What is Impostor Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is a phenomenon where individuals doubt their accomplishments and feel like a fraud, despite evidence of their competence and success.  It can be very anxiety provoking isn’t it?

I suspect that Impostor Syndrome can be fundamentally due to a number of “fusion of rules and beliefs”. 

1. Too much fusion with “not good enough belief”. This can lead to shame, lack of self acceptance , and lack of confidence.

2. Too much fusion with “my self worth is linked to my achievements and what others think of me”. This can lead to a fear of failure.

Maybe some other things as well perhaps but the above two patterns are most common I think from experience.

If true, then one key solution is learning how to be mindful and defuse from the above “rules and beliefs” whenever those feelings arise rather than react with fight/flight, and inadvertently reinforce them. This is part good “critical feeling” as opposed to just “critical thinking”.