"Alright, you got away with it so far, but your truth will be out soon." "I should just leave it for the people who are real experts." "Well done? Oh no, they’ve got it all wrong about me."

Are these the nasty little voices in your head you must always deal with? Is there a ‘fraud police’ in your mind that you feel can come knocking anytime you achieve something significant, and announce to the whole world how you do not deserve any accolades?

This is what psychologists call ‘imposter syndrome’, a prolonged feeling of self-doubt, inadequacy, and low self-worth. It is estimated to affect nearly 70% of people at some point in their lives.

So, what can we do about it? Is there a better way to condition the workplace culture? And can we figure out a way to overcome the underlying fear of being fake? In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how to cope with imposter syndrome at our work and in our lives.