The Fake Problem of Imposture Syndrome 

Here’s the thing about imposture syndrome. It’s not worth talking about.

I just watched a TED Talk in which Elizabeth Cox posits that the way to relieve imposture syndrome is to talk about it. Talk to your peers. Talk to your boss. Talk to anyone that will listen to your precious problem: “I’ve accomplished so much, but I feel like a fraud.”

Cox says that no amount of success will rid you of this sort of self-doubt. Maya Angelou had it. So did Albert Einstein. If they felt that they were faking it, there is no height you can climb to that will eliminate it.

I can’t argue with that. But it’s a bogus issue. A made-up malady to justify yet another idiotic social science program and millions of dollars in wasted studies.

I have two reasons for saying that.

First, you can easily overcome self-doubts by characterizing them honestly. Einstein felt that he didn’t deserve the accolades he received, that his accomplishments were based on the work of others that he pilfered. And Angelou felt that she might not be the greatest American poet of the century, which is what so many fawning critics called her.

Guess what? They were both right. Einstein was, indeed, a thief of good ideas. And there were (and are) dozens of American poets better than Angelou.

And second, the imposture syndrome is a silly exercise in narcissism – in the vain idea that one can be the best.

The way to get rid of it is to accept the fact that however good you are, there are always several that are equally good but not as lucky-to-be-in-the-limelight as you. And there is always at least one that is better.

The worst thing you can do when you have imposture syndrome is talk about it. You may fool yourself into thinking that your interlocutor will feel sympathy for you, but all he or she is doing is thinking, “What is this jackass humbly bragging about?”