This Is How To Overcome Impostor Syndrome: 4 Secrets From Research - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Impostor Syndrome is like being a secret agent - in the most depressing way imaginable.

No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you achieve, you still feel like a fraud. You still question your ability and you're waiting to be exposed. More formally, it's often referred to as "a failure to internalize success." You attribute your accomplishments to luck or insane amounts of effort, but never talent or skill.

And much of the advice we get isn't helpful either. Merely "telling yourself you're good enough" has all the scientific rigor of a Hallmark Card. Self-affirmations are as likely to cure this as they'd cure baldness. We need real answers, not platitudes.

Funny thing is there's a whole pile of scientific research that addresses this issue. It's called "self-efficacy." The concept was coined by Albert Bandura. He's widely considered the most influential living psychologist and one of the most cited of all time. If there was a Mount Rushmore for psychology, his face would be up there. Bandura's book is Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control .