Solve the problems that bother you

"Why did you write a book on impostor syndrome?"

Because I was experiencing it.

I first heard of impostor syndrome in college. I didn’t think it applied to me since I had heard of it from the kids who thought their admissions was a fluke. I was very confident in my admissions but I was struggling to believe I’d be able to graduate. Keep in mind I was only a freshman and had no evidence that I was behind or at risk of not graduating. I realized how I was struggling to internalize my own achievements and abilities. This gap in self-perception contributed to my anxiety around being smart enough to get into a top school but somehow not smart enough to graduate from it.

I believe in sharing what I learn with others so as I learned ways to manage my own impostor syndrome, it was important to me to help others around me in their same academic struggles.

My sophomore year of college, I signed up to lead a seminar on impostor syndrome as a favor to a friend. She knew it was a topic I cared deeply about so offered me the opportunity. I hesitated at first but with her reassurance of confidence it would be a good experience, I agreed. I was excited for the opportunity to hopefully bring some comfort to my peers who were going through the same challenges.

The day of my seminar, that excitement turned into shock as I entered a classroom overflowing with people eager to hear what I had to say. I came into the room early as the presenter so I could set up and prepare. I walked into a room where every seat in that room was full.

I realized just the name of the topic in the summit’s agenda alone had struck a nerve. This was demonstrated by the fact that people had to stand along the walls in order to find space to fit. As I continued to set up for my presentation, others had to stand at the door. Before my talk could start, we had to start turning people away and redirecting them to other summit sessions in a different seminar since ours was overflowing.

The participation alone was not the thing that struck me, but the diversity of people in that room. Students from all class years -- both undergraduate and graduate, genders, ethnic backgrounds, and experiences were in that room. I was prepared to give a talk to fellow undergraduates but beyond that, professors and staff from across the university, including the president of the university, came to listen to a one-hour seminar on impostor syndrome led by little old me.

This is when I wondered if the things that I had put on those slides were really going to be worth all of these people’s time and anticipation. I underestimated how important this talk was and to how many people and of such a variety of experiences. It was quite meta to be experiencing impostor syndrome as the presenter of a seminar on that very same issue.

I had signed up prepared to share an experience that I thought just a group of other students and I could resonate with, only to find that I had underestimated how deeply entrenched this fear of exposure runs through all of us, even after college. That seminar was the first signal to me that there is a gaping need for help in this area.

At the end of my talk, people asked me to come speak at their schools. Many attendees requested that I share the slides with them personally for future reference. I had presented something that resonated to the point where they felt the need to bring that useful information to others and to have the ability to refer to it in the future.

Later on, I was contacted by the summit organizers that my talk was one of the most highly attended and rated events of the summit.

Not bad for a sophomore sharing her strategies to manage her own frustrations.

Fast forward to today and I am the published author of a 5-star research-informed book, From Fraud to Freedom, on strategies to tackle impostor syndrome and will be releasing a workbook on the topic this month.

All of this started with a problem I was experiencing and the decision to solve it first for myself, then my peers, then people I had never met, and now for people internationally.

I hope you think of the problems you experience in your life and choose to do the same.

What problem are you going to solve for people today?

?? Hi, I’m Phyllis. The author of From Fraud to Freedom, a research-informed book on growing through impostor syndrome and doubt at the

• individual,
• peer,
• company culture,
• and societal level.

With chapters dedicated to the nuance of impostor syndrome and gender, and race, and being first-gen.

?? If you want actionable strategies on how to show up for yourself, when your doubt is showing out, check out From Fraud to Freedom and let me know your thoughts!

https://www.amazon.com/Fraud-Freedom-Phyllis-Njoroge/dp/163730823X