Impostor syndrome is a natural consequence of growth.
Growth creates a gap, between who you are now, and who you used to be. We often interpret this gap, internally, as impostor syndrome.
The only qualified experts in any subject are those who have collected a volume of failures in their field. That’s how you earn expertise — by learning all of the possible ways that you can fail.
The Irony of Expertise is that positive feedback is easy to ignore. Others may say they are impressed by your expertise, but you don’t believe them, because you know all the ways you have failed.
The only difference between a master and a novice, the old saying goes, is that the master has failed 10,000 times more than the novice has ever tried. If the master remembers all 10,000 failures, it’s easy to feel like an impostor.
Impostor syndrome is fine if it’s temporary, but it’s crippling if it’s not.
Those who experience impostor syndrome find it hard to accept recognition for their success, because it validates something they don’t…
