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And here I thought it was just me.

A recent article from Leigh Buchanan at Inc. magazine, The Imposter Syndrome, examines something most people experience at some time or other: feeling like a fake, despite their apparent success. It’s that nagging feeling that you’re not as smart, or as good, as other people think you are. (NOTE: This is not to be confused with the feeling that you’re OK but everyone ELSE is a fake. That’s called arrogance, and you’ve got a real problem there, my friend…)

“People who feel like fakes chalk up their accomplishments to external factors such as luck and timing, or worry they are coasting on charm and personality rather than on talent. Psychological research done in the early 1980s estimated that two out of five successful people consider themselves frauds; other studies have found that 70 percent of all people feel like fakes at one time or another.”

What I find most amazing is the prevalence of this feeling, even among otherwise apparently successful people. It’s most prevalent among high achievers, and stems from an inability to internalize their accomplishments. If you’re reading this and you are, for instance, a successful entrepreneur, academic, or other management type, then chances are you’ve felt it too. Ironically enough, according to the article, research indicates that being an entrepreneur may actually enhance such feelings because of the lack of scrutiny from bosses.

That actually does make sense. When you’re the boss, you’re expected to know everything about everything; to be expert in all facets of your business. Unfortunately, few people are experts in many areas – after all, that’s why you hire other people to run the parts of your business you can’t run yourself. Other peoples’ expectations, combined with little or no upward management scrutiny, contribute to that nagging feeling that sooner or later, someone will find out you’re really NOT the expert they think you are.

A Google search for the phrase “Imposter Syndrome” yields 47,200 hits, including the first hit, Imposter Syndrome, the website of Dr. Valerie Young. Amid other interesting information, there’s a simple quiz you can take, reproduced (with permission) here:

• Do you secretly worry that others will find out that you’re not as bright and capable as they think you are?
• Do you sometimes shy away from challenges because of nagging self-doubt?
• Do you tend to chalk your accomplishments up to being a “fluke,” “no big deal” or the fact that people just “like” you?
• Do you hate making a mistake, being less than fully prepared or not doing things perfectly?
• Do you tend to feel crushed by even constructive criticism, seeing it as evidence of your “ineptness?”
• When you do succeed, do you think, “Phew, I fooled ‘em this time but I may not be so lucky next time.”
• Do you believe that other people (students, colleagues, competitors) are smarter and more capable than you are?
• Do you live in fear of being found out, discovered, unmasked?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then not only are you NOT alone, but you’ve got some pretty good company (that’s other high achievers like yourself).

I guess never realized just how widespread and how debilitating this could be. Certainly I’ve experienced the feeling many times, despite my own qualifications, abilities, etc. Please, realize that help is available. As Richard Bach once said, “Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but that mark of a fake messiah.”

Sometimes, just knowing you’re not the only one is enough.

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