Have you ever experienced a feeling like you didn’t belong at work, in a crowd of people or on a video call?

I have often in the past experienced a feeling of anxiety (and even dread and fear) when I couldn’t figure out how I got there even though I was invited.

I remember standing backstage before a keynote presentation during my consulting days.

Not a small crowd. 200 people in the room.

I had practiced that presentation in front of the mirror more times than I could count. I knew the content cold. I was the subject matter expert in that room.

And I was terrified.

Not of forgetting my slides. Not of the Q&A.

I was terrified that they would figure out I didn’t belong up there.

I stood on the side waiting to be announced and asked myself:

How in the world did I get here? Why would anyone want to hear from me?

I had the credentials. The experience. The results.

And none of it felt like enough.

That is Imposter Syndrome.

And if you’ve ever felt it—you are not broken. You are not weak. You are not alone.

Most people think it’s just self-doubt or insecurity. It’s not.

Imposter Syndrome is what happens when capable women start questioning their place in environments that don’t reflect their value back to them.

I never want you to have that feeling again.

The rule: Your self-doubt is not a character flaw. It’s a rational response to environments that don’t consistently reflect your value.

You feel this way because you’ve been in environments that didn’t reflect your value, you’ve compared yourself in ways that distort reality, and over time—you’ve internalized both.

How do you begin to reclaim your place?

• Consciously acknowledge your accomplishments…and own them
• Reframe negative thinking by turning it into a positive.
  • I’m a fraud – negative
  • I’m educated, experienced and have every right to be here – positive
• Compare your current self to your past self on a regular basis. Changing a lifetime of habits and negative thinking takes a while.

This Week’s Question:

Where have you experienced these feelings before? How did you feel? Now reframe it to a positive feeling and statement.

Imposter syndrome and other feelings that cause anxiety and stress are areas that we work on in The Balance Reset.