Temi SiyanbadeApr 8, 2026

Imposter Syndorme

Imposter Syndorme

Temi Siyanbade·Apr 8, 2026

Imposter syndrome can make high achievers feel like frauds, but it is often a sign of growth rather than incompetence. Learn three actionable strategies to navigate self-doubt, find accountability, and continue moving forward in your career even when you feel afraid.

Chapters

00:00

Introduction

Personal experience with feeling like a fraud early in my career.

01:15

Defining Imposter Syndrome

02:00

Personal Journey

03:23

Why We Feel It

05:16

Three Key Strategies

07:22

Doing It Afraid

08:33

Final Invitation

Transcript

00:00

I was 21 years old, standing in front of a classroom full of 12 to 14 year olds, and I was thousands of miles away from my family.

00:08

I had a degree, a certificate, a job, and a, title.

00:13

But on the inside, your girl felt like a fraud.

00:16

I kept thinking, how am I the real adult here?

00:19

When are they going to realize that I don't know what I'm doing?

00:24

That voice, that, that doubt, that fear became pretty familiar because it followed me into law school, it followed me into the courtrooms, it even followed me onto YouTube.

00:35

And the wild part is, I've gotten the degrees, I've taught the classes, I've run the law firm, I've closed the six figure deals, and still our good old friend imposter syndrome shows up.

00:46

But here's the thing.

00:48

So have I.

00:50

See, most young professionals and ambitious entrepreneurs struggle to make the necessary pivots in their lives and careers because they feel like frauds.

01:00

They feel like they aren't good enough and talk themselves out of the bold moves because of the massive discomfort they feel.

01:08

So today we're going to talk about imposter syndrome and how to move through it successfully.

01:15

Just so we're on the same page, what exactly is imposter syndrome?

01:20

According to the Oxford Dictionary, imposter syndrome is the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.

01:33

So it isn't about not being good enough.

01:36

It's about being somewhere you weren't conditioned to believe you belonged.

01:40

It's self doubt that can trigger perfectionism and anxiety, and you may struggle with it in some areas, but not in others.

01:48

So, for example, I sometimes feel self doubt when it comes to my success using video, even though I've literally written a book about it.

01:56

But I don't feel as much self doubt if I'm talking about how to prepare a lesson.

02:00

I felt imposter syndrome as the new girl in my high school, trying honor and gifted classes for the first time.

02:05

I felt it again when I started teaching middle school at the age of 21, thousands of miles away from my family.

02:10

I felt it when I passed the bar and officially became an attorney and again when I started my practice.

02:15

My legal mentors had told me that to become a great attorney, I needed to go to court in real time, to network and just to see how things were done.

02:22

I remember going to court a full licensed attorney and being too scared to go where the other attorneys were.

02:28

You know, that part of the gallery in Front.

02:31

I refused to step out there.

02:33

So I showed up for a few days and just sat in the gallery with the other people in court.

02:38

The voice in my head was like, what if you go up there and make a fool of yourself, you're probably just going to get in the way.

02:44

It's way better for you to sit back here.

02:47

Imposter syndrome made me feel like I needed additional permission to show up, even though I did the work.

02:53

I went to law school, I got the degree, I studied for the bar, and I passed.

02:57

But see, that's the thing about imposter syndrome.

02:59

It makes you feel small.

03:01

It makes you feel powerless.

03:03

But that isn't where the story ends.

03:06

I did eventually get the courage to step beyond the gallery.

03:09

It took some time and some inspiration from a friend, but I did it.

03:13

I built a law firm, and I represented the big clients and grew the YouTube channel and wrote the book.

03:18

I felt like an imposter each time, and this is what I learned.

03:23

Here's what they don't tell you about most high achievers, right?

03:27

Most of us feel like imposters frequently.

03:31

The truth is that there are a few different reasons why this occurs and why we feel like we don't belong.

03:37

The first reason is that many of us have been socialized to feel this way.

03:42

Minorities and women may have been taught that they have to prove themselves over and over again.

03:47

So as a black woman in a predominantly white space, I do stick out, and sometimes I don't fit in.

03:53

But that doesn't mean I don't belong, even if I feel really, really, really uncomfortable.

04:00

Imposter syndrome isn't just about confidence.

04:05

Imposter syndrome isn't just about confidence.

04:09

It's about conditioning.

04:10

If you've spent your life in systems that weren't built for you, education, law, business, you've likely internalized the idea that you need to constantly prove your worth.

04:20

That's not weakness, that's survival.

04:22

You are actually navigating exclusionary systems that, to be frank, are working the way they were built.

04:29

But the second reason you might feel imposter syndrome is that you are actually in an unfamiliar or unknown space.

04:36

The genuine lack of familiarity can create natural feelings of uncertainty and doubt.

04:40

Regardless of your background, you might not know how to navigate it.

04:44

And that was also the case for me as a new lawyer.

04:47

I didn't know all the rules of the court, but that was okay.

04:51

Years ago, a therapist told me something that I've never forgotten.

04:54

He said, your feelings are honest, but they aren't necessarily truth.

04:58

That means that what you feel is real and in some ways uncontrollable.

05:02

But what you felt, what you feel doesn't necessarily determine what you do and what you will do.

05:09

And this is good.

05:10

In fact, this is gold because you can leverage what you feel to get information and inspiration.

05:16

I want to share with you my three strategies I have for navigating imposter syndrome.

05:21

When it shows up, the first thing I do is I reframe it.

05:24

As I've gotten older and worked with other high achieving professionals, I realized that imposter syndrome comes with information that I'm stretching.

05:33

It shows that we are choosing to step outside of our comfort zones and that is to be celebrated, friend.

05:39

So we can say that this feeling of nervousness just shows that we are making decisions to grow because we don't grow and achieve awesome things by staying in our comfort zones.

05:48

The second thing I do is I find accountability.

05:51

Now, this might take different forms.

05:53

For my newbie lawyer story, the accountability came in the shape of telling my friend.

05:58

See, my friend was a white male who was licensed a few months after me, and his father was actually an attorney.

06:04

So we were both trying to grow our practices and both given the advice to show up in court.

06:08

But he was more familiar with certain legal systems and certain legal environments.

06:14

We both agreed that we would meet up in court.

06:16

When he showed up and I saw him moving with confidence, I was like, I can do this too.

06:21

Plus, we're here for the same reason.

06:24

Another reason accountability helps is that we make it public.

06:27

We share it with someone we can trust.

06:29

For me, sometimes that's my siblings or a few of my friends who I know will follow up with me.

06:34

I create an external expectation.

06:37

Now, this step isn't always comfortable, but it makes a huge difference.

06:41

The last strategy for me, the third and final one, is that I stop waiting to stop feeling afraid.

06:46

I fully anticipate and know that the nervousness and awkwardness that comes with doing something new will show up.

06:54

And I really want to emphasize this, friend.

06:57

I want you to show yourself.

06:59

Grace.

07:00

It is okay to not be perfect and to not know everything.

07:05

It doesn't mean that you will fail.

07:07

It doesn't mean that you don't belong.

07:10

It means that you are new and you have to be new before you become great.

07:16

So do it.

07:16

Afraid.

07:18

Imposter syndrome doesn't have to stop you.

07:22

If I let it stop me, I wouldn't be sharing this video with you right now.

07:25

I would let that voice that says, tammy, who are you to tell people how to show up in the world when I'd never hit record on that first video, that second video, or this video, I never would have published my book.

07:37

Listen, if you are serious about doing legendary work and you're ready to be seen for who you truly are, not what you produce, I want to invite you to step beyond the imposter syndrome.

07:49

I want you to embrace the fear and just know.

07:52

Hey, I'm going to feel awkward.

07:54

I'm going to feel afraid.

07:55

And I want you to know that you can still do it.

07:58

I want you to remember those three things.

08:00

I want you to first, remember that the nervousness that you feel is a sign that you are stretching and you're choosing to grow.

08:08

Second, I want you to find someone to hold you accountable.

08:12

It can be a friend who's doing the same thing that you're doing, or just someone you know who you can trust who will follow up with you.

08:19

And third, I want you to make a decision to do it.

08:23

Despite how you feel.

08:24

I want you to do it afraid.

08:25

I want you to do it nervous.

08:27

I want you to do it even awkward.

08:28

I just want you to commit to yourself that you will do it.

08:32

Okay?

08:33

Now, if you're serious about doing legendary work, there's some more tools that I want to share with you.

08:37

If you're ready to be seen for who you truly are and not just what you want to produce, I want to invite you to my Executive Visibility Intensive.

08:45

This isn't about performing or pandering.

08:47

It's about positioning and impact.

08:50

This event is for high potential, high capacity people who are ready to lead with presence, amplify their influence, and own their space in the rooms that matter most.

09:00

I want you to use the link in the description box to secure your seat.

09:03

Listen, feeling like a fraud doesn't mean that you're failing.

09:06

It means that you are expanding.

09:09

Trust me, I've seen it in my own lives and in the lives of professionals I've encountered on this journey who do phenomenal things.

09:16

So if this video resonated with you, I want you to drop a comment and let me know which part hit home the most.

09:21

I read every single one.

09:23

Till next time.

09:24

Bye.

09:26

Hey, friend.

09:27

Thanks for watching.

09:28

If you loved this video, I'm sure you're gonna love the next one.

09:32

But before you go, don't forget to, like, subscribe and turn on your notifications.

09:37

Then watch this next video to keep making legacy moves.

09:41

Enjoy.

Imposter Syndorme