But you also know that when you leave important things until the last minute, there’s greater chance that quality will suffer. On an unconscious level, Clance says, procrastination is a way to give yourself an out.

You don’t have to have graduated first in your class or made it to the top of any ladder. But you do have to have achieved something to feel fraudulent about. Usually it’s something you didn’t expect of yourself, or have not yet mastered, at least not to your ridiculously high standards.

Because you’re convinced that each new endeavor will be your undoing, your run-up to each test, presentation, or challenge brings tremendous anxiety and self-doubt. You think, One false move and I’m out. This apprehension is typically followed by success, and finally by skeptical relief. It is a pattern that endlessly repeats itself.

you already know that your pattern is there to keep you from being unmasked. But that’s not all it does. To get at the broader function of any pattern of behavior, you need to ask yourself three questions: What does this behavior help me avoid? What does it protect me from? What does it help me get?

I’ve met plenty of people who tell me they’ve read all the advice books out there but “nothing worked.” My question to them is always the same: “Did you apply the advice?” The answer is always no. It’s always easier to keep reading than it is to stop and do the exercises, and trying on new behaviors does require you to stretch in sometimes uncomfor

2. Women’s self-limiting attitudes and behavior barriers must be viewed in the context of certain sociocultural expectations and realities. If you have difficulty always seeing yourself as competent and qualified, it may be because at times society has a hard time seeing you that way too. In spite of all the progress, the fact remains that being “too”

The threat of failure scares you into these long hours. Yet success only intensifies the fear of discovery.”2 The other thing about hard work is that it can be quantified. We already know that you don’t credit yourself for less tangible measures of competence, such as talent or intelligence. But you can count how many hours you’re logging. And so c

Holding back can also take the form of what Clance and Imes refer to as “intellectual inauthenticity.” You remain silent in the face of opposing opinions.

Non-impostors who work hard do so because that’s what’s required to get the job done. When their diligence pays off, it enhances their confidence. But when your work pays off, you mostly feel relief. Because your efforts are motivated by an underlying sense of phoniness, say Clance and Imes, any good feelings you have following a success are short-