Written by: A. Nicole Morales, M.S.Ed.
Have you ever sat down in a meeting with successful people and think, “How did I end up here? Someone’s going to realize I have no idea what I’m doing”?
I know that I have despite my experience and master’s degree, many times. And here’s the part that barely makes sense—that feeling actually means you’ve earned your place.
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter Syndrome is not some personality flaw. It’s something that happens to people who’ve genuinely accomplished stuff—degrees, promotions, successful businesses—yet still can’t shake the feeling they’re faking it. Formally known as Imposter Phenomenon, it is actually a psychological pattern that affects high achievers who have verifiable accomplishments, skills, and track records of success.
Two psychologists, Dr. Pauline Rose Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes, named it Imposter Phenomenon in the late 1970s after noticing how common it was among high-achieving women who, on paper, had everything going for them. But inside? They felt like frauds waiting to be exposed at any moment.
The most irksome part is that imposter syndrome doesn’t happen to people who actually don’t know what they’re doing. It happens to people who do, but somehow can’t believe it themselves. Your brain just literally refuses to internalize the wins the same way it holds onto every mistake, creating a painful paradox.
The Six Ways Imposter Syndrome Shows Up
1. The Imposter Cycle: All or Nothing
You get asked to do an important presentation. What happens next?
The Over-Preparer: You spend every evening and weekend anticipating every possible question, planning for every worst-case scenario, and perfecting every slide until 2 AM.
The Procrastinator: You think about the presentation constantly but find yourself reorganizing your office, responding to non-urgent emails, and tackling every other task first. Then you pull it together at the eleventh hour.
Either way, the presentation goes fine, others might even say it was great. But you walk away thinking it only worked because you went overboard with prep or got lucky with the deadline panic, likely replaying every way it could have gone better. You convince yourself it was the excessive effort or the adrenaline rush that made it work—not your actual expertise. And you can’t imagine replicating that again.
2. Perfectionism: The Moving Goalpost
Your standards are so high they’re basically impossible to hit, and definitely not consistently. The smallest mistake feels like proof you don’t belong. You might be the person who works until midnight because “good enough” never actually feels good enough. Or you could even fall into “work martyrdom,” believing the mission is worth sacrificing your wellbeing, boundaries, and personal needs.
3. Super Heroism: I’ll Just Do It Myself
Delegating feels harder and like more effort than just doing everything yourself. You’re the first to raise your hand for extra projects without thinking about what’s already on your plate. Unlike the Imposter Cycle, this isn’t about a single task—it’s a chronic pattern of overcommitment that eventually becomes unsustainable.
4. Denial of Competence: It Was Just Luck
When something goes well, it was timing, luck, or because someone else outside of your control helped. When something goes wrong, it’s 100% on you. This pattern is particularly common among women and marginalized professionals who’ve been socially conditioned to stay humble and downplay achievements while being held accountable for every mistake.
5. Atychiphobia: Fear of Failure
The thought of stumbling or failing is so terrifying that you’d rather not try at all. Turn down the promotion. Skip the speaking opportunity. Don’t even try to pitch the big client. Because what if you fail and everyone sees it, how could you ever recover?
6. Achievemephobia: Fear of Success
Success sounds good in theory, but it also means higher expectations, more visibility, more work. And some part of you doesn’t believe you can handle it. So you self-sabotage or avoid opportunities that would advance your career or business, convincing yourself it’s safer to stay where you are.
Why This Happens to Successful People
The root cause is metacognitive—it’s about how you think about your thinking. At some point—maybe growing up, maybe in your first job—you learned that mistakes get attention and consequences, while accomplishments get a shrug or an expectation to do even better next time.
Over time, your brain started weighing failures heavier than wins. The brain loves predictable patterns so that thinking is easy. And now you’re stuck in a loop where you can list every mistake you’ve made in the last five years but struggle to remember what you did well last week.
This pattern doesn’t just stunt career growth. It can lead to anxiety, depression, burnout, and chronic stress.
Not Sure If This Applies to You?
I created a quick quiz based on Dr. Clance’s Imposter Phenomenon Scale to help you figure out if you’re dealing with imposter syndrome and how much it might be affecting you. It takes about 5 minutes and gives you a sense of which patterns you’re experiencing. Find my quiz here.
The results might surprise you—or they might just confirm what you already suspected.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Here’s the good news: because imposter syndrome is a cognitive pattern, you can rewire it. The frustrating news is that this won’t go away overnight. The encouraging news is that it’s fixable because it’s a thought pattern, not a personality trait.
Write Down Your Wins
Make a list of your accomplishments, and make it thorough. Promotions, projects that went well, degrees, certifications, that time you handled a difficult client perfectly. Go back as far as you can remember. Include the small wins too: the meeting you led effectively this morning, the difficult conversation you navigated last week.
Keep this list accessible. Update it regularly. You’ll need it on the hard days.
Name Your Triggers
When does imposter syndrome show up for you? Before big meetings? When you’re about to post something on LinkedIn? When someone compliments your work?
Start noticing and writing down the moments when you catch yourself falling into one of the six patterns. Awareness is power and a skill you can build.
Challenge the Thoughts
When the “I’m a fraud” thought shows up, treat it like something you can fact-check.
What’s the actual proof that supports this? What evidence proves it wrong? Would I judge a colleague this harshly in the same situation? What would I tell a friend who said this about themselves?
Most of the time, the thought falls apart pretty quickly when you actually examine it.
Practice Out Loud
Find someone you trust—a mentor, therapist, partner, friend—and practice saying your accomplishments out loud. It might feel weird at first, but hearing yourself challenge these thoughts in conversation with someone you trust makes them easier to catch and challenge when you’re alone.
Remember You’re Not Alone
You’re not broken. You’re not uniquely flawed. You’re experiencing something that affects most successful professionals at some point. The shame dissolves when you realize how common this is.
So…now what?
Imposter syndrome sucks and there’s no guarantee it will fully disappear. It’s exhausting and it makes you second-guess everything. It also only shows up for people who’ve actually done the work and earned their spot. Incompetent and uneducated people do not question their competence.
Rewiring this pattern won’t happen overnight, just as the pattern itself didn’t develop overnight There will be days where it feels absolutely true that you’re faking it. On those days, pull out your list of wins and remind yourself of the facts.
But there will also be a day—maybe soon, maybe in a year—when you say yes to something you would’ve turned down before. When you catch the imposter thought, recognize it for the lie it is, and move forward in seconds. When you walk into that room and think, “Yeah, I belong here.”
That day is worth working toward. And the fact that you’re reading this article? That’s evidence you’re already on your way.
A Note From Me, The Author
I’ve spent enough time battling my own imposter syndrome to know how isolating it feels. My background is a bit of a mix—I have my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and spent years in clinical practice before shifting to work with business owners on their social media marketing. That combination means I understand imposter syndrome from both the clinical side and from watching entrepreneurs navigate it in real time. If you read this and thought “okay, this is me—now what?” I’d love to talk. I work with professionals and business owners who are done letting these patterns hold them back.
References:
Clance, P. (1985). Clance IP Scale. https://paulineroseclance.com/pdf/IPTestandscoring.pdf
Huecker, M. R., Shreffler, J., McKeny, P. T., & Davis, D. (2023, July 31). Imposter Phenomenon. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585058/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNIGWRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHp3aUjtYujadzDTs7fs-MU9QAXanE9nYNZvyU9od8M2hfemkIGbFCJhTf2db_aem_e57A1TvDcYWHZsXXf7FfGA
Rose, P., Suzanne, C., & Imes, A. (1978). THE IMPOSTOR PHENOMENON IN HIGH ACHIEVING WOMEN: DYNAMICS AND THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION. https://mpowir.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Download-IP-in-High-Achieving-Women.pdf
A. Nicole Morales, Metacognitive Coach 
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