The Inspire blog

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Let me start with a confession: I have imposter syndrome. Present tense. HAVE.

I started grad school a few months ago, and honestly? I’ve been scared to even say “I am in grad school” out loud. It feels like someone is going to pop out from behind a bush and yell “IMPOSTER!” lol.(Pun intended)

The thing is guys… I felt this exact same way last summer and the summer before and somehow overcame it to absolutely crush my goals. You would think oh, Tomi’s an expert at this by now. (Narrator: She was not, in fact, an expert).

I am sharing this because when we stay quiet about imposter syndrome, it gets worse. We all sit there thinking we are the only one struggling while everyone else has it figured out. But the truth is we’re all just trying our best and hoping nobody notices we might be making it up as we go.

I see you nodding along, you probably know what imposter syndrome looks like and might recognize some of these. For me, it’s:

• Ghosting everything (hence why this blog went radio silent… sorry, not sorry… okay, maybe a little sorry 🙂
• Watching my YouTube vlog slowly flatline…AGAIN.
• Feeling like everything I am passionate about suddenly becomes as ‘appealing’ as folding clothes.
• Constantly comparing myself to others (spoiler alert: I always lose this game)
• Genuinely believing I am the dumbest person in every room I enter.

It is exhausting chat. Like really exhausting.

Most days I’m just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Sometimes I journal until my hand cramps… pages and pages of ‘why do I feel like this’ or ‘remember when you did this and didn’t pass out?’ Sometimes I call my friend who tells me to stop being dramatic (but like, lovingly).

There’s this list I keep on my phone I read it when things get really bad. I’ve got bible verses reminding me I’m not a complete disaster. Screenshots of nice feedback. Proof of life, basically.

Some days I try positive affirmations, other days I focus on just controlling what I can… like showing up, doing the reading, submitting the assignment even if I think it’s not A okay. And yeah, I surround myself with people who get it, who don’t make me feel weird for feeling weird 🙂

Imposter syndrome is just an uninvited guest that keeps showing up to the party. Maybe that’s okay or maybe it means we’re still pushing ourselves into spaces that challenge us… Maybe it means we’re growing.

Or maybe it just means we’re human. Wild concept, I know.

Well, that’s my brain on imposter syndrome. Fun huh?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go practice saying “I’m in grad school” without adding “but like, idk how I got here.” 20 million times.

How do you deal with Imposter Syndrome? 🙂