What if by reconditioning the burdens of our history we can reshape our future?

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In human psychology there’s a flaw referred to as imposter syndrome – and in the entrepreneurial world, I have heard it often. It can be explained as an individual doubting her/his skills, talents, or accomplishments – and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. These individuals experience anxiety, and it is usually tied to feeling inadequate or not good enough – resulting in self-sabotage, overworking, and depression.

For me – my performance anxiety was once tied to imposter syndrome inadequacies – but life took me through experiences and situations to show me that I should be more confident in my ability and solution delivery. There was never a simple solution to alleviate performance anxiety, but for whatever reason, the internal recognition was a magical elixir. Does it go away for others with internal recognition too, does it always remain, or does everyone have their own recognition to overcome?

The other day I found myself comparing shadow work with imposter syndrome. Shadow work is an effort to heal and transform inner parts that have been repressed. It is like psychotherapy – you explore the hidden, ignored, or disowned aspects – and develop self-actualization.

I found myself comparing these two concepts. I was exploring the memory of my youth – where I might have felt like I was not chosen – to find out if this energy has permeated my adulthood. Obviously, of course it has. That’s why I am doing shadow work in the first place, right?

The shadow work of finding the root of not feeling chosen reminded me of imposter syndrome and I wondered if anyone who suffers from imposter syndrome could correct it by diving into shadow work.

Hear me out – if feeling confident in my ability reduces my performance anxiety – and those parts of not feeling chosen in my youth years are somehow healed from permeating my adult years – then perhaps my brain has received a new experience to recondition the subconscious.

What if this works across both concepts? What if a human can go back to those moments in youth that burdens them in present life through meditation, reach these parts, recondition the experience, and work on shadow and imposter syndrome? The idea would be to recondition the experience of the burden with the ideal outcome. So, if a human did not feel listened to as a youth, he or she would recreate the experiences through speaking and validating themselves, all through meditation. Then, this human might feel more confident in speaking, unafraid to share their thoughts, emotions, and experiences in life.

What if by reconditioning the burdens of our history we can reshape our future?