What Is Imposter Syndrome?

Take our Imposter Syndrome Test

Find a therapist near me

Imposter syndrome is the belief you don't belong in the room.

Most people interpret this tension as a sign to back off and avoid entering the room.

By learning to see this tension as a sign to lean in and grow, you can unlock new opportunities.

No matter how much expertise, ambition, or discipline you have, imposter syndrome can hold you back from fully stepping into what you know you’re capable of.

A lot of the work I do as a psychologist-turned-executive coach is helping founders, leaders, and creators remove the psychological bottlenecks costing them business growth, and imposter syndrome is one of the most common psychological bottlenecks I see.

Imposter syndrome, fundamentally, is the belief that you don’t belong in the room—whatever that room is (physical, virtual, or conceptual). So if you attempt to enter that room, you feel a cognitive resistance—a tension that most people interpret as a sign to back off.

But what if it isn't a sign to back off?

Conceptualizing it as “imposter syndrome” misdiagnoses what you’re going through. Instead, I like to use the term liminal tension, and here’s why.

The Problem with Imposter Syndrome

When you mentally label the tension you feel as imposter syndrome, it can make you think you’re a fraud who doesn’t belong.

So anytime you start to enter a room and feel that tension, you pull back and tell yourself you need to wait until you feel “ready” or “prepared” before you try to enter the room again. “Then,” you tell yourself, “I’ll belong in the room.” Because everyone else in that room clearly deserves to be there because they have more expertise, more success, or are somehow superior to you in some way.

This is why labeling it as imposter syndrome holds you back. You have integrity, so you obviously don’t want people to think you’re a fraud, and you definitely don’t want to feel like a fraud internally.

So you wait........

© Psychology Today