Learn to take ownership of your success overcome self-doubt and banish the thought patterns
that undermine your ability to feel and act as bright and capable as others already know you
are with this award-winning book by Valerie Young.It s only because they like me. I was in the
right place at the right time. I just work harder than the others. I don t deserve this. It s
just a matter of time before I am found out. Someone must have made a terrible mistake. If you
are a working woman chances are this internal monologue sounds all too familiar. And you re
not alone. From the high-achieving Ph.D. candidate convinced she s only been admitted to the
program because of a clerical error to the senior executive who worries others will find out
she s in way over her head a shocking number of accomplished women in all career paths and at
every level feel as though they are faking it impostors in their own lives and careers. While
the impostor syndrome is not unique to women women are more apt to agonize over tiny mistakes
see even constructive criticism as evidence of their shortcomings and chalk up their
accomplishments to luck rather than skill. They often unconsciously overcompensate with
crippling perfectionism overpreparation maintaining a lower profile withholding their
talents and opinions or never finishing important projects. When they do succeed they think
Phew I fooled em again. An internationally known speaker Valerie Young has devoted her career
to understanding women s most deeply held beliefs about themselves and their success. In her
decades of in-the-trenches research she has uncovered the often surprising reasons why so many
accomplished women experience this crushing self-doubt. In The Secret Thoughts of Successful
Women Young gives these women the solution they have been seeking. Combining insightful
analysis with effective advice and anecdotes she explains what the impostor syndrome is why
fraud fears are more common in women and how you can recognize the way it manifests in your
life.
