If you work hard and succeed, you should not feel guilty about it. You have earned it. But, remember, with success comes responsibility.

@helenS I often have this.

@JimboSaturn I know several people with excellent skills who suffer from severe impostorism. They are always afraid their perceived "swindle" will be exposed, maybe tomorrow...
Telling them they are [u]really[/u] good doesn't help, they will just think I can't see the horrible truth about them. 😕

@helenS Deep seated insecurity I guess.

@helenS Whoever truly has that will never succeed in anything because they'll always aim too low and only take easy tasks and jobs without ever trying something bigger.

@CrazyMusicLover Yes, you have to push that envelope and experience that growth.

@JimboSaturn Some years ago I traveled through the Alps with a guy I liked, and he had a severe case of impostorism. So I asked him about topics in his field (biochemistry), and his answers were brilliant, no matter what I asked. But it didn't help at all, he was convinced that it was just luck (to be able to answer all questions correctly).
Yes, deep seated insecurity. 😐

@CrazyMusicLover It has been estimated that nearly 70% of people will experience signs and symptoms of impostor phenomenon at least once in their life.

@helenS Yeah, I think what I describe is actually avoidant personality disorder, more severe form of insecurity.

@CrazyMusicLover More women than men in leading positions have impostorism 😐

@helenS that’s Matthew Perry in a nutshell.

@helenS my first 3 years of teaching I felt like a fraud .

@AthrillatheHunt Apparently you took your teaching obligations seriously 🌷

@helenS I had a little bit of that. I always knew there was 100 guys who'd take my job in a second if I wasn't there. Sometimes I'd think "why are they still calling me?"

@helenS

H, remember to keep the tulips on your organ 😉

@Slade way better than roses on your piano. Lol

@helenS How is naming it helping? I understand there is a part of psychology now if you can name it's okay? One might argue it avoids feelings and labels emotions instead. You could have your travelling within through the Alps either way. Don't compartmentalize your feelings so far that you intellectually know he was brilliant and that's all you have left.

@thewindupbirdchronicles ??? It's a serious problem which many people encounter, especially those in a leading position, and the problem has been given a name by those who investigated it. I can't see what could possibly be wrong with assigning a name to something??

@helenS [quote]Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck.[/quote]

I think because when we were all young and expressed any sort of ambition, the world would tell us "why don't you do this or that instead?" or how we would never make it because we were not smart enough, didn't have experience, things evolved too fast so anything we learned would be obsolete by tomorrow, etc. Maybe we didn't know what to say to counter those doubts others had about us.

That was my experience. I am not successful today but I learned to play "ignorant" when people ask advice. I figure if the world doubted me when I was younger and begging for a chance, why should I pretend to know anything when someone needs my advice?

@Slade [quote] I had a little bit of that. I always knew there was 100 guys who'd take my job in a second if I wasn't there. Sometimes I'd think "why are they still calling me?"[/quote]

If you are one of those who even bothers to show up to your job, you are doing better than many. Maybe the more qualified ones had other problems that you didn't. A lot of jobs are doing good just to get people to show up.

@helenS You love science. It searches for known things and tries to make answer from.... There's nothing wrong, it just becomes we all feel, in almost no way no answer is right in art, when we live in a world labelling so many?

@CestManan I was good at what I did and never created problems. But I would notice other guys who mastered it.

Eventually it sunk in that if I made the others job easier, they'd always call me