A pleasing smile stretches our lips when we greet a customer. (Inside view: are we being judged every moment?)


A cookie and coffee conversation with our dear peers highlighting the ‘seeming’ at our workplace. (Deep down: Are we wallowing in our work worries that no one seems to understand?)


A difficult colleague who we always greet with submission of unknown fear disguised under grace. (Is there a way we can dissipate this toxicity without adorning this ‘smiley’ veneer?)


Workplace lunches and early evening meals promise the genuineness of wonder and immersion at the moment. (Oh, we need a break from this banality!)


Have you noticed something?


This, in its very euphemism, is called imposter syndrome. Which, to admit with candor, we all suffer from, even if we may not realize it. Yes, we are humans wired to somewhere succumb to this ‘imposter syndrome.’


As rightly said, ’The only way out is through.’ If you don’t give yourself permission to be yourself, no one else around you is going to sense this ‘honest energy’ that you have.


There’s one thing and we are all ‘it’ – and that is energy, as beautifully expressed by my meditation teacher Emily Fletcher, the founder of Ziva Meditation.


Sometimes togetherness can also feel reclusive. And sometimes, solitude can give us new perspectives to engage with life in a meaningful way. And sometimes, ‘both’ – the feeling of belonging somewhere yet ringing true to your individual prowess can co-exist. But in this self-discovery process, we can sense so much in common between us and the people around us.

Organisations need to unearth ways to help people be themselves. Let’s take a few instances:

  1. If someone enjoys an occasional meal alone, let them be, understanding their sense of ‘be’.
  2. If someone wants to shop for a nice flowery perfume or a sassy bag in the midst of their lunch work break, let them satiate their sensorial experiences.
  3. If someone wishes to go for 20 minute, ‘vague’ walk, let them just enjoy the movement of the moment.
  4. If someone wants to practice mindfulness before having that sumptuous burger, oh – just let them just savor it.
  5. In many ways more than one, when we allow this grounded sense of being at our workplace, and even at our homes, we transmute the energy of living freely and happily!

When people are okay with others not being always okay with them, acceptance brings forth natural restoring existence. And from this place of being yourself, you express ‘unapologetically’ the person you are.


So the next time you feel you are getting into this ‘imposter’ thing, go deeper into what you value in yourself and speak from your heart. Surprisingly, people can sense this implicit honesty. Our body is a beautiful showcase of how our emotions play in our minds and hearts. The best part, we are natural to ourselves, our bodies exhibit a nearly unique optimistic vibe that just gels anywhere we go!

Now let’s start a conversation. This time – you being you, and me being me! And see the fireworks!

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash