Impostor Syndrome
The fear of being exposed as a “fraud.”
The fear of being exposed as a “fraud.”
I’ve had it all my life.
I had it in high school. I thought surely I received good grades because of my good looks, not my exceptional brain.
Maybe it was because I was wildly popular with the other students as well as the school faculty.
Maybe parts of the faculty also suffered from the syndrome.
Maybe it was because my mom was also on that school faculty, even though a different grade level entirely.
Through college, and into adult life it was the same. The successes I enjoyed were obviously because people had simply not looked closely enough. After college, it was the same.
Actually, my theories were poorly-thought out pieces of garbage that could never be proven or supported. My books were rushed, less-than-thorough, and unpopular.
I have always felt people regarded me as more anxious to complete my books than to research them.
So there you see. I know what I am talking about.
So, What are we to DO?
I may have begun to whittle down our needed response to four major actions or concepts. They need to be practiced immediately, simultaneously and continuously.
1. Realize that none of us completely knows what we are doing.
2. Faking it actually does work.
3. Nobody belongs here more than you.
4. Accept that you had SOME ROLE in your success.
No problem. You are important.
Some of this material from one of my blogs.
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