What is Imposter Syndrome?

When I first started talking about imposter syndrome in podcasts, on social media, or on the blog, I got a lot of people with the same response.

“Wait, what is imposter syndrome?!”

I had no idea that it wasn’t a widely known topic. I assumed the people I was coming into contact with knew what I was talking about. So rather than assume others know what it is, I decided to answer the question myself.

Imposter syndrome is the mindset where no matter what achievement we accomplish, or where we are at in our lives, we feel like frauds amongst our peers and our competition.

It’s all tied to fear — this fear that the people around us will realize that all this time we’ve been faking it.
But the most important thing about imposter syndrome is to recognize that the majority of us feel it every day.

It’s as if we’re standing right next to someone, yet completely convinced we’re alone (and they’re doing the exact same thing). When in reality, there’s only a thin, sheer curtain between us, and all we have to do is reach out and pull it aside.

Imposter syndrome is particularly common in entrepreneurs. We feel as if we don’t have as much experience as the business owner in our meetup group, or that a fellow photographer is only minutes away from discovering we have no idea what we’re doing. We second-guess ourselves every step of the way (even if we’re been in business for years!) and are afraid everyone else will discover our secret.

The truth is, there are two types of people. But they aren’t the real entrepreneurs and the imposters.

The two groups are those that let their fears hold them back and those who move forward confidently anyway.

Which one will you be?

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