How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

A guide to living with the fear of not being good enough.

Imposter syndrome is the feeling that your achievements don’t matter. That you only scrape by because of luck or by fooling others into believing in you. You feel deep insecurity about your work and accomplishments, always anxious that you’ll be exposed as a fraud.

While arrogance isn’t good, I think impostor syndrome is far more prevalent than most of us realize. This is because the fear of being “found out” causes those who suffer from it to languish in silence. They don’t want to admit their insecurities for fear that this may trigger the revelation of their “true” worthlessness for all to see.

Impostor syndrome doesn’t just strike those who are high-achieving, but can hit even people who have attained more modest successes.

It also seems to impact women more at higher rates than men, which makes sense if you don’t see yourself as fitting the stereotypical image of what a “successful person” looks like in your field.

My Own Struggles with Insecurity

There’s some irony in writing this post because rather than being brimming with self-confidence, this is definitely a feeling I struggle with daily. Indeed, I feel awkward writing about it, as if…