#imposterphenomenon

Have you ever had moments where you have had tremendous self doubt to a point where your confidence took a shot or perhaps a feeling of being a fraud? Where you think whatever success you have achieved is due to some kind of mistake or a fluke?If so, welcome to the non exclusive club of millions of successful women around the world who feel the same.

This sense of self doubt and fear of being caught is known as Impostor syndrome. Although, it was discovered almost 4 decades ago unfortunately very little has changed since then, except for the fact that more women are susceptible to it than ever before. It is extremely common amongst career women who often underestimate their capabilities and feel like all that they have achieved is not due to their own efforts but rather due to an external reason. It is also very common in women at universities. I too have felt being an imposter on multiple occasions during my degree, still at time owing my first class honors to sheer luck or fearing that the university would call me and say it was a mistake. However, if you feel this way you are not alone. Many successful women such as Sonia Sotomayor, Tina Fey, Sheryl Sandberg and Emma Watson have all claimed to have experienced this feeling.

While both men and women experience the impostor syndrome, studies show that women are more often affected and more likely to suffer the consequences. Another study shows that women are more prone to feeling this way because boys are raised to bluff and exaggerate from a young age, whereas girls, on the other hand, learn early to distrust their opinion and stifle their voices. They discover very early on that they are being judged by the highest physical, behavioral and intellectual standards. Hence, girls start setting extremely high standards for themselves and perfection becomes the goal against which they judge themselves, and not meeting up to that mark often hollows into their self confidence.

Have you ever felt a similar feeling? Do you think women feel this way more than men? Please let us know your thoughts on the Imposter Phenomenon.

Please click link below to find out how to not let the Imposter Syndrome effect you and your career:

At some point in your professional life, you’ve probably felt like a fraud. You are not alone!

The Personality Traits That Make Us Feel Like Frauds