Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

What causes that ‘imposter‘ feeling?

Have you ever felt like at any moment you’ll be exposed for actually not knowing anything? Have you ever convinced yourself that you must be a very talented actor or actress to have tricked people into thinking that you actually know something?

Yeah, same. I’ve been there.

This is a feeling often known as Imposter Syndrome. Something that I’ve talked about extensively over the years, with my first being on the radio. You can bet that before going live on the radio, I was very much feeling like an imposter with thoughts running through my mind like, “how did this happen? I have no idea what I’m doing. They’ll see right through me.”

Once my rational mind came back, I realised how silly I sounded because I was talking about that exact feeling that I’ve spent years attempting to put into words at the end of the day. But, in the end, it turned out to be a very relatable piece, and I received great feedback from it.

What an emotional rollercoaster… It’s wild how imposter syndrome causes a range of up and down emotions!

Pratiksha’s tweet that prompted me to reach out to her

In this episode, I speak to Pratiksha and Sonia on this very topic. It was actually refreshing listening to them and discussing it at length, something that I haven’t done with others before. I totally related to them in different ways as they shared their stories and experiences all the way from childhood to how imposter syndrome affects them today.

What helped us talk about it

The biggest comfort from this conversation was realising how ordinary the feeling is, even when it shows up in very personal ways. Imposter syndrome can make you believe you are the only one secretly improvising your way through a room, a project, or an opportunity. Hearing other people name the same fear out loud breaks some of that spell.

We talked about how it can appear when you enter new spaces, when you compare yourself to people who look more confident, or when the internet turns everyone else’s progress into a highlight reel. Those moments can make it easy to forget the work you have already done and the reasons you were invited into the room in the first place.

I do not think there is a single neat cure for imposter syndrome, but I keep coming back to the same practices: speak to people you trust, keep evidence of the things you have done well, ask questions without turning them into proof that you are behind, and remember that confidence can be built through repetition.

If this topic resonates, I have also written about feeling enough, figuring it out, and the messier side of building confidence.