The Reason Behind Imposter Syndrome and How to Deal With It

Imposter syndrome is a prevalent struggle among college students. When we experience imposter syndrome, we feel as though we aren’t worthy of where we are in life, that we don’t actually deserve to reap the successes of our work because we never actually worked our way there, that all of our achievements are either a result of luck or somehow cheating the system.

At its very root is the idea that you are a fraud and it’s only a matter of time until the searchlights shine on you, the ground you stand on crumbles and the facade of ‘secretly feeling like you belong’ falls with you to ground zero.

This post will seek to probe into this strange yet all too common phenomenon, and share with you a conclusion I’ve come upon that seems to be a common cause amongst many suffering from imposter syndrome, so that we can all hopefully find some resolve.

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Imposter Syndrome

When we have imposter syndrome, we feel as if we are exactly that, an imposter. It was contemplating on this obvious fact that gave me the answer: as an imposter, you are conflicted by a contradiction in your motives. 

On one hand, you feel like you don’t belong in a certain place of an exclusive nature (such as a university), but on the other hand, you’re not exactly trying to make good on this theory, if you were, you would’ve dropped out already. 

You’re essentially trying to uphold what feels like a lie, or at the very least, some untruthful schism ripping apart your psyche. 

How you should act and how you do act do not match.

This is the crux of imposter syndrome. The degree to which we try to define ourselves by how we present ourselves to others—whether by the makeup that we wear, the art that we hang on our walls, and so on—is to the degree to which we feel fake.

This inauthenticity is the discrepancy between some motive and some end result. Something doesn’t match, and as a result, you feel as if you are an imposter. It is for this reason that those with imposter syndrome, have some guilty truths that they are suppressing. 

For instance, a lot of college students who happen to have imposter syndrome also happen to major in something that they don’t like. 

Alternatively, those who prioritize money yet choose to major in something purely because they are passionate about it also experience imposter syndrome. This is by no means a credible peer-reviewed experiment, nevertheless, I believe it speaks volumes.

Because when students succeed in something they are not passionate about or in something at the expense of priorities, they question if they should really be here. They feel as if they don’t belong—as if they are an imposter. And unfortunately, in some ways, they are. 

Ask yourself

Are you doing things out of love or passion? Or are the actions you’re taking purely for the sake of how others see you? If you’re buying things, going places, or doing activities, not for yourself but to build a facade and public image, you are living a lie.

Your insecurities are rooted precisely in the fact that you know the fiction that you have constructed for all to see is unsecured. And what worse way to present yourself than to be insecure?

What you can do

So how can you overcome imposter syndrome? 

First off, understand that denial is what makes imposter syndrome worse. There is nothing wrong with being an imposter, aren’t we all imposters to some degree? Think about the way we present ourselves on social media, the clothes we wear, so on so forth. But why is it that what we wear makes us feel less like a fraudulent imposter than what we post on Instagram? 

Perhaps it’s because we have naturally integrated our clothes into our sense of self, so much so that our clothes have become an extension of ourselves. Social media, for the most part, has not. 

The solution is a process of radical integration; we must fully embrace and accept ourselves. We have to integrate the positive things we post about on social media (i.e., on Instagram). We have to fully accept the fact that we may have gone to university without the fullest of conviction. 

Remember, by buying things, going places, or doing activities, not for yourself or from a place of passion but to build a facade and public image, you are living a lie.

And if that’s where you’re coming from, that’s okay. Try to find a way to integrate it. And if you can’t, then integrate the fact that you can’t.

Fully embrace the fact that you are not doing something out of love but to maintain an identity.  Because that’s part of us. For now at least.

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