In this episode of the Small Town Bigger Dreams podcast, host Haritosh Srivastav introduces imposter syndrome—a feeling that one’s achievements are due to luck rather than ability—and explains why it matters for people from small towns trying to succeed in larger cities. He cites research showing that about 70% of people experience it at least once, and shares two personal anecdotes: (1) moving from a Hindi‑medium school in Jaipur to an English‑medium engineering college in Greater Noida in 2003, and (2) joining Mindtree Limited in Bangalore in 2007 as one of the few North‑Indian hires from a modest college. Both moments triggered strong imposter feelings that he eventually overcame with mentorship. Srivastav outlines the negative consequences of imposter syndrome—lower self‑esteem, reduced performance, burnout, missed opportunities—and then offers three concrete steps to combat it: (1) educate yourself (recommended books: Pushing Your Envelope by Maureen Zapala and The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women by Valerie Young, plus the website impostorsyndrome.com), (2) talk openly about it with trusted peers, mentors, or friends, and (3) say “yes” to new opportunities even when uncomfortable. He ends with a call‑to‑action to read the suggested resources, share feedback, and stay engaged with the podcast.
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Do you feel you don't belong here? Do you feel you just got lucky and people will find out that you don't deserve the job, accomplishment, or the applause that you receive? Well, you may be suffering from imposter syndrome. In this episode, we are going to explore what it is and how it affects the small-towner Do you belong to a small town?
Are you struggling to make it big in a big city? Do you want to learn principles to get to the next level? Well, you are at the right place. Welcome to the podcast Small Town Bigger Dreams, where I help you with some principles guest interviews, and stories to help you make it big.
Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Small Town Bigger Dreams, and my today's topic is imposter syndrome. Now, if you don't know it already, it is the feeling that whatever you have earned, achieved, or succeeded in life, it's only and only by luck and you do not have the talent, qualification, or what it takes to be successful. That is imposter syndrome. Traditionally, when it was discovered, it was only for really high achievers and high-performing humans, but since then it's become quite popular. Now, personally, I did not know the term until in 2017. In 2017, I attended a conference where a former NASA scientist and author of multiple books called Maureen Zapala, she talked about what it is, what is imposter syndrome and how you can overcome it. And once I connected the dot, I felt that I have felt the imposter syndrome so many times. So today we are going to talk about what is my story of feeling imposter or having that imposter syndrome, what does it do if you are having imposter syndrome, and how can you overcome that. Now the term imposter syndrome was actually first mentioned in 1978, uh, during a research paper, and that's how it became popular. If I talk about data, it is said that over 70% people. Yes, 7 out of 10 people suffer from imposter syndrome at least once in their lifetime. I've also suffered it, as I said earlier, and I'm gonna talk about two distinct stories. Number one is when I— when in 2003 I moved from a small town, uh, Jaipur, to Greater Noida for my engineering studies. At that time, I felt like an imposter. I came from a very small town. I studied from Hindi medium, then the Hindi medium schooling, and here in the engineering college, I was overwhelmed by seeing all the smart guys, all the English convent educated people, and I felt like, do I belong here? Am I going to be successful? What if I don't make it to the next year? I too encountered those fears. I felt like an imposter. And yeah, I had, I had good engineering marks and other things, but that feeling of being an imposter hit me when I joined that engineering college. The second distinct story that I remember is when I joined my first job back in 2007. We were one of the few who got campus selection, and in July 2007, we joined a company called Mindtree Limited in Bangalore. When we reached there, we found out that we were probably one of the few from North India who had got the offer, and immediately, at least I started feeling like an imposter. There are— there were all students from all top-notch engineering colleges, and we were from a private, decent private engineering college. That was my second instance of feeling like an imposter, suffering the imposter syndrome. It took me some time, but with the help of mentor, guides, managers, I was able to overcome that and be quite successful. So anybody, as I said earlier, anybody can feel like an imposter and can go through imposter syndrome. Now, what does it mean to be like an imposter? What are the implications of being imposter. Now, if you are suffering from an imposter syndrome, it can really damage your self-esteem. You may feel like you don't belong, uh, you're just being lucky and people is gonna— people are gonna find out. It can hamper your work performance and productivity. Now, sometimes it can also lead to burnout and it can also affect your mental health. You may start refusing opportunities that comes your way. So imposter syndrome is very serious matter, and if you feel like you're having imposter syndrome, you need to know what are the steps you can take to tackle imposter syndrome. The number one steps or tip that I'm going to talk about is knowing more about imposter syndrome. So two of the books that I highly recommend, number one is Pushing Your Envelope by Maureen Zapala. As I said earlier, I heard the term imposter syndrome from her in a conference, and that has been a game changer for me. So go and research and find out more, find more about imposter syndrome. So number one book is Pushing Your Envelope by Maureen Zapala. Another one is The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women by Valerie Young. Dr. Valerie Young has been a pioneer in this whole imposter syndrome initiative, and she has written so many articles and books and publications. She has done keynote and other things in various universities, organizations, etc. She also has a website, impostorsyndrome.com, so go and check out. So number— step number 1 is find more information about what exactly is imposter syndrome, how do you, uh, you know, find out and identify it. Number 2, the step number 2 that you can take to tackle imposter syndrome is to talk about it. Be open about it. Find out some people who are comfortable hearing about your stories. It could be your colleagues, it could be your mentors, it could be your manager, it could be your friend. Find that person that you confide with and then share your imposter stories, share your thoughts and feelings. In fact, today, earlier today, while I'm writing my book, I'm going through the rough phase, and I talked to my one of my dear friend Taiba, and she really helped me push out of that boundary. So talking to people, especially whom you trust, can really help you get out of imposter syndrome. And number 3, Step number 3 is saying yes to opportunities. Now you will feel uncomfortable, you will feel like imposter, and you have to still accept the feeling. Still that feel that, okay, I am feeling uncomfortable, I am not sure how we're gonna— I'm gonna do that, but I'm gonna say yes and then figure it out. So these are the 3 steps. Find more about imposter syndrome Find a person you can talk about. Number 3 is say yes to different opportunities that you get. So that's all for the imposter syndrome. I hope you like this. And as for the action item, go and, go and buy the book on imposter syndrome, or read, or read the blog and do a research on imposter syndrome. I hope you liked it, and thank you so much for all the positive comment feedback that you have been giving, and I'm really looking forward to I have more of those. Please let me know if there is any particular topic that you want me to cover. And until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. This is Haritosh Srivastav, and I'll be back in 15 days with another episode of Small Town Bigger Dreams.
