual Studies, and over six years of writing and social media experience. Their work is driven by the belief that stories are what make us human.
