I decided not to post this… but here we are. I told myself it wasn’t good enough. In actuality I was just scared. A reader saved it when she emailed about her own Impostor Syndrome. I sent her this post and she responded with this:
Well, here it goes…
[Update: Since posting this, there have been a ton of people commenting about their experiences with Impostor Syndrome, their stories might be even more helpful than the article itself. Definitely check them out.]
***
I’m a fraud and everyone is about to find out. I feel that every time I am about to share something. I feel that right now writing this: I don’t even have impostor syndrome. That’s how bad my impostor syndrome is. I even think I’m faking that. If it’s part of my life, it’s fake. What is impostor syndrome? It’s feeling like an impostor when you’re not. Like you’re a fraud and the whole world is going to find you out. This makes total sense for undercover agents and people selling snake oil. It doesn’t make so much sense for people who are trying to make the world a little better or to sell something they believe in.
The first step to feeling better about anything is to realize that famous people suffer the same thing. So here are some famous people with Impostor Syndrome:
“The beauty of the impostor syndrome is you vacillate between extreme egomania and a complete feeling of: ‘I’m a fraud! Oh God, they’re on to me! I’m a fraud!’ So you just try to ride the egomania when it comes and enjoy it, and then slide through the idea of fraud.” – Tina Fey
“There are an awful lot of people out there who think I’m an expert. How do these people believe all this about me? I’m so much aware of all the things I don’t know.” Dr. Chan, Chief of the World Health Organization
“I still think people will find out that I’m really not very talented. I’m really not very good. It’s all been a big sham.” – Michelle Pfeifer
“Sometimes I wake up in the morning before going off to a shoot, and I think, I can’t do this. I’m a fraud.” – Kate Winslett
“I have written eleven 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.’ “ – Maya Angelou
Emma Watson, Sheryl Sandberg, and Sonia Sotomayor have also admitted to feeling like they’ll be found out for the frauds they are.
But wait, these are all women… Apparently this is mostly a problem for women. I don’t buy that though. I think that guys just won’t talk about it. Or at least that’s the story I’m going with. (I don’t want to be girly.) In searching for famous people with impostor syndrome I did find a couple males. Tom Hanks and Neil Gaiman (artists of course, but they’ll do):
“The first problem of any kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you. It’s Impostor Syndrome, something my wife Amanda christened the Fraud Police.” – Neil Gaiman
Seth Godin wrote in The Icarus Deception that after a dozen best sellers he still feels like a fraud all the time. (I have a sneaking suspicion that Tim Ferriss suffers it too, just saying.) This problem is only getting worse as more of us rely on our online presences. We’re in this weird culture where you’ve got to sell yourself aggressively while remaining “authentic”. You think you need to be perfect but you also need to feel free to fail. You need to be yourself and more! It’s all set up to make you feel like a fraud. At the end of this post I’m going to issue a challenge. If you don’t feel like reading anything else, skip down and do the thing with me! Here are the ways I keep going when I feel like a fraud: 
21 Ways To Overcome Impostor Syndrome
1. Come off it. Usually I feel like a fraud when I think I’m more important than I am. When you feel like a fraud it’s in relation to some perfection that never actually existed. Letting go of some of your excess self-importance will go a long way in helping you feel less like a fake.
2. Accept that you have had some role in your successes. We feel like frauds because we are “unable to internalize our successes”. We were given an opportunity that others weren’t. And so nothing we achieve after that opportunity was actually deserved.
John D. Rockefellar’s oldest son suffered that bad. His entire life’s work was giving away money that his dad made. Can you imagine the intense impostor syndrome he must have felt? Holy moly.
There are plenty of people born with a silver spoon that still manage to f*#$ up. They were given every opportunity and never could take advantage of them. Opportunities come to those who expose themselves to them.
It’s not all “fair”, not at all. But you did do something to get where you are. You said yes when you could have said no (or, maybe more challenging, you said no when you could have said yes.)
3. Focus on providing value. I feel like a fraud when I’m concerned about myself. What will they think of me? If I fail they’ll shun me. I don’t know as much as that other guy, I have no right to say anything on the topic. Blah blah blah. The fastest way to get over feeling like a fraud is to genuinely try to help someone else.
This is hard because what if they hate you for it? What if they make fun of you for trying to help? What if your sincerity is smashed under the laughter of others? Then OUCH! That hurts bad. Not nearly as bad as it hurts to feel like a shell of yourself though. I remember the first time I wrote vulnerably. I had gone through severe depression and had benefitted from reading about others being depressed. I felt obligated to share my story. I did. It’s a couple years later now and I still get emails telling me how helpful the letter was to them. Not one person made fun of me for that. At least to my face. 
4. Keep a file of people saying nice things about you. I just started this earlier this year and it’s been amazing. Every time someone writes that I helped them online I take a screenshot and put it in my folder. When I feel like a fraud I can go look through the stories of people I have helped. There is a mom who’s 18 year old boy was shaken out of being stuck because of something I had written. There are a whole series of entrepreneurs who started businesses because of articles I’ve written. There are successful entrepreneurs that were reinvigorated by something I wrote. There are a whole slew of people at rock bottom who have found life worth living again because of something I wrote. Those things keep me putting stuff out there. Because, honestly, it’s easy to forget that writing can do any good. Collect your wins, testimonials, whatever and then visit them when you’re feeling like a fraud. 
5. Stop comparing yourself to that person. There’s no good reason for you to be reading what I’m writing. There are world class biographies of Warren Buffett, John D. Rockefeller, and Einstein. James Altucher has had more successes than me. Peter Thiel just wrote a book. Tim Ferriss, Paul Graham, Kevin Kelly… these guys blog! But still, I’m writing this because I think I have something to offer. Actually, when I look at my praise file I have proof that I have something to offer.
When I compare myself to these others it’s easy to fall into the trap of “my life sucks compared to that life”. You might as well not even do anything! Your life isn’t the best life! Emerson said, “Envy is ignorance…” and he was right on. You aren’t here to live the life of another person. You’re here to do whatever life you can. Turn Facebook off, get off Instagram, stop reading biographies of “successful” people and learn to respect your own experience. You’re not a fraud, you’re just you.
6. Expose yourself totally. Part of the twisted arrogance that causes impostor syndrome is the (usually unconscious) belief that you have extreme powers that the world couldn’t handle. Or maybe it’s just that you think you are a freak. You certainly have the ability to offer the world something that nobody else can… but really it’s not that wild! You are not nearly as much of a freak as you think you are. Again, come off it, you’re just not that special.
Do this: write for 30 minutes the most insane things about yourself. You will never show anybody this. Write your most ridiculous beliefs, your most terrible thoughts, your biggest fraud! Just write gibberish if you think that is crazy. Push into the deepest taboos you hold. Seeing these on paper doesn’t get rid of them but externalizing things puts them in a more sane perspective.
I have a gay friend. Everyone knew he was gay. He spent years not telling anyone. He spent a huge chunk of his life without expressing himself. If the world knew he was gay everything would be over. “So, I’m gay,” he told me. Big surprise. “Okay,” I told him. The next month I saw him he was living a totally different life. There was some kind of rusty wheel in him that was now spinning freely. His eyes shone with life. He was energetic and positive. All just from letting down his guard for a minute. 
7. Treat the thing as a business/experiment. Today there is a whole slew of artist-entrepreneurs. We call part of what we do “content creation”. There has never been a time in history where so many people have a “voice”. No wonder we’re all suffering from impostor syndrome.
Start treating even your art as a business. Not to the point that you start making crap because it’s what people like, but to the point that you are honestly serving the market. In a business, if a product doesn’t sell, you stop making it.
If nobody shares this post or leaves comments then I’ll assume that nobody wants to hear me talk about impostor syndrome—so I’ll stop. I won’t wallow in my failure and think the world hates me.
I’m running a test. Looking at it this way makes it easier to create the thing freely.
8. Say “It’s Impostor Syndrome” and it immediately becomes a little less terrible.
9. Remember: being wrong doesn’t make you a fake. The best basketball players miss most of the shots they take. The best traders lose money on most trades. Presidents are wrong about stuff all the time. The best football teams inevitably lose.
Losing is just part of the game. Don’t glorify failure, but don’t let it make you feel like you’re not a real contender either.
10. “Nobody Belongs Here More Than You” <<That’s the title of a book I haven’t read, but I agree with it. Why do we feel we don’t deserve to be in the game? Because we haven’t won it yet? We haven’t even tried! Break people down into what they are: expiring meat sacks.
We are all going to die, we just take different routes to get there. One of the most attractive qualities in a person is acceptance.
Acceptance of themselves and acceptance of you.
Not in the surrendering kind of way, in the “seeing clearly” kind of way. If you can admit that nobody belongs here more than you (while maintaining the belief that you don’t belong here any more than anyone else) you will find yourself making connections with people in powerful ways. 
11. Realize that when you hold back you’re robbing the world. If you walk around feeling that you should be someone else or that you don’t deserve to be here then all your crappy vibes rub off on other people. Your stunted expression means that you can’t be there for people who need you.
Everyone has doubts, the best gift you can give the world is to move forward regardless of the doubts—because it gives us the permission to move forward as well.
12. You’re going to die. Do you want to be on your deathbed regretting that you spent your entire life stopping yourself because you felt like a fraud? Maybe you can’t shake the feeling that you’re a fraud. You can force yourself to move forward despite the feeling.
13. Stream-of-conscious writing. I suggested something similar in #1. This is aimless though. Do this: write for 30+ minutes nonstop. You can’t put your pen down. If there is no thought in your head then write “I can’t think of anything” until you do. This will constantly put you in touch with what’s going on inside yourself.
It will show you how silly the impostor syndrome is. It’s awesome.
14. Say what you can. We are often put in the position of “expert”. When this happens people look at you like you should know everything about a topic. We can’t know everything about anything though. If I’m in a situation where there is potential to actually be a fraud—ie bullshit about things I don’t know—I just say what I can instead. People respect this much more. Admit that you don’t yet have the answer but you’ll find it.
Admit that you haven’t found the perfect solution but you’ve come close enough.
the second time for good measure!
15. Realize that nobody knows what they’re doing. Most startups fail. Even the ones that you hear about raising millions of dollars fail all the time. Nobody knows exactly what’s going on. There are a ton of people who will tell you they know the answers. These people are liars.
The world we live in is the result of a lot of brave people tinkering, failing, and succeeding once in a while. Nobody knows what’s next: some are willing to play ball in the face of uncertainty and some aren’t. You’re not an impostor for trying something that might not work. You’re a hero.
16. Take action. Impostor Syndrome lives in abstraction. It is impossible for it to survive when you’re taking action. Taking action proves that you’re not a fraud. It tests your mettle in the real world.
Impostor Syndrome cannot do damage to the person who consistently takes action. (You still might feel it every once in a while but you won’t let it stop you.)
17. Realize that you are never you. You’re constantly changing. You’re constantly becoming a new person. Your opinions change with new information (I hope). You spend 6 months eating donuts and then you spend 6 months at the gym. Last year you were obsessed with Call of Duty, now you don’t understand video games. Maybe you were in a terrible mood this morning. Maybe you’re a bit brighter now.
“There is as much difference between us an ourselves as there is between us and others.” – Michel de Montaigne
You are growing into something different. You are getting better. How? By trying to do something better than you actually can. That’s not a lie, that’s valor. 
18. Authenticity is a hoax. What is being authentic? I’m not going to write to my grandma using the same words as I use to write to my sister. I’m not even going to emphasize the same interests I have.
If I’m selling security systems, I’m not going to pitch a Mormon the way I pitch a rock star. It just wouldn’t make sense. There is no person you can be other than you. Ever. The impostor syndrome will have you believe that you are being inauthentic. That you are a liar. If that’s true then where is your true self!?
The impostor syndrome doesn’t give an answer because it doesn’t have one. Tell it to eff off.
19. See credentials for what they are. They don’t mean much. “Expert” means someone decided to call them that. “PhD” doesn’t mean someone knows more than you, it means they spent more time in school about you. (And actually do know way more than you about some uselessly specific topic.)
“As seen in The Wall Street Journal” means they knew how to use HARO. Don’t measure yourself by credentials. It takes the focus away from actually doing good things. And it won’t shut up the impostor syndrome for long either.
20. Find one person you can say, “I feel like a fraud” to. Being able to say that out loud to another person can be a huge help. Especially when they laugh at you for it.
21. Faking things actually does work. Sometimes faking it doesn’t make you a fraud. If you smile your body will be more generous with happy chemicals and actually make you happier. Neuroplasticity means that you can shape your brain by pretending.
When you were a baby you tried to walk and fell down every time. Were you a walking impostor? Who are you to walk!? You can’t even do it! It’s absurd!
Silicon Valley has been built by people trying to do things that probably weren’t going to work. We need them to keep trying. We need you to keep trying. We need you. Whether you feel like an impostor or not. 
Impostor Syndrome: The Challenge
You have the opportunity right this very instant to overcome your impostor syndrome. This is what we’re going to do. A Blog Confessional of sorts.
Write in the comments one thing you’ve avoided because you feel like a fraud. (If this is too much, you can email me… commenting will be more powerful though.) You can even stay anonymous if you want. Maybe you haven’t started that blog because you feel that you couldn’t do it as well as the people already blogging about a topic. Maybe you haven’t started your business because you don’t think you’re an “entrepreneur”. Maybe you haven’t talked to that pretty girl/guy. I don’t know. There are all sorts of thing. I’ll give you mine in a second.
**BONUS ROUND** Do something about it! If you don’t know what to do, I’ll give you a suggestion. The comment itself will be a huge step for sure. It’ll be even more huge to take the thing head on. 
If you’re looking for a guide to take action I put together this awesome course on taking action!
Check out The Action Course – Learning the Art of Doing
I love this blog!! I wasn’t aware that I was doing this until someone pointed it out to me, it all makes sense! I think back to the times when I don’t think I’m good enough/smart enough/have any right to add input etc…which is actually more often than I’d admit.
My biggest problem is that i deny how smart people seem to think I am. I think this is mainly because I’m introverted and so my brain is like ‘nah uh we’ll just store that away where you cant get it’ and so when people learn that I’m in university they bring up some topic that I’ve studied a million times and my mind goes blank. I just stand there as if I know nothing about the topic because nothing comes to mind. It’s the most frustrating thing! I know that I have the info stored somewhere i just have no access to it unless I’m writing about it. Because of this I just don’t think I’m all that brainy 😛
You do realise you just confirmed every PhD’s impostor syndrome by firmly labelling their expertise “useless”? So hey, thanks for that.
I was crying halfway through. I have a very big case of this. Since my childhood most of my teachers have said that I will do something big. I feel as if I talk big about things I actually dont know anything about. Even now I am confused.
Sorry for rambling on.
Wow is all I can say. I remember telling my daughter I felt like a fraud. I do thank you for this post!!!!!
Hey, Kyle,
I stumbled on the post today, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. As I write this, I am staring at my computer screen at work, trying to begin my “preappraisal self-evaluation” for the year. Each year, the company I work for requires each of us to evaluate ourselves and bring the evaluation to our yearly performance review. I’ve done a lot for my team this year, even taken on a new role specifically created just for me based on work I did last year. I have been staring at the form on my screen, thinking how much I feel like a fraud since the work I do isn’t governed by a job description and I am largely responsible for defining my own success. Every entry I make in the form has felt like padding my results to make the year’s work look good.
After reading your post, I’ve begun to reevaluate my work. I did do good work this year, and it’s ok for me to own that. I am not a fake for defining my own success and then living up to it, or even surpassing it occasionally.
Thanks again for the post,
Ben
I am new to finding this out about me. I somehow doubt if its only me feeling that way and it not being true in reality. I just graduated this year with a lot of confusion and despair for not having anything planned ahead. 6 months since,I feel I am not capable enough to find a job and have been avoiding phone calls. I think I don’t have anything to offer and I don’t know stuff. I am not smart enough. The world would be the same if I didn’t existed.
I’ve felt like I’ve become an imposter. I started playing guitar, holding myself to the highest standards being an actual fraud around people saying oh I know this and I know that when I really didn’t in hopes that someone would come to me asking me to play for them. Well that day came sooner than I thought. But I was still being a real fraud bc even tho I did believe on what I was doing, I had no idea what I was doing in honesty. I pretended like I was just having a bad day or what have you and I guess it became worse with the more attention I got. I never did anything too special but some people said it was good and it was awesome. Well it kept feeding me and feeding my ego and kept putting myself in denial that I was actually no good, I just started but I felt like a star at the center of attention of parties when I really didn’t know a c chord from a d chord. Of course now I’ve gotten alot better ik the chords, I’m learning all the scales. Have alot better feel than ever. But all that aside from now, I hold myself to being like synyster gates. That guy, he has amazing feel. Can shred like no other, live, recording, anywhere without missing a note but maybe twice every tour that I know of. And I want to be just like that. That exact same feel. The exact same abilities. But with trying to do all that, I’ve lost my love for it. I’ve lost my own heart. Along with many other things that have gone on. I’ve had depression, broke up with someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with someone I loved to death. Tried to drink away the pain but that ended up hurting me. I’m sure I was becoming a bad addict very young (18) I stopped enjoying that to hating it. In a very short time. I stopped enjoying music. After I stopped drinking I’ve had anxiety attacks, bad ones. I feel worthless alot. I don’t have a job. And that makes me not want to be social bc I feel like a bum. I feel like people don’t hang out with me bc they have to buy me stuff (even tho they offer and I don’t ask) I still feel like crap really. And then feeling all that I don’t find myself attractive. I don’t have the confidence to talk to girls bc I wouldn’t be able To have a relationship. And it goes on and on. And going deeper I’m a high school drop out. I used to play football and have all these dreams of finishing school. Somewhat thinking about what I might go to college for then the coaches smashed my dreams hard. Put me in a position I didn’t care about. I stopped becoming dedicated. I always struggled with my grades bc I could always workout with them. That kept me going for a little ways then I couldn’t even go do that stiff and lost it. It’s kind of been the story of my life. I don’t get to completely act on the things I want to do and carry them out to the fullest. :/ And it’s hard to me to go to sleep. It’s hard for me to get up. When I get up I do have moments of positivity but not alot. I have alot of things and I need to talk to a dr but even that I keep getting told I CAN’T do. It has to wait. That’s just tip of the iceberg too.
I’ve been feeling like a fake pro basketball player for about 5 years, since 2010. I’ve been on “semi-pro” teams, travel teams and even took a trip out of the country once, now twice to “play basketball”. The first time was a disaster which only made me feel like more of a fraud, on top of some people calling me one. So I returned back to the USA feeling fake, like I wasn’t “good enough” to play pro basketball in Europe. Fast forward to now, another opportunity came up for me to “play basketball”, in Germany. I feel like this is getting the best of me because I can’t put my all into it for fear of the “secret” getting out, whatever that secret is. I don’t want nobody to know, I want them to think everything is an illusion. This REALLY, REALLY SUCKS!
Hi, Kyle!
Thanks so much for writing this.
I am a new grad student and have been struggling a lot to keep up in my classes – which led to putting my classmates on a pedestal and putting myself down.
Your tips were exactly what I needed to hear.
Thank Google for putting your article near the top when I searched for “impostor syndrome” and thank you so much for sharing it.
Now I shall go study and do homework instead of having a pity party for myself.
Have a great night!
Thank you for the great insight!
Before reading this I knew very little about the ‘authenticity’ of even Imposter Syndome itself. I feel as though I’ve dealt with it for a long, long time but just put it down to anxiety or depression.
More recently I’ve pushed myself into academia, doing both a Dip of HE and starting my Bsc in less than a year after not being in academia for 4 or so years. Ever since I started in January I’d told myself that I was out of my depth and I wouldn’t achieve what I wanted. I knew what I wanted and what I needed to do, but there was always a voice in my head saying “what the fuck are you doing!”.
Not only this but my boyfriend has a PhD, so I always have this HUGE pressure put on me to succeed academically (not by him, by myself. I’d feel like I failed him if I didn’t do well).
My classmates have all come straight from college, and are all bright young minds, and I feel so out of depth or out of touch with my degree choice. I’ve told myself a thousand times that I can’t do what I’m attempting. I’m only a few years older than them but feel so out of touch and intimidated by their confidence.
I feel as though I need an academic credential to have some value or self-worth, or to be taken seriously. However I know that when, or if, I get there I will still have doubts.
I’m just hoping by that time I will have more self-belief and confidence that I can achieve what I want without the approval from others.
I’m a singer/actor who studied theatre at one of the nations top universities, trained privately for decades, and performed professionally for decades. I’m also really good with kids. However, I’ve hesitated to actively seek out voice students due completely to “Imposter Syndrome.” (I didn’t know about this until about 10 minutes ago, though). I have recently been trying to overcome this on my own and to face my fears. But, now that I know it’s not just ME, it’s not just MY problem…I feel so much more encouraged to reach out and help more kids.
Top read. Nice to know its not just me then.
I’m glad I found this post. I have been feeling less of myself since I started grad school, always feel like I don’t deserve to be in the class and like everyone is going to find out I’m not able to cope and didn’t qualify to be in the class. This impostor feeling about myself has made me perform below par and I have zero to no confidence in class and during exams. But reading through this post, I’m feel more than I’m upto the task and can perform better without the fear I leave my room with everyday. I will start the 30mins writing and see how it goes. Thank you.