Have you ever had the feeling that you’re in over your head? That you’ve had many successes but somehow you feel you don’t deserve them?

As hard as it is to believe, many successful people have admitted to feeling like a fraud despite their obvious success. In an interview with Rookie magazine, actress Emma Watson explained the feeling as:
“It’s almost like the better I do, the more my feeling of inadequacy actually increases, because I’m just going, ‘Any moment, someone’s going to find out I’m a total fraud, and that I don’t deserve any of what I’ve achieved’.”
This is an example of an interesting phenomenon called 'imposter syndrome', when people are seen as successful by outside external measures but internally they feel undeserving of their success or even fearful about being exposed as a fraud.

An 1985 article in Times suggested that up to 70% of people will experience this at some time. Usually, a bit of perspective and time is all one needs for these feelings to pass.

But for some people, the feelings never subside, developing into an entire syndrome where the person truly believes they truly are an imposter. This is problematic when behaviours and thinking patterns are developed based on this belief.

So what can you do? Hugh Kearns, co-founder of Thinkwell, recommends the following strategy:
... you need to force yourself to look at the evidence objectively. One of the great contributions of psychology is to help people realise that feelings are not facts. You can feel like an imposter but that doesn’t make you one. Is it likely that you have fooled everyone? Did you tell lies at the interview? Was it just luck or did you actually work hard on that report?

There’s no simple answer to treating the syndrome but looking at the evidence using CBT and self-awareness can help, as can mindfulness. Learn not to fear success and enjoy it, even if this is easier said than done. Finding a way to channel pressure. This may not rid you of imposter syndrome but it will certainly help you to manage it.
[The Conversation]