How to deal with the imposter syndrome

1. Don't take it personally.

The imposter syndrome is not about you. It's about the person having the reaction.

2. Know that you are good enough and deserve success.

You don't have to be perfect to be good enough. You don't have to know everything to be successful (in fact, most people who are successful know very little).

3. Don't compare yourself to others or your past self.

In order for this syndrome to work, you have to tell yourself a story that says, "I used to be better than I am now." Or "I wish I was as good as..." This is all BS.

4. Know that everyone goes through this at some point in their lives. Even the best of the best.

Meryl Streep has said she still feels like an imposter every time she wins an award. She's been nominated 18 times for an Academy Award and won three of them!

5. Do something today that scares you a little bit but not too much (see next tip).

If you do something every day that scares you slightly, after 365 days, you will have done things that scare you a lot more than they did when you started out. And this will help build up your confidence and skills so it becomes easier each year instead of harder.

6. Get good at something and then move on to the next thing until eventually there are many things where you are competent or even great at one of them or several of them or all of them!

This is how life works if we want success in many areas instead of just one area (or two if we get really lucky).

AI James Altucher