IMPOSTER SYNDROME IS REAL.

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“Do not speak bad of yourself. For the warrior within hears yours words and is lessened by them” old- Japanese samurai proverb

Do I really qualify? I bet there are more qualified individuals than I am, I don’t even understand why I was picked for this, maybe I was merely picked by chance,? Endless doubts, more questions, followed by disappointment. I am sure some of you know what I am talking. remember each time you were invited for an interview and you thought you just got lucky and didn’t deserve it? You couldn’t tell anyone because it would sound absurd since no one forced you to apply for the job and you know you are more than qualified for the job.

Often, you have felt t that you don’t deserve to be where you are or that it was luck which got you where you are, nothing more. You even feel guilty for  the awards , the recognition, success and the compliments   because you think  someone more deserving  should be in your place, you think someone somewhere  made a mistake and chose you instead, oh  you are not as great as they think you are and  you fear that one day people  might unmask you and see you for who you really are,.  a fraud.

These chronic thoughts of self-doubt which you have experienced in different areas of your life (personal or professional) are not just something you sweep off under the mat. A collection of such feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success is what is called Imposter Syndrome (Gill Corkindale,2008).

 I first heard about it through an email which I received months ago. The subject read “Don’t Sabotage Yourself Today” it was from Bestie Atti, (An Entrepreneur hosted an online training i attended). As catchy as the subject was, I wanted to delete it, create space for more important mail like how I put it, but I was as curious as a cat to find out how exactly I had been sabotaging myself. With each word I read, it spoke to me, talked about me.

 I suffered from that but I didn’t think it had a name or that it was something I had to worry about. You might think that no, let’s not give it a big name , you might think  it  could only mean  that one just suffers from  low self-esteem or  has low confidence levels, well just to clarify, Imposter syndrome doesn’t equate with low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence (Gill Corkindale,2008). 

Suffering from this syndrome makes you feel as if you are just an imposter, deceiving yourself as well as people around you by using an assumed identity. As a result, you end up downplaying your skills, achievements or qualifications. If you are suffering from an Imposter Syndrome, you might   believe that you are not qualified for a specific position, job or etc. even when you might have the necessary qualifications, experience etc. (Bestie Atti,2019).

Sometimes you might think that you need to get trained in something, gain more experience or perhaps advance your education, but the tricky part with this syndrome  is that even if you  do that,(have the right qualifications or qualities or skills) you will still feel like you are not good enough or  don’t qualify.

the mind can either be your worst enemy or your best friend-Joe Emerson

So, you might ask, what can do if I suffer from an Imposter Syndrome? Well, here are a few suggestions on how you can deal with it.



  • Surround yourself with people who see your value and are supportive.  your company can either build or destroy you mentally
  • Writing about what you bring to the table (at work or outside work) it could be skills, talents, experience, qualifications, expertise, achievements) when in doubt this can remind you that you did not get where you are by accident or mere chance.
  • Create your unique value personal statement not only will it remind you about who you are but also present yourself to new opportunities
  • Talk about your feelings with friends.  You don’t have to keep it to yourself and let it weigh you down. Somethings become clearer when you say them out to a friend, colleague or family.
  • Reward yourself.  There is nothing like a small achievement. Learn to celebrate the achievements etc.
  • Become self a ware. Being self-aware helps you define as well as remind yourself of who you are despite the failures, the challenges or the shortfalls. It also helps you identify the problem and find a better way of dealing with it. In this way you can be able to guard your mind from negative self-demeaning thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.
  • Seek support. Acknowledge that sometimes you need help and cannot manage to deal with it on your own.
  • Above all, allow yourself to be human. Be kind to your human self, allow yourself to make mistakes, fail because failing once or twice doesn’t make you a failure nor does it define who you are.



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