Sunday Pick: How to beat impostor syndrome | from Fixable
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Hey, TED Talks Daily listeners, I'm Elise Hu. Today we have an episode of another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, handpicked by us for you. Up to 80% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives, or a feeling of inadequacy and anxiety about perceived flaws. I've certainly been there. So today we're sharing a recent episode from Fixable, where hosts... Anne Morris and Frances Fry break down exactly what is imposter syndrome, why we tell ourselves stories that distort reality, and how to break free from those harmful thought patterns. Whatever you're dealing with at work, Fixable is here to help, offering actionable insights to create meaningful change in your life and workplace.
Listen to Fixable wherever you get your podcasts. And if you have a problem you want fixed, call their hotline at 234-FIXABLE. That's 234-349-2253 to leave Anne and Francis a voicemail with your workplace problem. Learn more about the TED Audio Collective at audiocollective.ted.com. Now on to the episode.
You are listening to Fixable, a podcast from TED. I'm your host, Anne Morris.
What is impostor syndrome and how does it affect people?
I'm a company builder and leadership coach.
And I'm your co-host, Frances Fry. I'm a Harvard Business School professor, and I'm Anne's wife.
Thank you so much for having me. We got so much out of that conversation and we think you will too. So definitely check it out.
And we have additional great experts ahead, but we also want to hear your thoughts and your questions. So please keep calling and texting us at 234-FIXABLE. That's 234-349-2253. Or you can shoot us an email at fixable at ted.com.
Frances, today it is just the two of us, and we're going to go deep on an aspect of confidence that we see trip a lot of people up, which is the phenomenon known as imposter syndrome. All right, Frances, this is how I propose we do this. I want to spend some time on what imposter syndrome is because it's a phrase that people throw around all the time, and I think it's going to help us fix it to have a better understanding of what it is. And I want to fix it because this is fixable. And then I want us to talk about some of the cousins and variants of imposter syndrome because it's going to help us spot it in ourselves and in other people. How does that sound?
I love this frame, Anne, because it's an accurate diagnosis yields a clever prescription. And we really do need an accurate diagnosis of imposter syndrome. And then we're going to have some pretty clever prescriptions, including bringing the cousins to the table.
Yeah, that's what we're going to get into today. We're going to talk about imposter syndrome and also some of its close cousins, including the perfectionist.
In addition to the perfectionist, imposter syndrome's family tree includes the soloist, the superhero, and the expert. And we're going to invite all of them to this party.
All right, friends, we've got a lot to do today, so let's get right into it. Francis, just to get us started here, why is this a question that we care about? Why spend time on this one? Oh, because it affects so many of us and it's fixable. Totally. I saw some data when we were prepping for this show, credible data that said up to 80% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point in their life. Does that ring true to you? It does.
I mean, I think most people visit it occasionally and some people are permanent residents.
And permanent residency is not free. So what's the cost of living with this? Oh my goodness.
Yeah. So it's a pretty grave cost. It's like an internal game. There's loads of self-doubt. It can eventually lead to burnout. It doesn't just stay on the job. It comes home with you, too. So it's a 24-7, 365 thing.
Well, maybe let's pull on that thread for a second, because I find myself a little ambivalent about this word syndrome. Because it does feel like a temporary state, to your point, that it's one of the challenges as we build our way to confidence is that sometimes we have a crisis of confidence. Sometimes there's this impostery energy that shows up, but it's not some kind of psychological illness that defines who we are in the world.
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