Imposter Syndrome

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong, that your success is just luck, or that sooner or later everyone will find out you’re a fraud—welcome to the club. This feeling has a name: imposter syndrome. While it can affect anyone at any age, it’s especially common among people in their twenties as they navigate major life transitions, new responsibilities, and the pressure to “have it all figured out.”

Imposter syndrome is more than just occasional self-doubt—it’s a persistent feeling that you’re not truly qualified or deserving of your achievements, no matter how much evidence says otherwise. It’s that nagging voice inside your head telling you that you’ve somehow tricked others into thinking you’re competent or talented, and that any day now, you’ll be “found out.” This feeling isn’t just a fleeting insecurity; it can dominate your thoughts and affect how you approach your work, relationships, and life choices.

The core of imposter syndrome lies in the disconnect between how others see you and how you see yourself. Even when you receive praise, positive feedback, or recognition, you might brush it off or attribute it to luck, timing, or external factors rather than your own skills and hard work. This can lead to a constant cycle of anxiety and stress, as you feel like you’re always on the edge of being exposed as a “fraud.”

What’s especially frustrating is that imposter syndrome doesn’t discriminate based on actual ability, background, or level of success. Some of the most accomplished people—think CEOs, artists, scientists, and students at top schools—have openly talked about their struggles with feeling like imposters. It’s a mindset, not a reflection of reality. You might be extremely skilled, educated, and experienced, yet still feel unworthy or inadequate.

The reason this happens isn’t because you lack talent or intelligence, but because of how you interpret your achievements. Instead of internalizing your success as proof of your competence, you interpret it as a fluke or mistake. This skewed perception can stem from many sources, including perfectionism, upbringing, cultural pressures, or past experiences where your worth felt conditional.

Imposter syndrome often thrives in environments that are competitive or unfamiliar, where standards feel impossibly high and mistakes are feared. It also feeds off comparison—looking at others who seem to have it all together and feeling like you don’t measure up. When your self-worth is tied too closely to external validation or achievements, it leaves little room for self-compassion or recognizing your true value beyond what you do or accomplish.

Recognizing imposter syndrome is the first step to breaking its hold. It’s important to understand that these feelings are common, and not a sign of actual inadequacy. By shifting your mindset and learning to accept your accomplishments as genuine, you can begin to silence that inner critic and build a healthier relationship with your own success.

For people in their twenties, imposter syndrome can feel like a perfect storm:

Major transitions: Whether it’s starting college, landing a first job, or moving to a new city, your twenties are full of “firsts” that push you out of your comfort zone. When everything is new, self-doubt can easily creep in.
High expectations: Social media and cultural narratives often pressure young people to have their lives perfectly mapped out—successful career, healthy relationships, personal growth—all by a certain age. When reality doesn’t match those expectations, it can fuel feelings of inadequacy.
Comparisons: Scrolling through highlight reels on Instagram or LinkedIn can make you feel like everyone else has it together while you’re just barely holding on. This constant comparison often feeds imposter feelings.
Lack of experience: Entering new environments with less experience can naturally make you question your skills. Whether you’re the newest hire or a recent grad, it’s easy to feel like the “least qualified” person in the room, even if you’re doing great.

This does not mean imposter syndrome doesn’t affect other ages, but during this transition, it is a lot of young people’s first time navigating high-stakes environments without clear roadmaps. In your twenties, you're often juggling a mix of pressure, uncertainty, and self-discovery all at once. You’re expected to figure out your career, build independence, maintain relationships, and somehow still make time to “find yourself.”

The combination of external expectations and internal uncertainty creates the perfect storm for imposter syndrome to thrive. You might land your first job and feel like you don’t belong in the room. You might enter grad school surrounded by brilliant peers and wonder how you even got in. Or you could be building a creative project or small business and constantly feel like you’re making it up as you go—which, to be honest, most people are.

In this stage of life, your identity is still forming, and because so much feels new or uncertain, it’s easy to question your place, your talent, and your worth. You haven’t yet built the archive of experiences that older adults often draw on to validate their confidence. So even when you’re doing well, it might not feel like you are.

This is exactly why it’s so important to talk about imposter syndrome openly—not just as a buzzword, but as a real emotional weight that affects how young people show up in their work, relationships, and even their sense of self.

Living with imposter syndrome can take a serious toll on mental health and well-being. It can cause chronic stress, anxiety, and even depression. In your twenties, a time when you’re building your foundation for the future, these feelings can hold you back from taking risks, asking for help, or fully owning your successes. It can also lead to burnout as you push yourself harder and harder trying to “catch up” or prove your worth.

Overcoming imposter syndrome starts with one critical shift: the way you think about yourself.

You have to stop seeing your presence, your ideas, and your success as something you owe others an explanation for—and start seeing it as a privilege for others to experience what you bring to the table. That may sound bold, especially if you’ve spent years downplaying your abilities or second-guessing your worth. But here’s the truth: confidence isn’t arrogance. Confidence is ownership. It’s saying, I’ve earned my place here, and I don’t need to shrink myself to make others more comfortable.

This doesn’t mean you’ll never doubt yourself again. Self-doubt is human. But imposter syndrome feeds on the belief that you’re somehow “less than.” To break free, you have to start acting like you belong—even when it feels uncomfortable. You can’t always wait until you feel confident. Sometimes, you build confidence by choosing to trust yourself first.

You are not lucky to be here. You’re here because you’ve put in the work, taken the risks, and grown into someone capable. The more you internalize that truth, the easier it becomes to quiet the voice that says you’re a fraud.

Confidence is a muscle, and it gets stronger every time you show up as your full self.

How to Start Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

The good news? You don’t have to live with imposter syndrome forever. Here are some ways to begin breaking free:

Name it and own it.
Recognize when those imposter thoughts are creeping in. Naming the feeling helps you separate your identity from your anxiety. It’s not you—it’s a thought pattern, and it can be challenged.
Talk about it.
One of the fastest ways to loosen imposter syndrome’s grip is to say it out loud. Whether it’s to a close friend, mentor, therapist, or even in a journal, putting language to what you’re feeling takes away its power. You’ll likely find you’re not alone.
Challenge your inner critic.
When you hear yourself saying, “I don’t deserve this,” ask: Why not? What would you say to a friend who just accomplished what you did? Often, we’re much kinder to others than we are to ourselves.
Keep a success journal.
This sounds simple, but it’s powerful. Write down your wins—big or small—and revisit them when self-doubt creeps in. It’s hard to argue with your own evidence.
Redefine failure.
Failure doesn’t mean you’re a fraud—it means you’re trying, learning, and growing. Nobody gets it right every time. Messing up doesn’t disqualify you from success; it’s part of the process.
Set realistic expectations.
Give yourself room to be a beginner. You don’t need to be perfect to be worthy. Everyone is still figuring it out, no matter how polished they look on the outside.
Focus on your values, not just your achievements.
You are more than what you produce. Confidence rooted in values—like creativity, empathy, persistence, or curiosity—lasts longer than confidence tied only to external success.

David’s Story: “I Thought They Hired the Wrong Person”

When David landed his first full-time job out of college—a marketing role at a fast-growing tech startup—he should’ve felt proud. He’d worked hard through school, held internships every summer, and even built a small freelance portfolio on the side. On paper, he was exactly the kind of candidate the company was looking for.

But from the moment he sat down at his new desk, all he could think was:
“I don’t belong here.”

In meetings, he hesitated to speak up, afraid his ideas would sound dumb. When he did contribute and someone agreed, he’d chalk it up to luck or politeness. Every email he sent got triple-checked. Every presentation left him sweating. And when his manager praised his work, he’d smile and say “thank you,” but inside he was convinced they’d figure out the truth sooner or later: that he wasn’t as good as they thought.

“I felt like I had to overcompensate just to deserve being in the room,” David remembers. “I stayed late, said yes to everything, and tried to prove myself in a hundred little ways. But no matter how much I did, I still felt behind everyone else.”

What David was feeling had a name—imposter syndrome—but he didn’t know that at the time. He just thought he was the only one struggling while everyone else breezed through their work with confidence.

Then, during a late lunch with a coworker, he opened up. “I said something like, ‘I’m still trying to catch up—honestly, I feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time.’ And she just looked at me and said, ‘Wait... you feel like that too?’”

That moment changed everything. Realizing he wasn’t alone—that other people were also doubting themselves—was a turning point. It didn’t magically erase the self-doubt, but it cracked open the door to a different way of thinking.

Over the next year, David started challenging his inner narrative. He made a habit of writing down small wins—positive feedback from clients, projects he finished, emails he was proud of. He stopped brushing off compliments and started saying “thank you” like he meant it.

“I started telling myself: What if I actually am good at this?” he says now. “I didn’t have to be perfect. I just had to trust that I was growing into someone who belonged.”

Today, David is a creative lead at a new company, mentoring junior teammates—many of whom confide in him that they feel the same way he once did.

“I always tell them, ‘The people you admire probably feel like imposters sometimes too. You’re not here by accident. You’re here because you earned it.’”

David’s story is one of thousands, maybe millions, of smart, capable people walking through life second-guessing themselves. The truth? Most of us feel like we’re figuring it out as we go. And that’s not failure—it’s growth.

Final Thoughts: You Deserve to Be Here

Imposter syndrome thrives in silence. It grows when we keep our doubts to ourselves, assume we’re the only ones feeling this way, and downplay the very things that make us valuable. But the truth is, nearly everyone—especially in their twenties—feels like they’re winging it at some point. That doesn’t mean you’re an imposter. It means you’re human.

The real work isn’t about becoming perfect or finally “earning” your worth. It’s about shifting your mindset: seeing yourself as someone who belongs, not because you’ve tricked the system, but because you’ve shown up, tried, learned, and grown. You are not lucky to be here. You’ve worked to be here.

Confidence isn’t something you wait to have—it’s something you build. And it starts with trusting your voice, owning your journey, and giving yourself permission to take up space.

So the next time imposter syndrome whispers that you’re not enough, remember this: You don’t have to believe everything you think.

You’re not faking it. You’re becoming it.