“As someone who has seen imposter syndrome in young professionals, I highly recommend reading this book. Vinita has broken down imposter syndrome to its fundamental building blocks and provided several frameworks to overcome it. Visuals are illustrative and worksheets are actionable. A fresh take on such an important topic. Great read, recommended.”

Abinash Sarangi

Principal Group Engineering Manager, Microsoft

“Great resource. Marvelous job by the author to first explain what imposter syndrome is, how it affects a person and then provide step-by-step guide on possible ways to overcome it. The book explains the concepts in easy to read and concise manner, still providing enough examples for a concept. I highly recommend this for everyone.”

Vikram Purohit

Platform Engineer, Walmart Labs

“In the last 16 years, I have confronted my own self-doubt and confidence multiple times. This book does complete justice to imposter syndrome feeling, and is a remarkable piece of work that can be linked with everyone’s life. An honest, direct and a motivating framework for a difficult topic that no individual likes to openly admit. It truly inspires you to think differently, allowing you to reflect on your strengths, focus on your goals and achievements, and learn from the failures around you. My favourite line in the book is ‘Others believe in you. You don’t believe in yourself’.”

Ekta Mittal

Senior Manager, Amazon

“Coaches, teachers, counselors have repeatedly advised us to believe in ourselves, to overcome self-imposed limits, and conquer our internal demons. But how to do that? This insightful book first helps you recognize the moments in which imposter syndrome begins to manifest. Being conscious about it allows for behavior modification to address it. It then equips you with a wide range of tools needed to process thoughts and channel energy to overcome the mental hurdles standing in the way of your potential. This book is not just a must read but also a reference that can be consulted as life events occur.”

Vijay Dheap

Technology & Product Lead, RozieAI

“Everyone has had self doubt at some point in his or her life. All of us have examples of seeking and failing to receive validations from others. We have all beaten ourselves up with self criticism. There are situations where we have decided to not take risks or challenges. Many have reached a plateau in their careers with a grudging acceptance. This well researched and neatly organized book addresses why us humans limit ourselves with fears and insecurities. Littered with real world examples, excellent visuals and practical exercises, this book acts as a friendly guide to help us empathize with our negative feelings and jump start our journey towards a better self. It helps us to break free of our binds, and puts us on a path of self improvement. Highly recommended!”

Unnikrishnan Narayanan

Senior Technical Delivery Director, Accolite Digital

“I transitioned from the role of a software engineer to an engineering manager. At times it led to me being in a room full of very smart people working on things that I did not dive deep into. The whole impostor syndrome hit me manifold more than what I faced and felt as an IC. The book is well structured, giving you a deeper understanding of impostor syndrome, including healthy self-doubt being misunderstood as impostor syndrome. It would be greatly beneficial for folks who are perhaps in the same boat as me. Also, for people who find work related anxiety eating them up and haven’t been able to correlate that to feeling like an impostor – give this book a definite try.”

Chandabani Dutta

Principal Engineering Manager, Microsoft

“Reading the book felt like surfing through my own inner feelings of self-doubt, delusions, lower self-esteem that are unreal and only manifestations of my mind. I learnt that I should be my advocate instead of my own adversary. What really helped me get max value out of this book are the worksheets to find the origin of my feelings, understand the coping mechanisms I am using and give me baby steps to solve the root of the problem. I feel confident that I can turn things around by freeing myself from these thoughts that are holding me back. Best idea from the book is to go back to the root of the problem and find how it all started in your mind. Go back to the point in the past when you never felt like an imposter. This is a kind-of revelation for me, when I thought about how it all started for me. I am a classic procrastinator but I never really linked that issue with Imposter Syndrome.”

Ravi Mandala

Senior Software Engineer, LinkedIn

“Reading this book is such a delight. I felt that a therapist is sitting beside me and guiding me on how to think and overcome some of the difficult situations in my life. Reading a book like this was a whole new experience! In this book, the author will analyse the mindset at the time of taking some of the critical decisions and how to overcome them if it goes in opposite directions. It will also teach how to build self-confidence, beat the self-doubt that one has in making any decisions and make them succeed professionally as well as personally. When I was reading this book, I felt each and every incident that the author is describing is about myself, my thoughts and the inner feelings, emotions and struggles that I have gone through. I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t benefit from reading this book. This book will be suited for everyone irrespective of gender and age group.”

BhanuChandar K

Senior Engineering Manager, MoEngage

“This book takes a holistic approach and includes different personality types. I will refer to it time and again to strengthen the principles to deal with Imposter syndrome.”

Rajnee Yadav

Business Advisor, Nasscom Centre of Excellence

“The methods in this book are practicable and doable, and can be used right away and I encourage everyone to give them a shot.”

Nidhi S Mittal

Head of Brand Marketing, JioSaavn

“As I turn a corner in my own professional journey and set out to attempt something I never have, a lot of the book resonated with me, enough for me to transcribe a few notes to serve as my second memory. I especially liked the sections on trite advice and the relationship between IS and procrastination, because the latter is something that challenges me daily. I enjoyed the occasional but timely use of graphics to explain subject matter that can tend to get a bit heavy (for me, at least) after more than a few minutes of reading. I also liked the conclusions of some chapters to segue into the crux of the next without giving too much away.”

Navneet Potti

Ex-Director, Business Product, Healofy

“”You are what you think”. We get trapped by Imposter Syndrome with fear of failure or aiming for perfection. Struggling with our minds and moving away from acceptance pulls us back. This book is full of great examples and also gives very practical tips to overcome the ‘Imposter Syndrome’. The exercises in this book were a good assessment of my personality. Chapter summaries are very refreshing, especially as I read multiple books in a day and it is important to catch up. A very practical book presenting the concept and ‘systematic growth approach’ with simple illustrations and templates.”

Gagandeep Singh

Senior Project Manager, Fujitsu

“Imposter syndrome is a feeling or emotion that I always struggled with and felt that it was only me, until I got to know most people go through this anxiety. While reading the book, I felt the author was talking to me directly and I was nodding my head in agreement across many chapters. She beautifully explains that it is human to have these feelings and thoughts of self-doubt that we often face in our life, and provides strategies to build our confidence, to bring about a change. Using simple language and clear instructions and the exercises in the book guides you to discover and transform yourself. I am glad the author touched upon the effect of imposter syndrome on leaders and how it trickles down to people working with them. With lot of real world examples she helps you bridge the confidence gap to achieve success. This is a book you will want to come back and revisit as you strive to be the best version of yourself.”

Shivaram Ramaswamy

Principal Product Designer, Quicken Inc.

“Imposter syndrome is not a joke reference. It is truly self-doubt on steroids, especially when you are successful. Left unexamined, it pulls us not only from performing well but from happiness and joy even when we are performing well. Vinita Bansal has written this well-researched, well-thought book in a practical and applicable form. She provides you with a diagnostic self test, where you can see how rampant your own self doubt, your feeling of unworthiness and fear of failure in your current role are. She then provides clear insights into what causes the syndrome, how we try to cope with it, and why and how our normal coping efforts fail and worsen the situation. These insights are so unique and reveal many things that I have not recognized in myself. Among the ideas is something I like the most: How to build the confidence cycle. What a great concept and a recipe.”

Ravi Annaswamy

Senior Vice President, PNC

“Practical tips to improve soft skills in engineers is timely (i.e., self confidence, continuous learning/development, taking up tasks beyond business as usual and growing out of others’ judgement of one’s value). Identifying behavioural pitfalls (e.g., focus on negativity, just words not deeds) is a first step suggested to take charge of current situation. Acknowledging shortcomings without making them personal and rewiring thought patterns ultimately lead to good habits thus creating a virtual cycle of growth.”

Muthusamy Chelliah

Director, Academic Engagement, Flipkart

“When we look at the world around us, amazing feats were accomplished and magical things built by individuals who overcame their own self doubts and negative emotions. Did these folks fight their own battles overcoming the dreaded imposter syndrome? Very likely. The book provides a highly practical guide and framework to recognize, self-assess and overcome one’s own limiting beliefs. Not only a great resource for your challenges of today but also worth revisiting periodically when you doubt your own abilities.”

Mausam Bhatt

Chief Product Officer, Move Inc.