Being exposed as a fraud has always been one of my biggest fears, and it affected many angles of my life. From sport to my studies, I always credited luck as the primary factor of my achievements, and was always afraid to fail and get exposed for the fraud that I am.
It wasn’t until I got diagnosed with the imposter syndrome that I found out this is not a common feeling among my peers, and it’s something I have to actively pay attention to. It’s been over 13 years since that day, but thoughts of being a fraud are still there. There are still days that I question all my athletic and professional achievements, and wonder if I’ve ever deserved them regardless of the facts.
What is impostor syndrome?
Impostor syndrome, fraud syndrome, or impostor phenomenon is a psychological illness in which the person doubts all their accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. And every failure, no matter how big or small, makes them feel like a failure. Every decision should be the perfect decision, and every goal must be the ideal one. They usually push themselves to the limit and work much harder than people around them to prove to themselves and others that they are not an impostor. They feel the need to be successful in every aspect of life and beat themselves up if they fail to achieve that.
How to overcome it?
The most important thing to get over the impostor syndrome is to understand the limits of ourselves and use this knowledge to set our goals. This can help avoiding situations that we set ourselves for failure from the start, and give more breathing room to the person in the journey.
The other important factor is to separate feelings from facts. Just because there is a feeling of being a failure internally it doesn’t mean that is actually the reality.