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The Imposter Cure
Book

The Imposter Cure

How to stop feeling like a fraud and escape the mind-trap of imposter syndrome

Jessamy Hibberd
Hachette Book Group UK, 2019
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9

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  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Self-doubt propels imposter syndrome. People who fear they are imposters discount their achievements as mere luck or good timing. These negative self-beliefs prove hard to dismiss because they stem from the brain’s amygdala’s inability to distinguish actual threats from unfounded fears. To overcome imposter syndrome, it is important to challenge your dysfunctional coping strategies: overworking and avoiding challenges. Clinical psychologist Dr. Jessamy Hibberd explains that you can beat imposter syndrome by taking steps to become more confident. She provides sound, practical advice on how to free yourself from feeling like you’re a fraud.

Summary

Fear of being an imposter can corrode your quality of life.

Imposter syndrome springs from faulty assumptions people make about themselves. Those who suffer from it tend to dismiss their accomplishments as the result of luck or other external factors, which means they don’t take their successes on board and internalize them. Yet, ample opportunities await people who can change this self-defeating response. The potential rewards include lifting the emotional burden of imposter syndrome, acknowledging concrete evidence that you’re not an imposter, developing self-compassion, and accepting that experiencing insecurity and overcoming it by taking action builds self-confidence.

People experience imposter syndrome “on a continuum” from occasionally to chronically. Clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes first described the syndrome in 1978 as a phenomenon in which people have a persistent belief that they’re not worthy of success and lack ability, skills, or competence. Clance and Imes interviewed 150 successful women who, considering themselves “imposters,” feared they did not deserve their ...

About the Author

Dr. Jessamy Hibberd is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, author and commentator. Her other books include How to Overcome Trauma and Find Yourself Again and This Book Will Make You Happy.

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