Most high-performers share one thing in common: they all suffer, or have suffered at some point in the past, with impostor syndrome. If you have ever felt that you were incapable or inadequate to perform your role, or undeserving of receiving recognition and praise at work even though you know you earned it, or ever questioned yourself and doubted your abilities when in a room surrounded by your peers, chances are, you’re experiencing some form of impostor syndrome.

But you don’t need to worry. The world’s most successful people have admitted to experiencing these feelings of lack of confidence in their own abilities and disbelief in their success once they have attained it.

Previous First Lady Michelle Obama once remarked, “I still have a little impostor syndrome…It doesn’t go away, that feeling that you shouldn’t take me that seriously. What do I know?” And the world-renowned author Maya Angelou is quoted as famously saying, “I have written 11 books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.”

So if you’ve ever felt this way, understand that it’s totally normal. Below are a few hacks some of the most outstanding professional high achievers use to combat impostor syndrome and feel (and look) more confident at work, which you can apply to your own career today:

Keep An Achievements Log

Maintain a daily or weekly diary of your professional success. Note down all your wins. It really doesn’t matter how apparently insignificant they are; writing your big wins and your small wins will help you maintain a sense of appreciation for what you have accomplished and will serve as a collection of memories to fall back on whenever you are tempted to doubt whether you deserve a promotion, raise, or company or industry award, for example.

Thank yourself and give yourself due credit every time you accomplish something new or challenging. You could even choose to celebrate yourself in a big way (such as treating yourself to a spa weekend at the end of the month) or in a smaller way (such as indulging in a hobby that you haven’t made time for in a while, after work).

Dress To Express—And Impress

The way we dress has a direct impact on how we view ourselves and our confidence. Scientific research demonstrates a correlation between the clothes we wear and our subsequent behavior. In fact, one study showed that out of 120 students, those who donned professional outfits experienced higher levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and were more likely to say they would apply for a new post.

This aptly showcases how simply “dressing up” not only boosts your self-respect as you see others take you more seriously, but it helps you feel more motivated to aspire up the career ladder to a new or higher position.

At the same time, ensure your dress style expresses you, your fashion flair, and your unique personality as much as possible, so that you can feel free and confident in your own style.

Stop Second-Guessing Yourself

When you have impostor syndrome, it’s all too easy to question and second-guess your professional conclusions or decisions; this is especially the case if you are part of a traditionally discriminated group due to your ethnicity or being a woman in leadership, for example, where others refuse to take you as seriously as your more socially accepted counterparts.

It’s essential to remember to stand your ground and not back down once you have reached a conclusion through your professional analysis.

Own the years of study you put in, how long it took you to climb the ladder, and the expertise you’ve honed through your breadth of experience, even if it’s only been a few years. Trust your gut, and as you make this a habit, you’ll lean into being more confident as a leader with your decision-making.

Make Data-Backed Decisions

A crucial aspect of not second-guessing yourself and trusting your gut when making a judgement, is to only arrive at conclusions or make decisions once you have established all the facts and assessed every angle. This ensures you make an educated decision, one that is well-informed, instead of being hasty and presumptuous.

If your decisions or conclusions are not backed by facts, evidence, and data, others will lose confidence in you as they will begin to consider you a fraud. You will also lose confidence in yourself and begin to distrust your judgement.

Knowing that your claims are supported by facts will help you have a confident (but not arrogant) air in meetings and discussions when you are asked to share your views, analysis, or make a final decision at work.

Confront Fears Head-On

Oftentimes, what we are afraid of vanishes into insignificance once we decide to actually tackle it. Scared of delivering that presentation to a client? Afraid of voicing your suggestions in a team meeting? Deliberating whether you should ask for a raise at work?

Just go ahead and do it. What’s the worst that could happen?

Perhaps you may embarrass yourself when presenting for that client. But you’re human, and everyone else likely feels or has felt the same way at some point in their career. So why put undue pressure on yourself to be perfect? Face your challenge and stop hiding from it.

The best that could happen is it may not even be as bad as you think, or on the other hand, you may just have a mind freeze while fumbling through your notes, but by the end, you learned a lesson about how to prep for a presentation and perfect your public speaking skills. The only bad thing that could happen is you didn’t learn anything from the experience at all.

Positive Verbal And Non-Verbal Cues

We communicate in two primary ways: verbally (through email, phone, social media posts, in-person meetings), and non-verbally through body language (think eye contact, fiddling with fingers while talking, etc.). Both of these aspects tie in directly with your confidence and offer tell-tale signs about how you esteem yourself.

Often, how we say things screams much louder than all the confident words we could ever say. So you’ll need to consider changing or upgrading your entire vocabulary to ensure it sounds more positive and confident.

For example, you could say, “Let me know if you have any questions, instead of “Does that make sense?” Or “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and circle back with the answer” instead of “I’m not sure.”

In addition, ensure you project confident body language by giving eye contact when speaking, squaring your shoulders back and walking with a “pep in your step”, smiling, and maintaining an open posture.

Try implementing these six hacks today, and you will notice a surge of new-found self-worth, self-esteem, and a sense of pride in your work, which will be contagious and encourage others to view you in the same light.