Imposter Syndrome in Coaching: 7 Proven Ways to Overcome It
Up to 82% of people experience imposter syndrome. Coaches are no exception. If you feel like a fraud despite your training and results, you’re not alone.
Here are practical ways to move through it so you don’t stay stuck:
7 Ways to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a Coach
1. Track your wins
Keep a file of positive client feedback, screenshots, and emails. Revisit journal entries about breakthroughs and wins. Hang your certifications where you can see them.
On low days, I read messages from clients and students and look at my ICF credential and my program’s accreditation certificate. I remind myself: you’re a badass, you know what you’re doing, you’re a highly trained professional.
2. Focus on service, not yourself
Tony Robbins says suffering stems from self-focus. When you feel nervous before a sales call—wondering if someone will sign up or if you deserve your rates—shift your attention.
Instead of focusing on your worth, focus on the person in front of you and how you can help them succeed. I’ve done this before sales calls, and the energy shift happens fast.
3. Own your unique voice
Stop chasing expert energy. People don’t hire coaches for perfection. They hire for your unique approach, perspective, and energy. Coaching is personal. Clients want compassion and empathy, not a perfect performance.
When I stopped trying to show up polished online and just let myself be messy and vulnerable in my YouTube videos and Facebook Lives, I was surprised by the response. People reached out afterwards, saying they wanted to work with me because of that realness.
4. Remember, confidence is built, not given
Confidence doesn’t show up at your doorstep. It comes from action. The more you put yourself out there and coach with the skills you already have, the faster you build confidence and move through imposter syndrome.
5. Use your support team
ICF encourages coaches to have their own coaches and therapists. When the imposter voice gets loud, bring it to them. I still work with my coach on fears like raising rates or offering longer packages. Vulnerability and support keep me from spiraling in my head.
6. Lean on your credentials
Getting trained in an ICF-accredited program and earning credentials can quiet the imposter voice. For me, seeing my certificate on the wall reminds me that I’ve invested money, time, energy, and hundreds of practice hours. It proves I’m just as much a professional as a nurse, doctor, or lawyer.
7. Reframe the thought
Reframing is powerful when distorted thoughts come up. Every time you think a thought, you strengthen that neural pathway in your brain. You don’t want to keep reinforcing the ones that aren’t serving you. Instead, shift them into something more positive and supportive. Here are a few examples I use:
💭 “I’m not experienced enough to charge for this.” → “I’m creating results right now. My experience grows with every session.”
💭 “They’re going to figure out I don’t know what I’m doing.” → “My job isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to ask powerful questions.”
💭 “I’m not as polished as that other coach.” → “Perfection doesn’t equal powerful. Authenticity connects.”
💭 “I have to prove I’m good enough.” → “Showing up and serving is enough. My presence is the proof.”
A Self-Coaching Practice for When Imposter Syndrome Shows Up
1. Name it
The first step is to recognize what’s happening. When the voice shows up, say: Oh, there’s that good old imposter syndrome again. Remind yourself: this is not my absolute truth, this is not who I am. Naming it takes away some of its power. Or as I like to say: name it to tame it.
2. Feel it
This is a somatic practice. Instead of ignoring the sensation, let your body express it. If the imposter feelings feel tight, constricted, or small, move your body in that way for a couple of minutes. You’ll be amazed at how the charge starts to reduce.
Another option is to pet your throat with both hands, one at a time, while saying: I’m experiencing imposter syndrome right now, and that’s okay. Repeating this calms your vagal nerve and helps regulate your nervous system.
3. Talk to it
Treat the imposter voice like it has something to say. Ask directly: Okay, imposter syndrome, what are you trying to show me or tell me right now? It may feel strange, but listening to it rather than fighting against it can reveal what’s underneath the fear.
4. Challenge it
Once you hear what the voice says, question it. Ask: Is this belief 100% true? Most of the time, it isn’t. Then reframe it into something empowering you can repeat instead. This interrupts the cycle of reinforcing unhelpful thoughts and strengthens a healthier narrative.
5. Recenter on your mission
Bring yourself back to your larger purpose or to the client in front of you.
As Tony Robbins teaches, suffering stems from self-focus. Instead of obsessing over whether you’re good enough, ask: how can I help my clients today? How can I best serve this person on my sales call?
Remember, if you’ve been trained, certified, and practicing, you already know what you’re doing. You don’t need to prove anything.
6. Visualize your higher self
Everyone has a higher self or future self who has already navigated imposter syndrome. This is the version of you who owns her seat at the table. Ask: What would she do right now? How would she think about this? How would she move through it?
You can also picture her standing in front of you and ask for guidance: I’m feeling imposter syndrome today. I need your help. How can you guide me? Then sit still, breathe, and listen.
7. Celebrate
If imposter syndrome is showing up, it means you’re on the edge of growth.
I noticed this when I stepped fully into my role as a professional coach, when I created my ICF-accredited training program, and again as I prepared to go after my MCC credential. Imposter syndrome rarely shows up when you’re standing still. For me, it’s always been a sign that I’m moving forward toward my biggest goals.
How to Recognize Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is a persistent psychological experience of feeling fraudulent and incompetent despite external evidence of success.
Some of the key traits where imposter syndrome shows up for coaches are:
• Feeling undervalued in your accomplishments
• Feeling like you have to know everything to be credible
• Perfectionism
• Setting impossibly high standards for yourself
• Being afraid of failure
• A deep-seated fear of being hashtag found out or exposed as unqualified
• Discounting your success
• Believing that achievements are due to luck, chance, or external factors rather than one's own ability
• Anxiety and stress related to performance
• Guilt over success
These can show up in a number of ways.
I remember when I received the email from the ICF saying that my coach training program had been approved. I was convinced that they had made a mistake and were looking at someone else's application.
You might find yourself avoiding launching your offer because you’re thinking, “Who am I to teach this?” or “Who am I to help people with this?”
You might worry that clients or other people are going to be smarter than you.
You might compare yourself to other coaches online who seem like they have it all figured out.
Or you might be constantly chasing more certifications and training instead of putting yourself out there. There’s nothing wrong with furthering your skills. Every year, but you need to notice if you’re signing up because you don’t feel good enough. That’s not the place to be operating from.
Or maybe you’re discounting your rates because you don’t feel you’ve earned full price yet. I’ve been guilty of that too.
So the bottom line is when imposter syndrome comes up, it doesn’t mean you’re not a good coach. It doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path. It just means you’re human. And usually, it means growth is happening. You’re getting ready to do big things in your life.
Why Coaches Experience Imposter Syndrome (and Why You Should Overcome It)
Imposter syndrome is something that has affected me at every level in my coaching career. It came up as I was thinking about becoming a new life coach.
And I remember as I was researching coach training programs and telling friends and family that I wanted to become a life coach, I kept having this really annoying and fear-provoking thought of “Who am I to help people change their lives?”
It was really, really loud in the beginning.
When I started designing my level 2 ICF-accredited Born to Coach Training Academy, it came up again. And that voice was saying: “Who are you to have your own ICF coach training school? You're not smart enough. You don't know what you're doing. You don't have enough experience.”
And later, even as I trained at the MCC level—the top coaching credential in the world—the same voice said: “You don’t belong here. You don’t have a seat at this table.
So I just want to let you know that I have been really affected by imposter syndrome. And I have found ways to work with it and move past it, so it doesn't sabotage my success as a professional coach.
Imposter syndrome can have negative psychological outcomes and increase the risk of burnout, anxiety, and depression. It can also reduce job satisfaction, decrease performance, and hinder career advancement. It may make you avoid taking on new risks or new opportunities.
And you get stuck in the imposter cycle.
You feel like you're constantly having to prove your worth and achieve success. When you do, you feel temporary relief. But then, you go right back to feeling like a fraud and overworking to prove your worth and undercharging.
That's going to lead to burnout and not wanting to continue building your coaching business. You’re not going to have fun with it and be able to help and serve others.
This is a nasty, nasty cycle.
The Root of Imposter Syndrome
The root of imposter syndrome can be tied to early family dynamics based on how you were raised or internalized societal messaging, and a lack of representation in leadership.
Imposter syndrome is not a mental illness or a diagnosis of any sort. It's a distorted belief system.
It is rooted in perfectionism, comparison, fear of failure (or success), and low internalized self-worth—despite having external success.
Imposter syndrome activates your amygdala. It is the center in your brain that is responsible for fear. That triggers a stress response similar to what you would feel if you faced real danger, like being attacked by an intruder in your house.
So even if you're just speaking in public, or posting a reel, or doing a live, it can trigger the amygdala, signaling to your body that you are not safe.
Isn't it wild to think that something as simple as doing a Facebook Live or doing a reel can make us feel in danger?
And the more that we repeat the self-doubt in our brain, the more we reinforce these neural pathways. In other words, the more that we think these thoughts, the more we let the imposter syndrome take over our brains.
That's why reframing, mindset coaching, and somatic work are so powerful and effective for imposter syndrome. They help recondition those negative thought patterns that you're having.
Recap and Next Steps
Remember, almost everyone (82% of the population) experiences imposter syndrome. That means you’re not broken. You’re human.
The best next step is to pick one strategy from above and use it today. For example, start a simple folder of client wins you can revisit when doubt hits, or try naming and feeling the imposter voice the next time it shows up. Small, consistent actions weaken the old pattern and build confidence.
If you’d like more structured support, explore the Born to Coach Training Academy. It’s designed to help you strengthen your coaching skills, earn your ICF credential, and get real-time support when imposter syndrome shows up.
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Hey There! I’m Krista
A Retired Nurse Turned Professional Certified Life Coach, Spiritual Business Mentor, Hypnotherapist, World Traveler, Author & Mama to Lincoln.
I was born to be a coach and live a life beyond the white picket fence. I was never designed to struggle through a 9-5 job and sell my soul to the devil.
Now I work with heart-centered humans all over the world showing them how to become life coaches and start their own online businesses.
Hopefully one day I’ll get to work with you inside one of my coaching programs too. Because you deserve to have a life and career that brings you the ultimate freedom and flexibility so you can do the work you were born to do.
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Krista Kathleen, PCC