Have you ever felt this persistent, gnawing belief that your achievements are just a fluke ?
Your brain constantly comparing peers and putting the thought that you are not capable as others think they are. It’s a mental trap that plaques every single individual , especially high achievers. So if you have felt something like this then you’re likely encountered – the Imposter Syndrome
I’ve been there – as a life science student , I’ve felt like the imposter syndrome crashing my party like a rogue centrifuge spinning at 10,000 RPM, I get some interesting results and my brain’s like – “LOL – beginner’s luck, you little lab gremlin”. And when I present my data – I turn into a mindreader waiting for my lab mates to vote me as an imposter – “Ejected out of the skeld into the space ”
I think it is more common among the life science students as we have high stakes – one wrong pipetting move, you”ll have to start your experiments from zero. Comparison stands out as a root cause while we compare our peers dropping papers in nature like a lego, while we are still googling definitions. And among these thoughts, if you make a mistake – you start playing imposter riffs on the guitar.
But is it all worth the effort ? I am not gonna lie – it’s a work in progress and we could outsmart this thing – Here’s what we can do fight it back :
- Call it out and label it – Identify the feelings as an imposter ( of course not you , only the thought )
- Make a success log – Jot down all your success – the proof usually outweights doubt – put this into your victory vault
- The lab squad _ Reach out to your peers – You now know that we are just weird scientists improvising
- “ Chug an expresso and declare that the protocol is what you do “
And do remember there are no flukes in science – no one is an imposter – we all are crew mates with different tasks.
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