Stop trying to overcome Imposter Syndrome and instead embrace it

In the 17 years of my career thus far, I’ve finally come to accept one key thing:

I’ll never shake Imposter Syndrome.

I feel it every single day — the nagging voice whispering about how I’m not good enough, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, that it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes I’m a phony.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve spoken at conferences and taught workshops all over the world, or that my work has been published on Inside Design, X, X, and several other sites. Even while writing this, I’ve shut my computer at least three times because I started to doubt whether I should finish this article.

No amount of morning routines, gratitude journals, meditation, or inspirational quotes will make these thoughts of self-doubt and inadequacy magically disappear forever.

Most of the time, Imposter Syndrome looks a lot like this for me:

I say “yes” to something, like speaking at a conference or a new client project. And then I procrastinate and get even more stressed out because I’m working against the clock, in addition to all the negative internal dialogue.

Sound familiar?