Imposter syndrome - A psychological pattern in which an individual doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

The Prodrome

(That job you secured was a fluke, that deal you cracked was plain good timing. Finished a marathon in three hours? Oh, it was nothing!) Undermining your own hard work and skill set? That feeling of perfectionism, continually doubting yourself? Sounds familiar? If yes, probably you too have Imposter Syndrome issues. Not an actual disorder, the term was coined by clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978. Simply put, it is a nagging feeling that a person has that he is not capable or suitable for a job role and is not as smart as assumed by people around them, morphing into the anxiety of being caught. The person ends up pushing hard to prove themselves to others leading to burnout. Even if you have had external evidence of accomplishments, the inner self always tends to make you feel a fraud.

The Suffering

And while we suffer from it, we tend to lose opportunities that come knocking at our door, leave those potential areas of interest unexplored and fail to step out of what we call our "comfort zones". Being a developer, I think this is a feeling you tend to live with. Was my job offer a mere slice of luck? Was that piece of code I wrote the last sprint just "spaghetti code"? What if an audience question comes up about which I have no clue at that tech-conference? Would I be left "exposed"? And while you fight these inner demons of self-doubt day in and day out, you also tend to not reach out to your peers for the same reason. What we do fail to realize all this while is that everybody around us might be sailing in the same boat. Keeping this to oneself might just make you prone to stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, and in extreme cases depression.

The Cure!

The best cure to imposter syndrome is to fail!

So how do you rid yourself of this feeling? Turns out - you fail! Because once you have failed, you would have bared that inner fraud in front of others, and feel that you have nothing to hide. The heaviness of being an imposter will be replaced by the lightness of being an amateur, less sure about everything. Sounds contrarian right? Taking that step outside your comfort zone without judging yourself for what the outcome might be. If you succeed - great, if you fail - even better. Also, having a constant support system that engages you in feedback loops always helps. The process will only make you realize that everyone brings a unique value proposition to the table and is a special contributor in their own right. And while this may help you build some team player skills, it will definitely you value your own worth.

Conclusion

You need to remember that you are here for a reason. Be it your job, your business, or your life, you are worthy. You can improvise as you go, just like everyone else. You know more than what credit you give yourself for. You are smarter than you think. Trust your abilities. And most importantly, keep reminding yourself about this, more often!