Who Is The Impostor?

Spoiler alert: the greatest fraud is not you

Photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash

Have you ever felt inadequate among people doing something similar to what you do?

Like you've ended up there by mere chance, holding your breath until you are found out.

Which will inevitably happen, of course. As soon as the experts notice the intruder. How haven't they signalled the alarm already?

Yeah, you are the impostor. That was clear from the start.

But the twist is that this whole plot is usually only valid in your head. No one else has any idea what this thing is all about.

I guess we are all familiar with one or another impostor-type game - Mafia, Among Us, etc. Where the role of the impostors is to infiltrate the other camp and fool them they are one of their kind.

And while impostor syndrome feels far less fun than a game, the rules seem to be the same.

We are the fraud, the eternal fake it till you make it.

The little voices in our head go on like:

"But who am I to write on this topic when there are many other brilliant writers? People more skilled with words, and people more familiar with the concept. I will most likely say the wrong thing."

And sometimes, we go as far as saying to ourselves "I have no right to do this."

But our worldview needs a bit of an adjustment. While there are people with unbelievable IQs and biographies, no one out there knows it all.

As we expect of ourselves to know.

We also fail to see that others hardly ever need convincing that we belong right there with them.

If we are (and keep being) among skilled people, we are often there due to merit, not due to pure chance.

Sure, luck may have played a role. It might have opened a door for us at the start. But luck is not there to keep us afloat every day.

What keeps us afloat, day in and day out, is ourselves. Us, and our skills, and our commitment to success.

Of course, it is only human to feel some self-doubt. The fact that we don’t easily see it in others doesn’t mean that it is not there.

The most important part is not letting it stop us completely in our tracks.

If we let doubt rule our lives, we will indeed commit the greatest fraud.

Robbing ourselves of the chance to share our gift with the world is a lose-lose situation for everyone.

The way we do things, or express our views on a certain topic, even if we do or say nothing new at all, will be different than everyone else's before.

Just because we are different than anyone else before.

Our way of doing things can help someone connect the dots like they never could until now.

Or create one more chance for someone to stumble on something educating, inspiring, or beautiful.

What we have to keep in mind is everyone was a beginner at one point.

We all learn and develop throughout our time here, and that might be the best part of life.

Yes, there might be a small percentage of humans who like to look down on others from their high-expert thrones.

But most people would be glad to have someone else sharing their interest. They would even be elated to mentor and help us in forging our own way.

As we embark on our journey of doing things despite feeling like an impostor, we should remind ourselves to be mindful of our needs.

We usually try to overcompensate when we feel inadequate.

And to catch up with the others who had more time to develop their expertise.

We have to be kind to ourselves and to hold some space.

Life is a journey and there are always changes, with success being an ever-moving target.

While we may not easily feel like we've "made it", we should definitely not feel like a fraud.

We are all unique, and we all have something to contribute to the world.