Your imposter syndrome is exhausting to others

As the past few months have been so intense, I spent the past weekend relaxing with a detective novel I found in my new flat, written by an American author about a murder at a British public school.

Her imposter syndrome showed up so strongly that I couldn’t finish the first chapter. Inserted into the text were numerous British tropes, stereotypes from every social class, speaking in every possible accent heard across the country.

The author was trying so hard to project herself as someone who understood Britain and its demographic.

And because she lacked confidence, the weight of the validation she was seeking fell upon me as the reader and I found it exhausting! I gave up on the book because rather than relax my mind, it demanded too much mental processing.

This is not a criticism of her writing, but an illustration of what imposter can look like to an observer.

If you identify with imposter syndrome and are struggling to get the promotion or project you want, it might not be that the opportunity is being withheld from you or that someone else is a preferred choice.

Your imposter might be secretly communicating your sense of insecurity to decision makers around you.

So working through imposter syndrome might be the very thing that opens those doors for you. I encourage you to get support with this, because covering up those insecurities will not convince anyone otherwise.

Keep doing the work!