This year has been exciting and transformative for me. From submitting my honors thesis to starting a new internship to applying for graduate school, there are so many new things happening in my life. With these changes come new experiences and new opportunities to learn more about myself, not only on a professional level but on a personal level. As I’ve taken on these endeavors, I’ve started to recognize unfamiliar – yet familiar – feelings, ones that I’ve always had yet never took the time to process. They’re feelings of self-doubt, fear and anxiety. They’re feelings that make me feel like I am unworthy. This is when I realized I was dealing with imposter syndrome.  

Imposter syndrome is when you believe you are not as capable as others perceive you to be. For example, when I started my internship three weeks ago and was assigned my first project, I felt an intense amount of hesitancy enter my body. I felt like I wasn’t qualified enough. I thought my boss would look at my work and question if I was right for the job. I spent that day feeling stressed, worried and scared, only to receive an email from my boss a few days later telling me everything looked great and that no edits were needed.  

When I submitted my thesis I thought, “Is this good enough?” When I applied for graduate school I thought, “Will I be able to handle this?” This is when I acknowledged that I had the bad habit of questioning my success and doubting my talent and skills instead of being confident and welcoming any and all achievements that come my way.  

I recognized that I had to change my thinking and shift my perspective. In order to do this, I’ve been reminding myself of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years – the late nights, early mornings, stress and even tears. I did not achieve my success by chance or luck. I achieved it because I put in the work. I’ve been telling myself that as long as I always put my honest, best self forward, I will always be enough.  

These last few weeks I’ve been working hard on overcoming these feelings, and if you suffer from imposter syndrome you should too, because let me tell you: You deserve all the good things that come your way and you are capable of so much more than you think.  

Here are some affirmations I’ve been speaking to existence to shift my thoughts and perspective. Repeat after me:  

• I am confident in my abilities.  
• I am me and that’s enough.  
• I belong here. 
• I deserve all of my achievements and success.