You just signed a $10,000 contract. Instead of celebrating, you feel a pit in your stomach. A voice in your head whispers, 'They are going to realize you have no idea what you are doing, and they are going to demand their money back.' Welcome to Imposter Syndrome. The bad news? It never entirely goes away. The good news? Feeling like a fraud is actually the strongest indicator that you are a highly competent professional.
Waiting for the Fraud Police
Imposter syndrome is the persistent inability to believe that your success is deserved.
When you succeed, you attribute it to luck, timing, or a client simply "not knowing any better." When you fail, you view it as absolute proof of your inherent incompetence. You live in constant fear that the "Fraud Police" are going to knock on your door and revoke your freelance license.
Why Freelancers Are Highly Susceptible
In a traditional corporate job, you have performance reviews, managers, and clear hierarchical structures to validate your worth. If you are bad at your job, your manager tells you.
In freelancing, you exist in a vacuum. There are no performance reviews. The only feedback you get is whether a client pays their invoice or not. Furthermore, you are constantly exposing your work to public scrutiny, opening yourself up to rejection on a daily basis. This isolation acts as an incubator for self-doubt.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
To understand imposter syndrome, you must understand its opposite: The Dunning-Kruger effect. This is a cognitive bias where people with very low ability overestimate their competence. (Think of the person who plays guitar for two weeks and thinks they are ready for a world tour).
As you become an expert in your field, you realize exactly how much you don't know. You become painfully aware of the nuances and complexities of your craft. Therefore, imposter syndrome is a paradox: you only feel like a fraud because you know enough about your industry to understand how high the ceiling is.
Feeling like an imposter is a symptom of expertise.
3 Ways to Defeat the Syndrome
- Keep a "Hype Folder": Create a folder on your computer. Every time a client sends you a glowing email, a great Slack message, or a 5-star review, screenshot it and put it in the folder. Open it when you feel worthless.
- Teach Beginners: You might feel inadequate compared to industry veterans, but you know infinitely more than someone who started yesterday. Mentor a junior freelancer. Answering their questions will remind you of your own vast knowledge base.
- Embrace the "I Don't Know": Imposter syndrome stems from the pressure to know everything. Release that pressure. When a client asks a question you don't know, confidently reply: "That's a great question. Let me do some research on that specific edge case and get back to you this afternoon."
Sometimes the best way to fight imposter syndrome is to read your own resume. Use our Bio Generator to objectively outline your skills and remind yourself of exactly how qualified you are.