By Ryan Holmes — 2018
The feeling that you haven't earned your place is all too common among entrepreneurs. Here's how to fight back.
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CLEAR ALL
The life of an entrepreneur isn’t necessarily easy. As the pop-culture phrase has it: “The struggle is real.”
Artists encounter unique challenges. They are required to continually make new work that feels original and significant, but not too close to that of their peers and predecessors. They encounter public audiences that are quick to deem contemporary art esoteric or absurd.
Very few people succeed in business without a degree of confidence. Yet everyone, from young people in their first real jobs to seasoned leaders in the upper ranks of organizations, have moments—or days, months, or even years—when they are unsure of their ability to tackle challenges.
For the longest time, Christy Pichichero says she thought she was plagued with imposter syndrome, you know, that feeling that you don’t belong, that you don’t quite deserve your success. But this past year, she took a step back and coined a whole new phrase for what she’s been experiencing.
Today in my interactions with college students and young scientists in training, I’m often struck by the limits that they are placing on their own potential by comparing their achievements to those of others.
Imposter syndrome, alongside alcoholism and chronic insomnia, is one of the experiences key to the morbid trinity of student life; the quirks forming the foundation of every post on every university confessions page.
We’ve all heard the fake it till you make it a phenomenon. Like every student. A person with imposter syndrome can have all the training in the world with the finest degrees, and still not believe they have the right for people to recognize their accomplishments.
I realize now that no matter how much I “accomplish” or the goals I achieve, I still second-guess myself; I struggle to feel fulfilled.
Impostor syndrome is not a unique feeling, but some researchers believe it hits minority groups harder.
“Do you ever have feelings of self-doubt, that you’re not good enough or that you don’t belong?” we asked students in our Student Opinion question inspired by Smarter Living’s guide on “How to Overcome ‘Impostor Syndrome.’”