What is Impostor Phenomenon?

There is a mismatch between the person we present to colleagues, friends and family and the person we feel like inside, to such an extent that we feel like a fraud. You fear that this impostor self will be discovered, and that this would be both disastrous and a relief. This leads you to overcompensate, perhaps by being a perfectionist, or having a professional mask. Failure is not an option, so you either avoid risk altogether, or devote a lot of time to eliminating it from your life. You appear to be successful, but don't feel like you are. You're self aware, so you know this is going on, but don't know what to do about it, so a huge amount of your energy goes into maintaining the status quo. Sometimes you might deliberately sabotage yourself to end the charade, but people still don't see through you. You should be moving on, but the fear of being found out is stopping you. You're not alone, and you can do something about it.