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Ilmu Padi & Shishihakuto: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome

These Eastern principles will help you clear your self-perspective.

Adam Aushaf
6 min readMay 30, 2020
Photo by Den Trushtin on Unsplash

The Impostor: You

Yeah, and me too. We’re not so kind to ourselves, aren’t we?

Every time we come across people we look up to, it’s easy to trap ourselves in unrealistic comparison.

When placed among these exceptional people, we often find ourselves terrified of being exposed as the only unexceptional one in the room. Somehow we always find ways to doubt our credibility despite evidence for everything we’ve accomplished.

It’s a classic case of impostor syndrome, a psychological pattern that’s becoming all too common these days.

In a 1978 study, researchers Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes defined the impostor phenomenon as “an individual experience of self-perceived intellectual phoniness.” More than a simple case of low self-esteem, this affliction is especially prevalent in young people that are still in the process of discovering their identity.

While impostor syndrome can be overwhelming at times, we can mitigate it by adopting a habit of reality check. This can be done by internalizing this reminder: No one thinks you’re a fraud. No one even thinks about you at all…

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Adam Aushaf
Adam Aushaf

Written by Adam Aushaf

No longer writing on Medium. Read my essays for free on Substack: aushaf.substack.com.

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