The more you hide yourself to manage imposter syndrome, the more like an imposter you feel. It’s a vicious cycle: feeling like a fraud leads to more hiding, which leads to feeling more fraudulent.
Brett shares the story of organizing a base jumping commercial in Switzerland despite never having been there. Instead of admitting his inexperience and asking the most skilled people for help, he avoided them—because contacting them would have confirmed his imposter feelings. The result: worse production quality and even more imposter feelings.
“The more you’re hiding yourself, the more of an imposter you feel like you are.”
Conversely, if he’d just said “I’ve literally never done this before, and I’m going to ask for all the help I can get,” the imposter feeling would have dissolved because he’d no longer be pretending. The imposter syndrome is technically correct—you are being an imposter when you hide yourself. The cure is to stop hiding.
Related Concepts
- Resisting parts of yourself creates more of that behavior
- Can’t be seen if not being yourself
- Vulnerability cures imposter syndrome faster than competence
- Shame blocks self-promotion even when you have the skills