It's True, You Probably Are An Imposter!
“I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts, he said. My name is Ryan. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts, either.” Westley, as played by Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride
I started and restarted writing this article several times… Each time, I felt like I didn’t quite get it right and likely whomever was reading it would have known that I have no idea what I am talking about. That my qualifications are non-existent and I am just faking all of this… Then I reminded myself that I continually get really positive feedback that my blog has been helpful to those who are reading it and that I do indeed know what I am doing. It was at that point that I was certain— that like Jon Snow, I know nothing.
That’s not fair. I do know one thing for sure and that is that the stupid feelings of inadequacy I get every time I achieve something and receive praise are caused by Imposter Syndrome. While some of you may not be familiar with the term, I am confident that many of you can relate to that feeling.
You don’t deserve your success. You got lucky. Your achievements are really the achievements of others. That about sums it up, right?
For me, the feelings of being an imposter have always revolved around not believing I was as qualified as everyone else around me. It usually surrounds the idea that I maybe don’t know the lingo and will come off sounding like an idiot when I am supposed to be an expert. This has been prevalent for me in every job, hobby, and church activity that I have been part of my entire life. At first, like some of you probably have, I assumed that it was because I really was just a unqualified round peg in a square hole.
A couple articles ago I talked about why it was important to be vocal about mental health and in this case, it was hearing famous people talk about the effects of Imposter Syndrome in their lives that finally made me realize this was something that affected a lot of people. Even Maya Angelou, one of the world’s most accomplished poets said, “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.’” It appears there is no level of success that provides immunity to these feelings.
To compound that, research shows that the more successful you are, the greater likelihood you will have these feelings. That’s right, you can’t outrun it, you can’t out achieve it, you will never escape it. Why not?
My belief is that maybe, just maybe, it’s because you are an imposter. You don’t actually know what the hell you are doing. You are just making it up as you go along. Think about it for a minute. You are faking parts of your life and your career every single day. Take in that idea. Accept it. Got it? Has it sunk in yet?
Now let’s move forward with the truth— everyone is an imposter. No one knows what the hell they are doing. Everyone is just making it up as they go along. Everyone is faking parts of their life and their career every single day.
Yes, of course everyone has learned knowledge, everyone has life experience, everyone has raw talents and abilities and those things factor in to all of our successes. But whenever anyone takes a leap of faith and tries something new— guess what? We are right back up to making it up as we go along.
So if the reality is that everyone is just making it up as they go, then what’s there to worry about? I’ll be honest, my original plan for this sentence was a call to action like “Go out and be you and succeed and…” But as I went to type it, I realized as a person who suffers from anxiety I can still think of a million different things to be worried about. So I am going to take a different approach.
Now that you’re in on the big secret that everyone is just making it up as they go, you can feel free to live your life accordingly. Will there be people who still see you as beneath them? People who think you don’t fit in to a group because you don’t know all the lingo? People who hate all your ideas? Yes. Every day. But who cares? Deep down, they very well know the truth about themselves as well.
So get out there an embrace your inner-imposter because the reality is there are also people who are looking up to you and thinking, “If only I was as smart and successful as them.” It’s all about perspective, my friends.
If you suffer from Imposter Syndrome, hopefully this article allowed you to flip your perspective into a positive light.
-Jason