I "cured" my Impostor Syndrome by accepting that not only am I an impostor, but so are most/all of my colleagues. If everyone else is faking it 'til they make

I "cured" my Impostor Syndrome by accepting that not only am I an impostor, but so are most/all of my colleagues. If everyone else is faking it 'til they make it, then what's stopping you or me from doing the same? Eventually you'll fill in enough gaps to stop being an impostor... at which point you're free to either settle into your expertise or graduate into an impostor in the next level up. Rinse and repeat. Closely related to this philosophy is the Peter Principle, and the above-described philosophy basically represents embracing the idea of pushing yourself beyond your own self-assessed competence - the worst case being that you push too high on the corporate ladder, expose yourself as an impostor, and get cast back down a rung or two back to where you're no longer an impostor, and the best case being that you stabilize at a new baseline from which you can Peter Principle your way further up. Also closely related is the Gervais Principle and its framework of Losers, Clueless, and Sociopaths. Whether you strive to be a Sociopath or not, it's worth understanding that their success and power over the Losers and Clueless does indeed derive from sociopathy, and that you and I exist in a socioeconomic system designed by Sociopaths to favor Sociopaths - and if we can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em (or, at minimum, disguise ourselves as them and learn to counter-exploit the exploiters). Long story short: all of us are either impostors or marks. Better to be the former than the latter :)