One brilliant way to beat imposter syndrome

Michelle Woo
Forge
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1 min readJun 17, 2021

🐸 Tip: Give your inner critic its own wacky persona.

If your inner critic is preventing you from being your best self, here’s a piece of advice from Yi Shun Lai: Give it its own weird persona. As she writes on Forge, her inner critic is “Clarence,” a bumbling, warty toad that likes to hang out on her shoulder. The trick is empowering because the moment you anthropomorphize your imposter syndrome/writer’s block/whatever-it-is-keeping-you-from-your-full-potential, it’s no longer a part of you or something you have to take responsibility for. It’s just an annoying little critter who sometimes overstays his welcome. Lai writes about Clarence: “He’s perfect for the purpose he serves: A creature that occasionally says unfounded, bunghole things, and that needs to be knocked off his perch on my head every time he opens his mouth.”

🤠 More from Forge on overcoming imposter syndrome:

The Real Solution to Impostor Syndrome
Read more >>

Why You Should Embrace Your Impostor Syndrome
Read more >>

Feel Like a Fraud Lately? Yeah, It’s Going Around
Read more >>

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Michelle Woo
Forge
Writer for

Author of Horizontal Parenting: How to Entertain Your Kid While Lying Down (Chronicle Books)