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Why the Imposter Syndrome has a hidden benefit!
Some months ago the Youtuber Ali Abdaal confessed that he is often feeling like a fraud. If you don’t know Ali: He is a medical doctor, who became the king of productivity on Youtube and is currently subscribed by 2 million followers. This career path made him a mid-twenty-millionaire.
I can identify only too well with Ali, apart from the fact that I am neither a doctor nor have several million subscribers on Youtube. And I am certainly not a millionaire:
When I started my business a few years ago, I didn’t feel qualified at all. Even so, nowadays I sometimes feel like a scammer who will eventually be exposed by my clients.
Interestingly the imposter syndrome seems to increase, the more knowledgeable somebody is in a given field.
You might be aware of the Dunning–Kruger effect. It says that “people with low ability at a task overestimate their own ability, and that people with high ability at a task underestimate their own ability.”
Is this really a problem? Most would say yes because the imposter complex stops people from trying to start new things. Instead of attempting to reach the stars, they rather avoid things that could lead to failure and embarrassment.
