Imposter syndrome is the feeling that your
achievements don’t matter. That you only
scraped 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 more modest success.
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 admitting my own insecurities might
somehow bolster proof of my own inadequacy in
the eyes of others.
However, if I step back, I can notice a pattern in
my own life. I start by looking at someone else
who has achieved something, I will compare
myself to such a person and imagine that they
are successful, while I am not.
Later, if I happen to reach the same benchmark,
what I did now feels trivial, and there’s a new
standard that needs to be reached if I can
qualify as having accomplished something.
Publicly, I’ve learned to suppress this instinct
somewhat, but I find it dominates a lot of my
private thoughts and feelings.
An example would be language learning. When I
first started learning French, I was in awe of
Benny Lewis and his ability to speak several
languages. Later, when I did so for myself, the
achievement no longer felt special, but simply
trivial.
Now, my feeling is an anxiety that my level
might not be good enough. While I would have
previously considered holding extended
conversations to be “good enough,” now I felt
like it was inadequate compared to complete
fluency—I should be able to understand
everything perfectly and speak without mistakes.
This pattern—finding something special,
reaching it, and then immediately discounting
that as not being a “true” accomplishment—is
something I’ve found pervasive in my own life.
Perhaps it is a pattern you notice in yourself as
well.
There’s nothing wrong with setting harder goals.
The problem with impostor syndrome is that you
erase your own past progress by changing your
standards to put it “below” what you consider
successful.
Why Do Successful People
Often Feel Like Failures?
To understand impostor syndrome, we need to
look at what can cause it. This isn’t an exhaustive
list, but here are two big factors that distort your
thinking about yourself
Factor #1: Achievements are
Objective Yet Feel Relative
Let’s start with the first factor: relative status.
Intuitively, it’s easy to step outside and take a
birds-eye view of any field of achievement.
From there, you can rank people on their overall
level of success. Within a company, there is
entry level, manager, vice president, C-level
executive. Academia has masters, PhDs,
professors and prize-winning researchers.
Athletics has regional, national, Olympic and
world-record performers.
However, in reality, we’re much less sensitive to
this absolute scale of excellence than we are to
our relative position within it. As such, we see
the rungs above us and below us in much
greater detail and conscious awareness than
those which are quite distant.
For me, all the rungs of achievement much
above me are far enough away that I can
basically ignore them. Authors who are world-
famous. Linguists who’ve mastered 40
languages. Polymaths who were recognized for
their brilliance in many subjects. These
accomplishments are so beyond what I’ve
experienced, that they don’t cause me any
anxiety at all.
Insecurity Comes from
Magnifying the Levels Just
Above You
However, I am more aware of people who are
slightly above me in the rank. When it comes to
topic expertise, therefore, I compare myself
unfavorably to those who have studied subjects
deeply in grad school. I compare myself to
people who run “real” businesses with dozens of
employees. I compare myself to people who
speak a language I know fluently, instead of my
intermediate level.
The problem is that once you go up one rank, the
rank above that suddenly snaps into view. When
I went from a solo business to a team,
immediately that new accomplishment became
the baseline and my comparison grew. If I were
to get a PhD in something, I’d become
immediately aware of the difference I had with
tenured professors or recognized experts.
In short, our relative status perception means
that there’s always a clearly-defined rung above
us and below. Insecurity therefore, can come
from an over-emphasis on the rung above you,
rather than recognizing the rungs you’ve already
climbed and the successes you’ve already
surpassed.
Where imposter syndrome differs from this, is
that it tends to make even the current rung seem
untenable. The position you’ve reached was
through luck, circumstance or because others
incorrectly perceived you to have done
something impressive. Therefore, there’s a
constant fear that you’ll slide back to earlier
rungs or fall off the ladder altogether in a
spectacular crash.
Factor #2: Invisibility of
Insecurity
Another contributing factor to imposter
syndrome is that you may not be aware that
other people are experiencing it. The fact that
others seem so confident, secure and full of self-
esteem may reinforce your belief that your own
doubts are proof of your illegitimacy.
When asked how many of their peers have had
sex or how much alcohol they drink , college
students grossly overestimate the promiscuity
and partying of their peers. Everyone else, it
seems, is having a raucous time and it’s just you
who is alone and boring.
This overestimation seems to be from an
availability heuristic . The people who seem to be
having wild fun are highly visible, whereas
those staying at home studying are not.
Therefore, we overestimate their occurrence.
This may also lead to some depression,
especially if you think having fun and going on
lots of dates is an important goal in your student
days. It feels like you’re the only one, and thus
your insecurities deepen. If you could see the
reality (most people aren’t getting laid and
partying as much as you think) then you’d
probably feel more secure in yourself.
Similarly, if you could enter into the private lives
of many successful people, and see how they
struggle with their insecurities or worries that
they may have reached levels of success
exceeding their merit, you’d probably be
reassured that your own feelings are normal. Yet
confident people are highly visible, those who
struggle with doubts keep their mouths shut.
Overcoming Your Imposter
Syndrome
I think the first step to overcoming your own
insecurities is to realize how normal they
actually are. That much of the seeming
confidence and bravado people display is really
thinly covering up their own doubts about
themselves.
Once you see self-doubt and insecurity, not as a
unique disorder you exhibit, but something that
impacts many people, it’s a lot easier to get
comfortable with those feelings.
Another useful tip from me has been to read
successful people’s biographies. The reason is
that you’d be surprised how many extremely
successful people spent their whole lives
grappling with intense self-doubt and
insecurities. Famed poet, Maya Angelou once
wrote:
“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.’”
Next is to consciously adjust your fixation away
from that rung of the achievement ladder
immediately in front of you. It may not be
habitual, but focus on the rungs you’ve already
climbed and the difficulties that came with them.
This can avoid the temptation to write down
your past achievements as being trivial and the
ones in front of you as being those that truly
matter.
Finally, I would recommend taking a softer view
when evaluating the works and accomplishments
of others. Attack and criticize others constantly,
and you’ll end up attacking yourself. When you
start exaggerating the flaws of others, your own
will seem to be magnified as well.
I don’t know of any bulletproof cure that will
immediately fill you with lasting confidence in
yourself. I’m not sure if one existed it would
necessarily be a good idea to use it too often.
But, moderating your own tendency to discount
your achievements and feel more comfortable in
the position you’ve reached is something we can
all aim for.
Reference:
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/05/06/imposter-syndrome/
achievements don’t matter. That you only
scraped 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 more modest success.
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 admitting my own insecurities might
somehow bolster proof of my own inadequacy in
the eyes of others.
However, if I step back, I can notice a pattern in
my own life. I start by looking at someone else
who has achieved something, I will compare
myself to such a person and imagine that they
are successful, while I am not.
Later, if I happen to reach the same benchmark,
what I did now feels trivial, and there’s a new
standard that needs to be reached if I can
qualify as having accomplished something.
Publicly, I’ve learned to suppress this instinct
somewhat, but I find it dominates a lot of my
private thoughts and feelings.
An example would be language learning. When I
first started learning French, I was in awe of
Benny Lewis and his ability to speak several
languages. Later, when I did so for myself, the
achievement no longer felt special, but simply
trivial.
Now, my feeling is an anxiety that my level
might not be good enough. While I would have
previously considered holding extended
conversations to be “good enough,” now I felt
like it was inadequate compared to complete
fluency—I should be able to understand
everything perfectly and speak without mistakes.
This pattern—finding something special,
reaching it, and then immediately discounting
that as not being a “true” accomplishment—is
something I’ve found pervasive in my own life.
Perhaps it is a pattern you notice in yourself as
well.
There’s nothing wrong with setting harder goals.
The problem with impostor syndrome is that you
erase your own past progress by changing your
standards to put it “below” what you consider
successful.
Why Do Successful People
Often Feel Like Failures?
To understand impostor syndrome, we need to
look at what can cause it. This isn’t an exhaustive
list, but here are two big factors that distort your
thinking about yourself
Factor #1: Achievements are
Objective Yet Feel Relative
Let’s start with the first factor: relative status.
Intuitively, it’s easy to step outside and take a
birds-eye view of any field of achievement.
From there, you can rank people on their overall
level of success. Within a company, there is
entry level, manager, vice president, C-level
executive. Academia has masters, PhDs,
professors and prize-winning researchers.
Athletics has regional, national, Olympic and
world-record performers.
However, in reality, we’re much less sensitive to
this absolute scale of excellence than we are to
our relative position within it. As such, we see
the rungs above us and below us in much
greater detail and conscious awareness than
those which are quite distant.
For me, all the rungs of achievement much
above me are far enough away that I can
basically ignore them. Authors who are world-
famous. Linguists who’ve mastered 40
languages. Polymaths who were recognized for
their brilliance in many subjects. These
accomplishments are so beyond what I’ve
experienced, that they don’t cause me any
anxiety at all.
Insecurity Comes from
Magnifying the Levels Just
Above You
However, I am more aware of people who are
slightly above me in the rank. When it comes to
topic expertise, therefore, I compare myself
unfavorably to those who have studied subjects
deeply in grad school. I compare myself to
people who run “real” businesses with dozens of
employees. I compare myself to people who
speak a language I know fluently, instead of my
intermediate level.
The problem is that once you go up one rank, the
rank above that suddenly snaps into view. When
I went from a solo business to a team,
immediately that new accomplishment became
the baseline and my comparison grew. If I were
to get a PhD in something, I’d become
immediately aware of the difference I had with
tenured professors or recognized experts.
In short, our relative status perception means
that there’s always a clearly-defined rung above
us and below. Insecurity therefore, can come
from an over-emphasis on the rung above you,
rather than recognizing the rungs you’ve already
climbed and the successes you’ve already
surpassed.
Where imposter syndrome differs from this, is
that it tends to make even the current rung seem
untenable. The position you’ve reached was
through luck, circumstance or because others
incorrectly perceived you to have done
something impressive. Therefore, there’s a
constant fear that you’ll slide back to earlier
rungs or fall off the ladder altogether in a
spectacular crash.
Factor #2: Invisibility of
Insecurity
Another contributing factor to imposter
syndrome is that you may not be aware that
other people are experiencing it. The fact that
others seem so confident, secure and full of self-
esteem may reinforce your belief that your own
doubts are proof of your illegitimacy.
When asked how many of their peers have had
sex or how much alcohol they drink , college
students grossly overestimate the promiscuity
and partying of their peers. Everyone else, it
seems, is having a raucous time and it’s just you
who is alone and boring.
This overestimation seems to be from an
availability heuristic . The people who seem to be
having wild fun are highly visible, whereas
those staying at home studying are not.
Therefore, we overestimate their occurrence.
This may also lead to some depression,
especially if you think having fun and going on
lots of dates is an important goal in your student
days. It feels like you’re the only one, and thus
your insecurities deepen. If you could see the
reality (most people aren’t getting laid and
partying as much as you think) then you’d
probably feel more secure in yourself.
Similarly, if you could enter into the private lives
of many successful people, and see how they
struggle with their insecurities or worries that
they may have reached levels of success
exceeding their merit, you’d probably be
reassured that your own feelings are normal. Yet
confident people are highly visible, those who
struggle with doubts keep their mouths shut.
Overcoming Your Imposter
Syndrome
I think the first step to overcoming your own
insecurities is to realize how normal they
actually are. That much of the seeming
confidence and bravado people display is really
thinly covering up their own doubts about
themselves.
Once you see self-doubt and insecurity, not as a
unique disorder you exhibit, but something that
impacts many people, it’s a lot easier to get
comfortable with those feelings.
Another useful tip from me has been to read
successful people’s biographies. The reason is
that you’d be surprised how many extremely
successful people spent their whole lives
grappling with intense self-doubt and
insecurities. Famed poet, Maya Angelou once
wrote:
“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.’”
Next is to consciously adjust your fixation away
from that rung of the achievement ladder
immediately in front of you. It may not be
habitual, but focus on the rungs you’ve already
climbed and the difficulties that came with them.
This can avoid the temptation to write down
your past achievements as being trivial and the
ones in front of you as being those that truly
matter.
Finally, I would recommend taking a softer view
when evaluating the works and accomplishments
of others. Attack and criticize others constantly,
and you’ll end up attacking yourself. When you
start exaggerating the flaws of others, your own
will seem to be magnified as well.
I don’t know of any bulletproof cure that will
immediately fill you with lasting confidence in
yourself. I’m not sure if one existed it would
necessarily be a good idea to use it too often.
But, moderating your own tendency to discount
your achievements and feel more comfortable in
the position you’ve reached is something we can
all aim for.
Reference:
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/05/06/imposter-syndrome/
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