What at last began to quiet the voices and dismiss the deep-rooted psyche-bashing work of The Fraud Police was simply this: after hundreds of signings, after talking to thousands of fans, I started to believe that what I did was just as useful as what they did.

Growth often comes from struggle, frustration, confusion—but we usually keep those moments private for fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” We worry that others will judge us as unqualified despite these being common experiences in the learning process. Learning in public is the opposite of pretending you have everything figured out. Instead, share

It’s not always a negative experience; it can, in fact, be quite positive. That is, incidentally, why she prefers to call it a “phenomenon” instead of a “syndrome.” IP, she said, can do great things. Some individuals with IP use it to propel themselves to tremendous heights. Common symptoms of IP include perfectionism, a tendency to “overwork” — sp