Imposter syndrome is the belief that your achievements are due to only luck, or ‘fooling’ people into believing that you are competent. This, of course, is false, and often arises from a combination of perfectionism and growing knowledge. The perfectionist wants to tick every possible box before considering themselves competent. But as your knowledge deepens, your list of boxes will grow at a rate faster than you are able to tick. This leads to a rapid increase in what you know you are ignorant about. You gain the ability to perceive your own ignorance, which paralyzes the perfectionist. When you are painfully aware of your apparently growing list of shortfalls, the conclusion that you are undeserving of success seems natural, logical even. Except that it is not. Everything that you now know once began from ignorance - without it, there is no knowledge. There are two things here, the ignorance, and the awareness. There is always ignorance - it does not care whether or not you are aware of it. The awareness of your own ignorance, and the potential to learn something, then, is an asset. An asset that many people, moving through the world with unfounded confidence, victims of the Dunning-Kruger effect, do not have. Your imposter syndrome is not something you need to fight. It is a natural part of your learning journey that requires refocus. It is simply the recognition that how you see yourself right now is so far away from your true potential. In effect, by observing your ignorance, you are looking into your own future. You are dwarfed and intimidated, not by the world, but by the person you know you could eventually become. (Reposted for LinkedIn's Our Imposter Stories initiative!) #impostersyndrome?#creativity?#personaldevelopment?#confidence?#bestadvice #OurImposterStories