Dear friends, today I’m going to let you in on a secret: my middle name is imposter syndrome. What exactly is that? AI answers this question as follows: Imposter syndrome (also known as fraud syndrome) is a psychological phenomenon in which people doubt their own competence despite demonstrable success and believe that their achievements are merely luck or coincidence and that they will soon be exposed as frauds. Those affected attribute their successes to external factors, are afraid of being exposed, suffer from severe stress and perfectionism, and often avoid new opportunities, which can lead to dissatisfaction.
And yes, this is really pronounced in my case. For years, I dreamed over and over again that my boss would come to my desk in the editorial office, holding a moving box, and say: „You have to pack everything up quickly and leave now.“ When I asked him why I was being fired, he said: „Well, you have no training, you can’t do this.“
Whenever I had professional success, I felt little happiness. Instead, little voices in my head said, „Well, there was a lot of luck or coincidence involved“ or „It’s not that good.“ And when I want to try something new, I often think: „But you can’t do that.“ I am aware that this stupid imposter syndrome has slowed me down quite often and sometimes still does, and I am actively working to overcome it.
In my year in review, I told you that I was looking for another career foothold. Now I’ve found something that interests me, but the imposter syndrome is knocking again. „Is this really for you? Aren’t you overestimating your abilities a little?“ So I called my friends to ask if they wanted to do it with me. I felt somehow safer with two of us (who knows?).
Away with imposter syndrome!
How great it is to have friends who are brutally honest from time to time. My friend Pia said: „Katharina, you’re a grown woman. If you want to do it, do it. You don’t need a friend to hold your hand. And the reason you haven’t signed up yet is – to be honest – a lack of self-confidence.“ Boom. That hit home. At first, I was quite taken aback, but I quickly realised that she had hit the nail on the head. I wanted to hide behind a friend, take the safer route. As if I needed someone’s permission to try something new. After two days of stomach churning, I signed up and now I’m really looking forward to it. Learning new things, meeting new people, observing myself, seeing how I behave when things get a little uncomfortable.
What I want to tell you is this: very few of us are free of self-doubt, and jumping in at the deep end always takes effort. We never know if the leap will be worth it, but in most cases, it releases adrenaline, we grow, and later, when we glide through the water on our backs, we can be proud of ourselves for having taken the plunge.
In my year in review, I wrote that I have no goals for 2026. But there is one thing I have decided to do: screw the imposter syndrome. Away with the constant self-doubt. Dare more and believe in yourself more!
