🦋 Why you SHOULD feel like a fraud

As I headed to my classroom, I walked past Healy Hall.

It’s a huge, gothic stone fortress that reminds you—loudly—of Georgetown University’s 200-year history. It screams prestige. It screams importance.

And on that particular day, five years ago, it added a crushing weight to the pressure I was already carrying.

I entered the classroom and found it smaller than I expected. Honestly, I felt small too.

This was my first time teaching the leadership class at the MSFS (Master of Science in Foreign Service), one of the most prestigious programs in the world.

To my left: the history of the institution.
To my right: brilliant students with big expectations.

My hands were sweating. My heart was thumping in my ears.

I questioned why I was even there. It must have been a mistake, I thought. Or pure luck. Or maybe both.

Despite having trained thousands of people and practiced what I was teaching since 2008, I felt completely out of place.

I felt like I didn’t belong.

Then the class started.

Instincts took over. I shared a personal story at the beginning and saw students lean in—pulled in by this unorthodox start. Then we did an exercise, and I watched them dive into the action-focused approach. I was still nervous. A bit clumsy. But I survived the first class.

With every class after that, the discomfort faded a little more.

Today, five years later, the fear is gone.
Walking past Healy Hall doesn’t shrink me anymore; it grounds me. That dread has been replaced by genuine excitement before every new class.

And I realized a fundamental truth:

I wasn’t an imposter in the subject of Leadership.
I was just a beginner in the setting of Georgetown.

I belonged there. I just hadn’t belonged there before.

We've spent this month building your Amazing 2026—creating your Personal Advisory Board, crushing procrastination, and designing resolutions that stick. But there's one final obstacle: the voice that asks, "Who do you think you are to achieve this? 👇

Imposter syndrome is when capable people believe they’re not as capable as others perceive them to be. They attribute success to luck, timing, or someone else’s generosity—rather than their own skill and effort.

And here’s the reframe that changed everything for me:

Imposter syndrome usually isn’t about incapability. It’s about inexperience.

Your brain often can’t tell the difference between:

Same fear signal. Different reality.

When I walked past Healy Hall, my brain flagged the environment as new. And because it was new, it categorized it as threatening. It ignored my years of experience and zoomed in on one thing: I hadn’t done it here before.

If you’re planning a massive year of growth in 2026, you are—by definition—leaving familiar territory.

So yes: you may feel like an imposter at some point this year.

That doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you are aiming high.

It means you’re growing.

This is how Imposter Syndrome could feel:

👥 Self-doubt: Constantly questioning one's abilities and feeling uncertain about whether they deserve their achievements.

😱 Fear of failure: A deep-seated fear of making mistakes or failing to meet expectations, leading to perfectionism, procrastination, and avoidance of new challenges. Fear of being “found out”.

🙅‍♂️ Attributing success to external factors: Believing that any success or recognition is solely due to luck, timing, or other people's support, rather than one's skills and efforts.

🤏 Discounting accomplishments: Minimizing or dismissing personal achievements as insignificant or unworthy of recognition.

🤦‍♀️ Comparing oneself to others: Constantly comparing one's abilities and accomplishments to those of others, often feeling inadequate.

😳 It spikes in new rooms (new role, bigger stage): That’s common and not a sign you’re incapable.

1️⃣ High achievers are more prone - Imposter syndrome, often seen in high achievers, stems from the paradoxical fear of not living up to their reputation despite significant accomplishments.

2️⃣ Affects both genders - While imposter syndrome was initially observed in women, studies have shown that it affects both men and women almost equally.

3️⃣ Affects all career stages - It can occur at any career stage, including promotions, job changes, or new responsibilities, contradicting the notion that experience and expertise naturally bring confidence.

4️⃣ It might come and go - It can be a cyclical experience, with periods of intense self-doubt followed by times of greater confidence. It's about building a system to recognize it and framing it as a part of your growth.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with you! The good news is that you already have the inner capacity to overcome it! It's just a matter of activating it.

Here are some tactics you can use:

🧭 Name it precisely (new-room stress, not fraud)

Before the scary thing, write one sentence: “This feels like danger because it’s unfamiliar—not because I’m incapable.”
That’s the point: this experience is common. It’s not a diagnosis. It’s a normal response to stepping into a bigger room.

🔁 Keep coming back!

The more you expose yourself to imposter syndrome-triggering situations, the faster you'll learn and the more familiar you'll become with them. You'll build confidence through experience. If you, on top of that, do reflective journaling every day to unpack those experiences, you will accelerate your progress even more.

🗣️ Talk about it

Sharing your feelings of imposter syndrome with trusted colleagues, mentors, or friends can normalize the experience. It often reveals that others face similar doubts, reducing the isolation and stigma of imposter syndrome. It’s really a growth syndrome!

🥳 Collect evidence of success

Keep a "brag book" or success journal where you document your achievements, positive feedback, and milestones. This tangible evidence serves as a reminder of your skills and accomplishments when you feel like an imposter.

🧗 Challenge negative thoughts

Imposter syndrome is fueled by irrational beliefs & negative self-talk. Practice cognitive reframing by challenging these thoughts & replacing them with realistic assessments of your abilities. For example, replace "I don't belong here" with "I earned my place through hard work."

🧐 Seek feedback and mentoring

Regular feedback from mentors or supervisors (Personal Advisory Board) can offer objective perspectives on your performance and highlight areas of strength. Mentorship provides guidance, encouragement, and a trusted source of advice to help navigate imposter syndrome.

Here’s what I know after five years walking past Healy Hall:

Belonging isn’t something you wait for.
It’s something you build—through reps, support, and staying in the room.

So choose your room. Then show up again tomorrow.

Imposter syndrome isn’t proof you’re a fraud.
It’s often proof you’re standing at the edge of your next level.

So when that voice shows up this year, answer it calmly:

“I’m not an imposter. I’m in training.”