Impostor syndrome
Impostor syndrome. Ick. You’ve likely suffered from it: that feeling that you’re a fraud, not up to the task, less able or talented than your peers — even when you are up to the task, totally able and supremely, uniquely talented. A lot of smart, accomplished women know the feeling, such as Barbara Oakley, a scholar and the author of Mindshift, who wrote this week for Motto about how she turned impostor syndrome into her “career superpower.”
Rather than let the syndrome simmer, she used that negative sensation to drive her to learn, to absorb, as much as possible. It’s a more substantive version of the “Fake it til you make it” method. I’m going to bookmark Barbara’s essay for when I feel my own syndrome relapse.
What about you? Ever struggled with impostor syndrome? How did you cope?
Happy Friday to all the real deals out there,
Claire
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