Are you really a fraud or is your impostor syndrome undermining you?

How you feel when you have it, how you know you’re not a fraud and how I beat mine in six steps.

I was 25 when I started as an intelligence analyst in law enforcement. I couldn’t believe how little old me ‘landed’ that job. Pure luck, I thought. I had only been at University and done small jobs for beer money and to fund my travelling. I didn’t even feel like an adult. And there I was, in the midst of the action -serious action- to stop organised crime. I felt so completely out of my depth.

In my mind, passing all the interviews, exams, psychometric tests, security clearances and weeks of training was a total fluke. I was in my bubble of self-conscious, waiting to be found out for the fraud I was.

What is the impostor syndrome?

The impostor syndrome is the persistent feeling that you are not worthy of your achievements or successes. Like all fears, it is hard to rationalise it by offering evidence of skills or talents to make you stop doubting yourself. If you second guess yourself all the time, attribute your success to luck, feel like a fraud and have a fear of being found out, welcome to the club! you almost certainly have it.